Athletic Coaches can coach many different types of sports teams, such as football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and soccer. They work with athletes to train them for competition before a game. Athletic Coaches are professionally trained in the workings of strategics, rules, and methods of their sport. They must have knowledge in the different types of equipment used in sports, physical fitness, and safety rules. They must have exemplary skills in communication and leadership, perform well under pressure, and have the experience and confidence necessary in coaching a winning team. They must also have a thick skin in order to deal with the constant pressure of creating a winning team, and dealing with blame when a team loses.
Most coaches must have many years of experience in coaching a professional college team. Athletic Coaches who start out in Junior Highs and High Schools can gain a lot of years of experience in order to move up to coaching professional University teams. Coaches can also move up to teaching professional teams in the National Football, Baseball, or Basketball leagues. A coach who has a track record of the most winning teams will be looked at favorably.
Job Responsibilities
Athletic Coaches can work in several areas of sports, such as University sports, professional, Junior High sports, High School sports, camps, and social clubs. Their responsibilities are to choose the best players in order to effectively balance a team, how to find players that could be potential winners for their team, and how to recruit players for a team. Athletic Coaches will spend a lot of time searching for potential players by attending games to watch other players and how they perform. They are always on the look out for potential champions. They seek out youthful high school students who want to have a career in sports, and offer to get them onto college teams once they graduate.
Once an Athletic Coach has chosen the right team members, they spend the rest of the time training them on schemes and different plans of action that will bring them the best chances of winning. They must also prepare their teams through mental and physical exercises to keep them motivated. Coaches who teach high school and Junior high teams will spend a lot of their time filling out paperwork, ordering equipment, supplies, reserving buildings for practice, and scheduling. Coaches must always be on the look out for students who could be failing their classes because it could directly affect their chances in getting into a good college team. They will direct and teach students the importance of studying and keeping their grades up, and they will train student aides to help in the extra duties that a coach is unable to attend to.
Most professional coaches have a large number of staff members, and managers that will help them with training, and administration duties. Professional Athletic coaches are usually under a large amount of strain due to their responsibilities for creating a winning team that will keep people coming to the games to see their favorite teams. They must be able to perform their duties without losing sight of the most important part of a team, which are the players. The Athletic Coaches need to ensure that the players are always tended to first. This may involve being able to recognize when a player is too exhausted to continue playing, and they need to act fast if a player is injured. They will need to add and remove players as needed. Most coaches have medical sport technicians who are available at any moment for injuries. Athletic Coaches must always be proactive by keeping their players motivated and physically fit.
Training and Educational Requirements
Athletic Coaches who teach Junior High and High School will need a Bachelor’s degree in most anything, but they are mostly looked at favorably if they have a degree in education, sports education, sports science, or a Masters degree. Professional Coaches will need a Masters degree in order to coach a professional team.
Salary and Wages
The salary for an Athletic Coach depends on the University or High School that a coach works for. The starting salary for an Athletic Coach at a University is $33,000 a year. Coaches who teach at a High School could make less than $10,000 a year for coaching, but they will get a regular teaching salary of over $30,000 a year. Professional coaches who coach professional teams could make up to $800,000 a year.
Certifications
A certification depends on the state that a person lives in. Some states require Athletic Coaches to be state certified in order to coach Junior High or High School students. The certification will entail training in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, among other training requirements. Most universities and high schools hire Athletic Coaches who have a lot of experience in coaching professional university teams. The schools want to see some kind of validation that a potential coach understands the qualifications to make a good trainer and motivator for a team.
Professional Associations
National Association of Sports Officials
National Athletic Trainers Association
National High School Athletics Coaches Association
