Careers in Sports
By Mr. K
Working in the field of athletics isn’t only for top competitors!
Do you love sports? Do you dream of a career where you get paid to play your favorite game? Well, many people have this dream but not all of us have the athletic prowess to successfully find a career in professional sports. Thankfully, for the rest of us, there are still lots of ways to make a living in the World of Sports. Here are some sports-oriented jobs to consider:
Marketing
Sports marketers help promote leagues and teams from around the world. Through advertising, they encourage youth to participate in sports, and they work out million dollar deals between companies and athletes. Accomplishing all of this takes a lot of professionals, so often one starts out as an ‘assistant’ and works their way through ‘coordinator’ and up to ‘vice-president’. A great bonus to all these jobs is that they usually include some cool ‘access’ benefits outsideyour salary such as free gear, complimentary game tickets, or the chance to meet your favorite athlete!
Positions at a glance:
- Manager or VP- At the top of the sports marketing world sit the managers and vice-presidents who make all the big decisions. They find marketing opportunities and new target markets by keeping a close eye on consumer trends. If lots of young boys, for example, are playing Fortnight and you sell athletic shoes, than maybe you would sponsor some of the YouTube gaming stars to wear your gear and talk about it while gaming. Salary: 138k
- Account Coordinator- This is a low to mid-level job where you put together promotional campaigns based on a budget and certain needs your employer has identified. For example, a hockey team may ask you to spend 5 million dollars on a campaign of TV ads, billboards, and radio spots to get more young people attending its games. Salary: 45k
- Administrative Assistant- This is the quintessential entry-level position. it is basically a secretarial position where are you answer phones run calendars send packages and take care of many of other administrative needs of the office. Some of the most powerful people in the business got their start as an administrative assistant. Salary: 41k
Medicine
The field of sports medicine is quite broad. It includes everything from therapists and athletic trainers to Kinesiologists (the study of the body’s movements) and Physiologists. (Studying how organs and cells work.)
Positions at a glance:
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Director of Sports- Medicine A sports doctor specializes in preventing and treating athlete injuries. Most teams have a ‘team doctor’ and in addition to dealing with injuries he or she also decides when and if an injured athlete may return to play. Besides focusing on bone and muscle health, team doctors also at times also provide general medical care for issues such as sickness. Sideline access is a cool bonus of this job as well as getting to travel with the team, sometimes on a private jet.
Salary: 185k -
Physical Therapist- Physical therapists work to repair and maintain the bodies of athletes. They analyze an injury and then develop and implement a treatment plan for rehabilitation. This can be done for players on an organized team or for individual athletes such as climbers, golfers, and skiers. A degree in this field also open up opportunities to work with other groups such as older people or people with disabilities. Salary: 85k
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Biomechanist- Folks in this field study how people move by analyzing an athlete’s muscles and bones. They then use their analysis to create training programs that help players get faster and stronger. For example, they may design a specific arm strengthening workout for a baseball pitcher or alter a workout routine to decrease body stress for an an injured player. Salary: 63k
Education
Sports and education is Big Business. In both secondary schools and colleges vast resources are expanded to maintain winning. You get to get to hang out with talented athletes and if you are successful you are revered on campus. And if you like to work with little kids it is always fun to be a P.E. teacher and spend your work-day on the playground!
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Athletic Director- The athletic director is in charge of the entire sports program at an educational institution. Duties include hiring coaches, scheduling officials games and travel, making equipment purchases, working with coaches to address player concerns, and ensuring that athletes have grades that make them eligible to play. Salary college: 400k Salary college: 90k
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Coach HS/College- At the high school and college levels coaching is a full-time position. Building a winning team is, of course, job one, but coaches must also build winning cultures, act as role models for student-athletes, a direct a vision for the team that reflect the school’s values. One stress of this job is the knowledge that if for several seasons a team has a losing record that coach may not have a job for very long. Salary: 98k High school/College: 500k
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PE Teacher/Recess Runner- For those that love nothing more than having fun on the playground with a bunch of energetic kids, PE (phys ed) teacher is your dream job. You get to be outside all day and you get to participate along with the students. There are even ‘recess running’ companies now that eschew meaner games such as dodgeball and instead send in cool coaches at recess time to facilitate fun, athletic, and creative games. Salary: 55k