Are you obsessed with all things sport related? Or, have a passion for helping others reach their sporting potential? You may even be thinking of studying something like a bachelor of sports management? If it’s a “yes”, then a career as a sports coach in Australia could be right for you.
Sport coaches need to develop an athlete or a team’s psychological and emotional fitness, inspire and build confidence, and improve and tweak performance. Sport coaches also need to be across the increasingly complex political, legislative and social aspects of the sport industry, and have good business and management savvy.
Sport coaches are, therefore, highly specialised professionals who need a broad range of skills.
Job demand for sport coach professionals
Aussies love sport: More than 15.4 million of us watch some form of sport on TV (per 2018 Roy Morgan research) and about 13 million adults and 3 million children take part in sport each year (per the Australian Government’s Department of Health and Aged Care). And the sport coaching industry is growing with many and varied opportunities. Skilled sport coaches are in high demand, whether that’s working in community sport, junior sport or school sport, to elite level sport coaching such as with the Australian Institute of Sport and professional sport teams, national leagues or even international tournaments and events.
How do you become a sport coach in Australia?
ACPE’s Bachelor of Sport Coaching (Management) is a specialised degree that develops the coaching, management and professional skills you’ll need to build a rewarding and successful career in the sport industry.
Our course offers a unique mix of coaching and business units, along with a variety of sport science and professional skills. And, as you’d expect, our course teaches up-to-date coaching techniques and management principles that are used right now in the sport industry.
But rest assured, this degree isn’t just learning theory or reading textbooks. We teach theory as well as practical, hands-on knowledge where you learn critical problem-solving skills. We also offer unrivalled industry exposure so that our students graduate with the best possible foundation to launch a career in the sport coaching industry.
That’s why we’re incredibly proud of our partnership with the Liverpool Football Club International Academy. This means our coaching students not only graduate with a degree in sport coaching, but can obtain Liverpool Football Club (LFC) coaching accreditation, work within the Academy and learn best practice from a premier league club like LFC.
LFC and ACPE both believe in the transformational power of sport and education, and this exciting partnership gives our students the opportunity to get industry exposure while you study, as well as learning to coach the best way – the Liverpool way.
“ACPE taught me the more industry experience you can put on your resume, the better,” says Mitchell Fuller, an ACPE Bachelor of Sport Coaching (Strength and Conditioning) graduate.
ACPE is also proud to be a member of the International Council for Coaching Excellence.
This means you can launch out of the starting blocks and get the (foot)ball rolling on your dream career as a sport coach.
What does the degree look like?
In the last few years, sport management has become increasingly more complex. We’ve designed the degree to focus on the knowledge, skills and capacities required for sport coaching and business management.
Our degree teaches you key skills and concepts relating to sport and sport performance, as well as management, finance, marketing and law – everything you need on the business side of sport management.
But you’ll also develop other key skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration. A successful sport coach uses all these skills, whether it’s supporting a team of athletes or negotiating a sponsorship deal.
With ACPE’s degree, you’ll also receive the following certifications:
- AIS Community Coaching General Principles Course
- AIS Community Officiating Principles Course
- NRL Level 1 Officiating Course
- HUDL Level 1 Sports-coding Course
- ASCA Level 1 Course (conditions apply)
What career can I have with ACPE’s Bachelor of Sport Coaching (Management)?
The opportunities really are endless in this growing industry. In fact, with employment opportunities for sport coaches and specialist managers almost doubling, the future looks bright for our graduates.
Our commitment to combining theoretical and hands-on practical experience, as well as access to industry exposure through leading organisations like LFC, are some of the reasons why ACPE has a graduate employment rate of 89.5%.
With ACPE’s degree, you could become a head or assistant coach, a high performance athlete or sport team manager or a sport development officer.
Or maybe you’re thinking about other pathways or careers, including further study? With ACPE’s degree, you could go on to studying an education or business degree, complete an MBA (Masters of Business Administration) or even do coaching and performance research.
So what are you waiting for? If you’ve been thinking about a bachelor of sports management online or the best sports coaching degree Australia has to offer, ACPE has you covered!
If you’re passionate about coaching, get in touch with our friendly ACPE team to see how we can help you achieve your dream career.
