GOING FOR GOLD? LAUNCH YOUR SPORT AND FITNESS CAREER IN THE LIVERPOOL CITY REGION
We have a rich sporting heritage in the Liverpool City Region, so it’s a fantastic base from which you can build a career.
Sunday 15th March signalled the end of this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Milano Cortina. For those of us who have felt inspired whilst watching the games over the last few weeks, the good news is that you don’t need to be an elite athlete to launch a career in sport and fitness in the Liverpool City Region. From within our iconic stadiums to community hubs, there is a variety of career pathways available that help keep our region moving. This article looks at just a handful of roles in the sector.
Entry-level jobs in the sports industry
About to leave school and have a budding interest in sport? Or maybe you’re in a completely different career and looking to make the switch into sport and fitness? These entry-level roles can help you get a footing in the world of health, fitness and sports, giving you valuable experience to take forward in your career journey.
- A community activator coach plans, promotes, and delivers activities that help communities access and maintain physically active lifestyles. They often work within a charity, sports club, leisure centre, or youth organisation. It’s a great position for those who want to be a positive role model in the community and interact with a diverse range of people.
- A leisure team member works as part of a team to maintain a leisure/fitness facility, such as a gym, swimming pool, or sports club. This might include opening and closing the facility and maintaining the equipment and environment. They also interact with customers and may provide services such as lifeguarding or fitness instruction. In this highly varied role, no two days will be the same.
Specialised roles
If you’ve already obtained some experience or completed a qualification, you can aim for a more specialised role. These could include:
- Personal trainer: Gaining a qualification as a personal trainer can help you move towards offering 1:1 or small group instruction. You’ll be responsible for creating fitness plans and delivering tailored advice to help individuals move towards their personal fitness goals. This role also incorporates finance, sales, and marketing, making it a great pathway for anyone with an entrepreneurial mindset.
- Sporting excellence professional: For those with the drive and ability to compete in a sport at the highest levels. Aside from football, the Liverpool City Region has a rich sporting heritage in cricket through our historic local clubs, and our links to the Grand National make us a premier choice for aspiring jockeys.
- Outdoor activity instructor: Supervises and guides both children and adults in outdoor activities. These might include sailing, climbing, surfing, or archery. In a role like this, you could undertake a level 3 apprenticeship with your employer’s support.
Leadership
For those aiming to reach the absolute pinnacle of the industry, below is a small selection of high-level occupations. These roles use elite strategy, advanced data, and techniques for developing psychological resilience to help athletes achieve world-class results. Positions like these typically require a university degree or a level 4 apprenticeship.
- High-performance coach: These coaches move beyond the local community to train athletes on talent or development pathways, or professional competitors in national or international programmes. They’re experts in the psychological and physical preparation of the next generation of elite competitors.
- Performance sports scientist: Just as we saw during the Olympics in Milan and Cortina, cutting-edge biomechanics and real-time motion-tracking sensors can help athletes shave milliseconds off their times. Performance sports scientists might specialise in one of several tasks, including analysing training and competition data, designing development plans, researching how fitness can prevent medical conditions, and advising on equipment manufacturing.
- Sport and exercise psychologist: Works with athletes, teams and coaches to improve their motivation and performance, creating personalised plans and recommendations and teaching people psychological techniques to improve their wellbeing and cope with sporting injuries. You could work in a range of environments, ranging from sports arenas to prisons.
Your local advantage
We have a rich sporting heritage in the Liverpool City Region, so it’s a fantastic base from which you can build a career. Many of the roles mentioned in this article can be followed via apprenticeship pathways, meaning you can earn while developing skills and expertise. Check out local apprenticeship training providers like Elev8ate, but remember that if you can get a job locally related to the sports industry, apprenticeship training providers from further afield can deliver training to you virtually. Another local route is to train as a personal trainer with a specialist organisation such as Origym.
A useful overview of the career pathways you can take in the sports industry is available in our BeMore occupational maps section. Click on the Community exercise, physical activity, sport and health part under the Health & Science route.
