Coach (Sports)
Coach (Sports)
Career Overview
Sports coaches train, motivate and develop athletes, helping individuals and teams improve their skills and performance. You might develop training programs, create game strategies, analyze performance data, and use video, wearable technology, and AI-supported tools to help athletes reach their potential. *Top-level professional and international sports coaches can earn significantly more.
Education
Requirements vary by sport and level. Many coaches complete coaching certifications and gain experience in the sport they coach. Some positions may require a degree in sports science, physical education, kinesiology, or a related field.
Future Outlook
Sports continue to attract participants and audiences worldwide, creating opportunities for coaches at many levels. Modern coaches increasingly use video analysis, performance data, wearable technology, and AI-supported tools to understand performance and develop training strategies.
Work Environment
Coaches work with athletes in schools, sports clubs, universities, professional organizations, and community programs. Work can take place on fields, courts, pools, gyms, or training facilities. Evening, weekend, and travel schedules are common.
Recommended High School Courses
- Biology
- Psychology
- Math
- Computer Science
- Business
- Communication
- Physical Education
- Health science
- Statistics
- Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation - Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Far Vision - The ability to see details at a distance.
- Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Visualization - The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Coordinate athletic or sporting events or activities.
- Train others on performance techniques.
- Coach others.
- Select staff, team members, or performers.
- Evaluate skills of athletes or performers.
- Coordinate logistics for productions or events.
- Maintain knowledge of laws or regulations.
- Provide educational information to the public.
- Maintain records, documents, or other files.
- Manage operations of artistic or entertainment departments or organizations.
- Maintain inventories of materials, equipment, or products.
- Select materials or props.
- Promote products, activities, or organizations.
- Negotiate for services.
Schools
Abilene Christian Univers...
Abraham Lincoln Universit...
Adams State University
Alfred University
Appalachian State Univers...
Asbury University
Bethany College- Lindsbor...
Bethel University
Bethel University (indian...
Biola University
Buena Vista University
Concordia University- Irv...
East Stroudsburg Universi...
Eastern New Mexico Univer...
Eastern Washington Univer...
Evangel University
Fairleigh Dickinson Unive...
Hartwick College
Lock Haven University
Michigan State University
Michigan Technological Un...
Midwestern State Universi...
North Dakota State Univer...
Olivet Nazarene Universit...
Point Park University
Randolph College
Saint Cloud State Univers...
Salem College
San Francisco State Unive...
Southern Arkansas Univers...
Stephen F. Austin State U...
Suny At Cortland
Suny Finger Lakes Communi...
Suny Hudson Valley Commun...
Texas A & M University- C...
Towson University
Troy University
University Of Illinois- C...
University Of Iowa
University Of Minnesota-...
University Of Mount Union
University Of Nebraska- O...
University Of North Carol...
University Of North Carol...
Western Illinois Universi...
Western Michigan Universi...
Western New England Unive...
Wittenberg University
Bishop's University
Brandon University
Douglas College- Coqui...
Douglas College- New W...
Lakehead University- O...
Mcgill University
St. Francis Xavier Uni...
University Of Alberta
University Of British...
University Of Lethbrid...
University Of Manitoba
University Of New Brun...
University Of The Fras...
University Of Victoria
University Of Winnipeg
Wilfred Laurier Univer...
Approx Salary Expectation
Low End:
$27,000.00 /yr
Avg/Med:
$46,000.00 /yr
High End:
$94,000.00 /yr
References
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.