No, in general, you need not be an athlete to work in sports industry. Among many others, you can work in sports marketing, promotions, and sponsorships to college athletics and professional sports. Athletes in all sports need sports agents, and teams in general need athlete representation and physical therapists. As an interesting adjunct, remember that physical therapists get to travel with the teams!
If you are asking yourself who the sports employers are, consider sports agencies, colleges and other learning institutions’ athletic departments, stadiums and sport arenas, professional sports teams, health and fitness employers, as well as national recreational sports organizations. Or, you can endeavor to become a professional groundskeeper for a sports stadium, or even a sports writer. Perhaps your sports niche will encompass the exciting world of sports broadcasting? Extreme sports are coming into “their own” as well, and there are diversity jobs being created in this highly specialized sports field.
Sports jobs listings are not limited to those in the US or Canada either. If travel is your “thing” consider that the entire world is involved in sports, albeit sometimes different than our own. There are diversity job postings for almost every imaginable location, affording you the chance to travel the world over. Those who speak two or more different languages are in high demand and extremely well paid.
Diversity jobs in sports marketing may well involve not just working with the players themselves but perhaps working with sports apparel, equipment, or even footwear manufacturers. Perhaps, you may design sports apparel or become a sales representative for sports apparel. Sports scheduling is a job itself, as is any kind of sports administration and promotion. Have you considered being a team accountant? How about working with sponsorship deals involving not only sports arenas but sports stars as well?
Maybe your dream career is being a sports director or coach. Regardless of where you’ve hung your star, you will find enough job diversity postings to stir your imagination and find the career of your choice all the while keeping you involved in sports.
Regardless of where your involvement with sports lies, you will find that it’s a highly lucrative field, filled with excitement, and containing the typical highs and lows of advancements and disappointments. In general, know that in the thrilling field of sports industry, you’ll probably be able to mingle with sports stars, the media, and the fans.
