How to Get the Job You Want as a Sports Manager

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Personal/Fitness Training Blog

As every sports enthusiast knows, for a sporting team to win the players need to be focused and be at the top of their games. A sports coach plays a vital role in this but if the team doesn’t have a sports manager, they won’t soar as they should.

What does a Sports Manager do?

A sports manager – says Lindsey Thompson – does a LOT of things. For example:

“At the professional level, the sports manager is responsible for hiring and firing athletes. The sports manager works with other staff members to draw up contracts for each athlete and negotiates with athletes to reach a contract agreement … The sports manager performs management duties at a number of different levels. For professional teams, sports managers work with coaches and trainers to be sure each athlete has the training resources he needs to be the best at his position.”

How to Forge your Way to the Top as a Sports Manager

If you have your heart set on becoming a sports manager, there are certain things that you need to do in order to become successful.

Get an Accredited Sports Management Course under your belt

In order to become a successful sports manager, you need to have done an accredited sports management course like the one on offer at Trifocus Fitness Academy.

Trifocus Fitness Academy’s Sports Management Certification – which is accredited through SAQA and CATHSSETA – equips students with all the fundamentals they need in order to become a sports manager.

Modules include:

Communication for a sports manager

  • Produce and respond to written communication appropriately in an office environment.
  • Produce verbal communication appropriately in an office environment.
  • Respond to verbal communication appropriately in an office environment.

Ethical behaviour and discipline in a sporting environment

  • Describe what professional values, in a sporting environment, are.
  • Indicate how professional values function in sporting association.
  • Describe what professional accountability is.

Manage the sporting environment

  • Establish organisational structures in sports.
  • Ensure that you aim for the highest levels of customer satisfaction.
  • Learn how to deal with project finances as well as financial management.

How to Get Experience in Managerial Positions

Being a sports manager is – essentially – being a manager. However, in addition to managing people you also manage the workings of a sports team and/or facility.

In an interview with Bruce Whitfield on 702, Steven Jacobs author of The New Manager: How to Become a Leader in 52 Simple Steps says that the first thing you need to do in order to become an effective manager is to win and hearts and minds of your employees. Don’t treat them like robots and make management all about a tick-box exercise. Adapt your management style to the people who you’re managing.

Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy about the Sports Management Certification as well as any of our other exciting courses on offer.

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