Postgraduate courses in Sports Coaching

Sports coaching is an area that takes both passion and motivation in order to get the most out of athletes and teams. Are you confident, motivated, passionate about sport and athlete performance as well as having an eye for detail and an analytical mind? If you tick all the boxes, this is definitely worth having a look at. 

There are a number of postgraduate courses in the area that might help you along your path to your ideal career.

What is sports coaching?

Sports coaching is the guidance and implementation of a high quality coaching programme in order to get the best performance out of teams, athletes and coaches. You will work with teams and individual athletes who need a plan going forward in their playing careers to optimize their performance and results. 

As a sports coach, you will need to get the best out of yourself in order to get the best out of athletes and teams you are coaching. You will need to pay attention to detail and analyze performances in order to highlight the strengths that are working and the weaknesses that need to be improved on. You will figure out what works best and what doesn’t work at all and implement a  high quality coaching programme based on your findings and observations. 

You will be expected to motivate players to want to get the best out of themselves and to reach their goals. You will keep up to date on training techniques through attending different coaching courses as well as delivery and effective coaching strategy. An important element of this role is to ensure that players and athletes are equipped with the knowledge and motivation to carry out their own continuous sporting development. Such knowledge you will need to instil in them is in relation to health and lifestyle issues. 

You will attend training sessions and meetings to keep in the loop and to observe different strategies and performances. The working hours of a sporting coach may be uncoscial as they are often based around weekends and evenings. 

Courses

There are many courses on offer in the area across the UK. Some courses offer the opportunity to study either part time or full time. Universities may have certain restrictions in place due to Covid-19 and may offer courses online. Courses available include:

Sport Coaching

A postgraduate course in sport coaching will give students the opportunity to develop their knowledge in the area while also learning to develop high quality coaching skills to make an impact on athletes and teams of all levels to get the best out of themselves. You will learn to critically evaluate new developments and theories while applying them to your teams. Modules in this course include Innovation in Professional Development, Research Methodology in Sport, Exercise and rehabilitation, Advanced Pedagogies, Digital Practice in Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation among many more. 

There are also courses available in Sports Management, Professional Practice in Sports Coaching, Football Coaching and Analysis and Sport Management, Governance and Policy to name a  few. 

Entry requirements

Entry requirements may differ from course to course or university to university. Therefore, it is important to research your specific course in detail to ensure you meet the entry requirements. As these courses are postgraduate courses, you will need a bachelor’s degree. Some courses may accept a 2.2 degree while others will require a 2.1 in a relevant area such as sports management or sports science. 

Salary 

Your salary in this area will differ depending on your exact job title, your employment type and both experience and location can also play a role in your salary. It is believed that the salary of a sports coach in the UK will range anywhere between £15,000 to £25,000. Depending on certain teams or athletes you are working with, should they have a high profile, this would be another factor in your wage. If you continued into an area such as sports psychology, for example, you could earn around  £35,600. All figures are based on estimates and are intended to be used as a guide only. 

Related Jobs

• Sports Coach – football, rugby, boxing, hockey etc
• Personal Trainer
• Sports Development Officer
• Sports Manager
• Sports Therapist
• Sports Psychologist
• Outdoor sports leader

Skills and requirements

Skills and requirements helpful in this area include:

• Excellent communication skills
• The ability to lead
• Confidence 
• Organisation skills
• Time management skills
• Methodical approach 
• Observant
• Attention to detail 
• An interest in sports
• Motivational
• Excellent verbal skills
• An analytical mind
• Problem solver
• Perseverance
• Patience
• Passion