Recent years have seen significant investment in community sports projects. A huge £19.4 million was distributed across England as part of the Olympic Legacy, and money has been invested into the whole sport plans of 46 national governing bodies (NGBs) of sport, creating opportunities for more people to play community sport.
County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) work across the sector, supporting partners to increase participation in sport and physical activity. CSPs are contracted by Sport England to provide core services to underpin the local delivery of National Governing Body (NGB) Whole Sport Plans and support the achievement of NGB and Sport England targets.
Sport England, as part of the Towards an Active Nation initiative, has developed a Coaching in Active Nation strategy to encourage participation with the aim of:
“Improving a person’s experience of sport and physical activity by providing specialised support and guidance aligned to their individual needs and aspirations.” Coaching is at the heart of this aim, and Sport England aim to ensure that aspiring coaches will, by 2021, find it much easier and much cheaper to get started on their coaching pathway. View details of the coaching plan for England (PDF - 1.7MB)
Sports coaches
Sports coaches help people participating in sports to work towards achieving their full potential. They may support professional sports people, sports teams, community teams or school groups, working with them closely to improve performance. The role of sports coach can often be voluntary. It may also form part of a full time job role within the industry like a sports development officer.
- You must gain the relevant coaching qualification offered by the national governing body (NGB). Progression within this profession is only possible with this qualification.
- The best starting place for trying out coaching is to assist a coach - most coaches will be grateful for any help you can give; to find your nearest club go to the sports coach website and search for county sports partnerships.
Main employers
- Different types of employer offer different kinds of coaching opportunities: charitable sports trusts and local authorities for community programmes; schools; colleges and universities; sports councils; sport National Governing Bodies (NGBs) - for a list, see Jobs in sport; private sports clubs; hotels; fitness centres; leisure facilities.
- Coaches may also work one-to-one with professional sports people on a self-employed basis and will need good results to retain clients and maintain job security.
- Holiday camps and organisations such as PGL recruit coaches to deliver a variety of activities, mainly in school holidays. You can also arrange to work abroad as a sports coach over the summer, particularly in the USA, through organisations such as BUNAC.
- The number of vacancies and level of competition for jobs tend to be related to the popularity and participation rates for the sport. Some areas are particularly competitive, with progress dependent on reputation and results. Increasingly, there are opportunities for multi-skilled coaches with coaching certificates in several activities.
Sports development officers
Sports development officers are tasked with creating and implementing programmes which encourage sports activity across all areas of society. In this role, you’ll work alongside government authorities and private organisations, such as educational institutions, local councils, healthcare facilities, charities and not-for-profit organisations and community groups, to put a range of appealing, exciting and valuable schemes into action.
- Work experience in community, sport, school or voluntary organisations is essential. Coaching experience is highly desirable. This can be gained through working or volunteering for local authorities or sport national governing bodies (NGBs) and clubs. Building up experience of delivery in one sport is helpful, although a multi-sport approach is often ideal.
- Competition for jobs can be tough. Networking and making contacts within the sports development sector through work experience will improve your chances of success.
- Look at joining any relevant sports clubs or societies at university and aim to take on levels of responsibility within these to give you experience in developing the club.
Main employers
- Local authorities are the main employer, often having assistant, officer and management roles in generic, community and specialist posts. Many appointments are initially on a contract basis and may be funded partly by external bodies. Check local authorities’ individual vacancy pages online.
- Some universities and colleges of higher education employ sports development officers in order to maintain and increase student and community involvement in sport. Sports councils and national governing bodies (NGBs) are other major recruiters.
UB Sport coach qualifications and volunteering
The UB Sport Extra Mile programme, offers a bag, a t-shirt, the chance to apply for a bursary and a world of opportunity both on campus and in the local community. Volunteering is becoming increasingly important and is a key factor that many employers look for on a CV or application form - visit the volunteer pages of the UB Sport website and take part.
- UB Sport has links with a wide range of courses and workshops through the year. Coaching courses are ideal for you to develop as a coach or official; to work in a leisure centre or fitness club; to apply for a PGCE or to keep yourself updated with the latest coaching knowledge.
- Careers Connect online vacancy database has coaching vacancies regularly advertised (short-term, voluntary, graduate or internship posts in the UK or abroad)
- Careers Network source a number of internships both in the UK and abroad, many of them exclusive to University of Birmingham students. We also offer a Bursary Scheme that offers financial support to help students undertake work experience. See the Internships section of our website for details.
Useful resources
Further help
Find useful resources and book an appointment with a careers adviser on the Careers Network website.