Exploring Job Opportunities in Sports
In sports, the players and coaches are what most people see, but there are other beautiful job opportunities that require professionalism.
Technical adviser, fitness instructor, team psychologist, player manager, team doctor, etc. are all job opportunities in sports.
Let's explore them.
THE PLAYER
The player is the one who does the sport. To become a professional player of a sport, you have to train and go for trials, be it a single sport like boxing or a team sport like football.
Like every other career, becoming a professional sport player takes time, but passion and determination are major virtues that have made lots of sports professionals successful.
THE COACH
Get a job as a coach can be more challenging than getting a job as a player. A coach must understand the sport more than the player. He must have played the sport before to give him a feel of what a player experiences.
To get your first coaching job, you may need to start-up as an assistant coach or technical adviser. If you are a retired player of the sport, you might have an edge, especially if you did well in your playing days.
TECHNICAL ADVISER
A coach can also do the role of a technical adviser, but to make the job easier, player or teams normally have two persons for both roles.
While a coach spends more time organizing the team, taking note of the games ahead, and ensuring preparation venues and other plans are well taken care of, the technical adviser strategize for the game.
In situations where different people are acting as coach and technical adviser, the technical adviser may be seen as the assistant coach, since he has to work hand-in-hand with the coach.
FITNESS INSTRUCTOR
Fitness instructor ensures the player is physical fit and ready for the game. He prescribes and directs the right exercises for the games ahead and ensures the player participates. A degree of health education or any related field may be needed.
PSYCHOLOGIST
The fitness instructor, in some cases, may also act as a psychologist. However, in big teams, both roles are handled by different persons. The psychologist's role is to prepare the players mentally and give the mindset of a victor, as they prepare for the game ahead.
A degree in psychology may be needed.
PLAYER MANAGER
Concentrating on the sports and ensuring good performance is enough challenge for every player. Players might not have the time to concentrate on other business issues like payments, contracts, etc. This is where a player manager comes in.
Player managers are normally close friends or relatives of the player. They ensure the business part of the sport the player does is properly handled.
