Keep your head down. Swing all the way through. Watch the ball into your glove.
These wise words prepare young baseball players for a successful at-bat and help them master the art of fielding. But the fundamentals aren’t all athletes learn in sports –a coach’s guidance is valuable in many aspects of life, including career management.
With the positive role coaches play in so many lives throughout their careers, it’s not surprising to see that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, coaching jobs are growing at an average pace of six percent from 2014 to 2024.
No matter your expertise, whether it be in basketball or lacrosse, you can build a successful career as a coach.
If you want to find success in coaching jobs, you need these essentials:
Professional Organizations
When you join an organization within your field, you enjoy several benefits. Not only does it look good on your resume, but it also presents you with a lot of opportunities.
Let’s say you’re looking for soccer coaching jobs. Consider becoming a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
Groups like these provide great networking opportunities, which is especially important for competitive industries like sports. As a member of the NSCAA, you get discounted admission to the NSCAA Convention. This convention is home to several featured events, such as job fairs, lectures, and demonstrations.
Professional organizations also tend to provide exclusive access to educational publications and resources.
Sportplan
This service is an online community to help you build training plans. It provides access to a library of plans and drills and encourages members to share their strategies with fellow coaches.
You can also use it to improve on individual coaching sessions. The Sportplan app gives you access to all of the content online as well as your saved content. You can upload videos and refer to animations to better guide your drills.
This is perfect for those who coach alone or with others, and it’s available for various sports, like basketball, hockey, rugby, tennis, golf, and lacrosse.
Mobile Apps
UpMyGame is an app that helps athletes and coaches alike analyze their performance. You can share and review videos within your community and analyze videos side by side.
Coaches can give feedback to their clients and also join as an Elite Coach to earn money by guiding athletes remotely through the app’s community. There are several freelance coaching jobs available, which makes it one of the best fields for those who want to be their own boss.
There are several other coaching apps to consider as well:
- Hudl Technique – Record, review in slow motion and add notes and drawings to highlight changes.
- Baseball Gameplan – Jason Giambi shares his knowledge of baseball through step-by-step instructional videos.
- Coach’s Eye – This video analysis tool simplifies comparing two videos side-by-side and allows you to record audio commentary.
Certifications
To stand out from the competition to earn coaching jobs, consider furthering your education through online courses. These are especially valuable when you can earn certificates.
For example, the U.S. Sports Academy offers several certification programs in areas like sports coaching, fitness, management, and national coaching. You can even pursue a niche certification in bodybuilding or sports injury management.
Coursera is another excellent resource for online education. Their courses include recorded video lectures from top universities, auto-graded assignments that are peer-reviewed, and various discussion forums. After you complete a course, you can share your electronic course certificate.
One of the best options for those interested in coaching jobs comes from the University of Florida. The course is called The Science of Training Young Athletes. Students learn about the nature of coaching and how to help athletes develop in areas like strength and flexibility.
Education is vital to your success. You want to gain knowledge of both the basics and advanced techniques and aspects of coaching, including sports psychology, methodologies, strength and conditioning, and facilities and events management.
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How are you preparing to succeed in coaching jobs?
