The sports industry is easily one of the most vibrant sectors worldwide. With all the different sports activities and tournaments all year round, there are dozens of career options for your take. Should you decide to pursue a sports career, here are six promising sports jobs and the academic qualifications you need to secure one.
Contract Manager
Before an athlete can play at a particular club or team, they need to sign a contract, which explains their expected roles, remuneration, contract period, do's and don'ts, etc. This process is under the docket of the contract manager. They represent their employer and ensure the contract is favorable and realistic. At a glance, these are the duties of a contract manager:
- Creating, evaluating, and settling contracts
- Ensuring suppliers and customers are satisfied
- Sharing contract developments with stakeholders
- Ensuring contract documents & correspondence are in order
- Addressing conflict relating to contracts
To become one, you need excellent communication skills and sufficient knowledge of contract laws and concepts. A degree in business law, human resource management, or business management, and at least three years of experience will get you started on an entry-level position.
Sports Agent
Sports agents are the deal brokers of the sports industry. They are responsible for managing athletes' finances and representing them in contract deliberations. Also, they double up as promotion agents for their client athletes and are responsible for handling their public image. Here are a few roles you can expect to play as a sports agent:
- Handling public relations aspects
- Representing athletes in business negotiations
- Explaining the fine details of contracts to the clients
- Promoting and marketing the clients
- Scouting for new talent
Sports agents stand out for their love for sports, negotiation skills, and in-depth sports knowledge. Apart from these skills, you require a Bachelor's degree in Sports Management.
Statistician
Whether you are looking at past game results or analyzing upcoming games, statistics play an essential role. Without statistics, many aspects of games, including pre-match analysis and prediction, would be challenging. Statisticians play a crucial role by ensuring that all types of data on games are available when needed. As a statistician, you are responsible for:
- Leading data collection processes
- Data collection, analysis, and interpretation
- Providing insight into decision making
- Establishing trends and data relationship
Statisticians have a knack for data behavior and patterns and leverage technical skills, leadership and communication skills to succeed. To qualify for most statistics jobs, you need a master's degree in mathematics or statistics. Computer science knowledge is an added advantage.
Physiotherapist
Physical fitness is essential for a sports career, and many times, athletes face destabilizing injuries that threaten their jobs. Getting back into shape and regaining your pre-injury vigor is not a walk in the park. Physiotherapists work with injured athletes using various forms of therapy to restore body movement and guide athletes on reducing their chances of injury. Here is what to expect as a physiotherapist:
- Treat and rehabilitate injured athletes
- Advice on performance enhancement
- Guide on prevention of injuries
This job calls for great interpersonal and communication skills and deliberate interest in the client athletes. You also require a bachelor's degree in Physiotherapy and registration as a healthcare professional.
Sports Journalist
Sports news is a favorite segment for many people, and passionate sports news anchors are always in demand. People worldwide follow sports tournaments that may be in distant countries, and anchors who can bring the game to life, whether on radio or T.V., make all the difference. As a sports journalist, here are expected duties:
- Providing sports commentaries
- Conducting player interviews
- Reporting on sports events
- Create sports stories and documentaries
Having a Journalism degree is the primary way of becoming a sports journalist. You can start a sports blog, write sports essays for a custom essayservice.com platform, or report for your university channel for the experience. With dedication and passion, sports journalism can be a rewarding career choice.
Sports Dietician
Proper food and nutrition play a vital role in ensuring the body functions in optimum condition. In particular, sports athletes need a diet that builds their immune system. A good diet is essential for performance and healing after injuries. Sports dieticians help athletes create and follow healthy meal plans and may also advise on supplements when necessary. At a glance, here are the daily roles of a dietician:
- Nutrition planning to achieve goals like weight gain or loss
- Assess existing medical conditions and manage them
- Advising on meals during and after training
- Attending athlete training to monitor athlete performance
Interpersonal and communication skills are vital as you will need to work with sports teams or individual athletes. It would be best to have a bachelor's degree in either sports nutrition or food science and dietetics for better prospects.
Related Pages
- Index to courses in sports
- Fields of Study — the large range of areas of study within the field of sports and sport sciences
- Country list for courses
- Jobs in sport
- Tips to finding the right job in sports