30 Best Sports Related Careers after 12th/Graduation
There is a well-known saying that if you love what you do, you’ll never have to work a day in your life. So, you love sport, you love playing it, watching it and analysing it. And even though you are not intending to become a professional athlete or sports person, you would do anything to have a lucrative career around the world of sport.Worldwide, sport is one of the fastest growing industries with gross revenues in billions of dollars. Closer home, from being a cricket centric country, India has now truly become a centre for multiple sports. There are now leagues for Football, Hockey, Kabaddi, volleyball, badminton, tennis, table tennis, formula 1, bike leagues and more. Sport in India is projected to become a Billion-dollar industry soon
In this article we will cover –
- 30 different sport related careers
- Top universities in the world offering sport related programs as well as some universities in India offering such programs
- Typical Entry requirements of these programs
- Pros and Cons of being in a sport related career
Sports related careers
Athlete / sportsperson – cricketer, footballer or basketballer
Category 1 – Sports plus MBA = Sports Management
- Team Management – take care of your entire team from budgets to marketing
- Social Media Manager –
- Event Planner
- Sports marketing – Sponsorships, Intellectual property, merchandising,
- Grassroot development – identifying and developing young players – MRF Pace Academy, Olympic Gold quest
- Sports agencies
Category 2 – Sports + Biology = Sports Medicine and Sports Science
- Sports medicine / Sports Physician– masters (UQ) – require an approved degree in medicine and 2 years full-time (or equivalent) post-qualification clinical practice
- Sports physiotherapy / therapist – the focus is on player rehabilitation and recovery programs – this is usually a masters program after a bachelors in science or physiotherapy
- Sports and exercise science – physiological, biomechanical and psychological influences on human performance to design the best exercises for each sport
- Sports and exercise nutrition
- Sports psychology – They help athletes in many ways including staying motivated, managing competition pressure and coping with injury and mental health issues.
- Kinesiology / Sports Biomechanics / bio mechanist– master’s program in the ‘physics of sport’
Category 3 – Sports Coaching and Education
- Sports coaching and physical education – teaching and coaching practical skills as well as academic and scientific skills – career as a coach
- Umpire/ Referee
- Professor – of Sports Management
Category 4 – Sports + Computer Science / Engineering / Math / Statistics
- Sports analytics – masters in Data science, or sports analytics or data analytics from a business school
- Sports technology – industrial and product design for sports equipment. The courses are broad based and cover Sports Science, Design, Technology, and Engineering Science.
Category 5 – Sports Law
- Sports Law is an umbrella term with elements of labor law, media law, contract law, competition law and tort law, sports law has emerged as a distinctive discipline of legal practice. Sports law can involve litigation, transactional, and regulatory work. Predominantly contract law. But areas such as Intellectual Property, competitions law, media law, sport specific codes and regulations, anti-doping issues, labour law and taxation also surface frequently.
Category 6 – Sports Journalism / Public Relations –
- Public Relations
- Content Creation – including Sport writing / blogging
- Broadcasting,
- Photo journalism,
- Publishing,
- Sport show producer,
- Editor,
- Radio caster,
- News reporter,
- Social Sciences Research / Market Research – e.g. in treatment of eating disorders; improved understanding of the effects of sedentary lifestyles and the benefits of physical activity; academic support to enhance sport coaching; advice to international sport organisations and governments on policies and procedures; guidance and support for elite athletes (both able-bodied and disabled) to achieve their full potential; and the use of exercise in treating health conditions.
Category 7 –
- e-sports – this is now big business. Fortnight and NFL gamers will agree. The esports industry is officially larger then USD 1 billion worldwide
Entry Requirements –
While this will vary depending on the institution. Typically, applicants will be expected to show strong aptitude in the sciences, particularly areas such as human biology and psychology, and of course a keen interest in sport is essential. The most popular sports science courses can be fairly competitive, and not all universities cover this subject, so you may need to look beyond the most familiar names to find a course that’s right for you.
Non-educational requirements that one must have in order to become a sports manager include strong verbal and written communication skills, a thorough understanding of business and legal contracts, knowledge of league rules, and interpersonal skills.
Top Universities in the world
Top Colleges in India offer study in Sports:
- Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports, Patiala
- Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, New Delhi
- Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education, Gwalior and Thiruvananthapuram
- National Academy of Sports Management, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai
- International Institute of Sports Management, Mumbai
- Tata Football Academy, Jamshedpur
- National Cricket Academy, Bangalore
- Algappa University, Tamil Nadu
- Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management – West Bengal
- University of Technology and Management – Meghalaya
- National Academy of Sports Management – Maharashtra
- Centurion University of Technology and Management – Orissa
- Dhyan Chand Sports College
- Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management
- Gujarat University
- Symbiosis School of Sport Sciences
- George College, Kolkata, West Bengal – BA in Sports Management
- Institute of Sports Management, ISST, Pune
- Tamil Nadu Physical Education & Sports University, Chennai
Pros
- With an ever-increasing enthusiasm for sports, sports management as a field is reaching new heights. It is a diverse field that allows you to work not only with big brands such as ESPN, ZEE – Ten Sports, JSW sports, Edu sports, Libero Sports, IMG, etc.
- You can also freelance and work as a special consultant to celebrity athletes as well as work as a coach in school and colleges.
- It allows you to think creatively and put your leadership and organizational skills to use, especially where you have to organize functions/events that draw the attention of the masses.
Cons
- Sports Management involves hectic jobs with longer working hours on average. Taking care of teams and making sure that everything runs smoothly behind the scenes is a daunting task.
- Since sports is a flourishing field, there is a lot of competition and is thus one of the toughest job markets to get into.
Best Books on Sport
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game (Paperback) by Michael Lewis
The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy by Bill Simmons
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (Paperback) by Michael Lewis
Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics by Jonathan Wilson
A Champion’s Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis by Pete Sampras
