Profession sports coach

Sports coaches provide instruction in the sport of their specialisation in a recreational context to non-age-specific and age specific participants. They identify already acquired skills and implement suitable training programmes for the groups or individuals they teach in order to develop participants' physical and psychological fitness. They create the most optimal environment for the growth of participant skills and enable them to maximise their performance, while fostering good sportsmanship and character in all participants. Sports coaches also track the participant progress and provide personalised instruction where needed. They supervise sports facilities and changing rooms and maintain uniforms and equipment.

Personality Type

• Social / Artistic
• Social / Realistic
• Realistic / Enterprising

Knowledge

• Sport and exercise medicine

  Prevention and treatement of injuries or conditions resulted from a physical activity or sport.

• Sport games rules

  The rules and regulations of sport games such as football, soccer, tennis, and others.

• Sporting equipment usage

  Have knowledge of the correct operation and maintenance of sporting equipment.

• Teamwork principles

  The cooperation between people characterised by a unified commitment to achieving a given goal, participating equally, maintaining open communication, facilitating effective usage of ideas etc.

• Sports ethics

  The ethical considerations in sport activities, policy and management that ensure fair play and sportsmanship in all recreational and competitive sports.

Skills

• Apply risk management in sports

  Manage the environment and athletes or participants to minimise their chances of suffering any harm. This includes checking appropriateness of venue and equipment and gathering relevant sport and health history from athletes or participants. It also includes ensuring appropriate insurance cover is in place at all times

• Adapt teaching to target group

  Instruct students in the most fitting manner in regards to the teaching context or the age group, such as a formal versus an informal teaching context, and teaching peers as opposed to children.

• Demonstrate when teaching

  Present to others examples of your experience, skills, and competences that are appropriate to specific learning content to help students in their learning.

• Plan sports instruction programme

  Provide participants with an appropriate programme of activities to support progression to the required level of expertise in the specified time taking into account relevant scientific and sport-specific knowledge.

• Prepare lesson content

  Prepare content to be taught in class in accordance with curriculum objectives by drafting exercises, researching up-to-date examples etc.

• Motivate in sports

  Positively foster athletes and participants' intrinsic desire to carry out the required tasks to fulfill their goals and to push themselves beyond their current levels of skill and understanding.

• Perform classroom management

  Maintain discipline and engage students during instruction.

• Apply teaching strategies

  Employ various approaches, learning styles, and channels to instruct students, such as communicating content in terms they can understand, organising talking points for clarity, and repeating arguments when necessary. Use a wide range of teaching devices and methodologies appropriate to the class content, the learners' level, goals, and priorities.

• Develop a coaching style

  Develop a style for coaching individuals or groups that ensures all participants are at ease, and are able to acquire the necessary skills and competences provided in the coaching in a positive and productive manner.

• Give constructive feedback

  Provide founded feedback through both criticism and praise in a respectful, clear, and consistent manner. Highlight achievements as well as mistakes and set up methods of formative assessment to evaluate work.

• Assist students in their learning

  Support and coach students in their work, give learners practical support and encouragement.

• Observe student's progress

  Follow up on students’ learning progress and assess their achievements and needs.

• Encourage students to acknowledge their achievements

  Stimulate students to appreciate their own achievements and actions to nurture confidence and educational growth.

• Instruct in sport

  Provide appropriate technical and tactical instruction related to the given sport using varied and sound pedagogical approaches to meet the needs of the participants and achieve the desired objectives. This requires skills such as communication, explanation, demonstration, modelling, feedback, questioning and correction.

• Manage student relationships

  Manage the relations between students and between student and teacher. Act as a just authority and create an environment of trust and stability.

• Guarantee students' safety

  Ensure all students falling under an instructor or other person’s supervision are safe and accounted for. Follow safety precautions in the learning situation.

• Promote balance between rest and activity

  Provide information about the role of rest and regeneration in the development of sport performance. Foster rest and regeneration by providing appropriate ratios of training, competition and rest.

• Adapt teaching to student's capabilities

  Identify the learning struggles and successes of students. Select teaching and learning strategies that support students’ individual learning needs and goals.

• Assist students with equipment

  Provide assistance to students when working with (technical) equipment used in practice-based lessons and solve operational problems when necessary.

• Organise training

  Make the necessary preparations to conduct a training session. Provide equipment, supplies and exercise materials. Ensure the training runs smoothly.

• Apply intercultural teaching strategies

  Ensure that the content, methods, materials and the general learning experience is inclusive for all students and takes into account the expectations and experiences of learners from diverse cultural backgrounds. Explore individual and social stereotypes and develop cross-cultural teaching strategies.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB