I just wanted to ask the strength coaches, personal trainers etc on this site what there qualifications are??
I really want to become a strength and conditioning coach, working with rugby teams or sporting people is my dream. But I would like to hear from someone who actually knows what qualifications i would need.
There are personal training certificates you can get after doing a few months learning but they seem really stupids and expensive, plus i want more than that, like sports science degree, or human movement degree, but would that even get me anywhere?? any help would be great
there are fist fulls of qualifications you can get, alot of coaches have a degree in some sort of sports science. there are then alot of varying coaching qualifications, CSCS, NSCA, UKSCA to mention a few. Some certs require case studies or exams and the thoroughness and requirements of which can vary alot.
Getting the certs and qualifications is the easy part. Getting the job is the hard part, the industry suffers from nepotism at the university level and sporting organisational level (you’ll need a degree or Msc + cert to work at this level).
This is why alot of strength coaches start their own facilities and own services, the advantage in this is your qualifications really dont matter and sticking on a strength coach badge is easy so you really need to prove your self vs the rest.Ive had some great intern and work experiance but im still chasing that dream posistion.
if your curious i have a BSc in applied sports science and a Higher national diploma in the same, UKSCA, BWLA certs
[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
well, youll need a whistle[/quote]
That’s funny and partly true.
OP, I would go the college route and then get your certs. If you take the right major your classes should prepare you for your exams. Make as many contacts as you can.
im 18, turning 19 this year…doing bach of science this year but i want to switch to sports science, or exercise science. I’m pretty sure when u do the degrees u get accredited with ASCA, amongst other things.
Looking at all the well known coaches in Australia, a great deal of them were actually really good at the sport and just sorta got handed a coaching position, i dont even know if they are qualified. Is there any money to be made in the business really or is it more of a passion thing
[quote]ghostofbellstar wrote:
im 18, turning 19 this year…doing bach of science this year but i want to switch to sports science, or exercise science. I’m pretty sure when u do the degrees u get accredited with ASCA, amongst other things.
Looking at all the well known coaches in Australia, a great deal of them were actually really good at the sport and just sorta got handed a coaching position, i dont even know if they are qualified. Is there any money to be made in the business really or is it more of a passion thing[/quote]
Are you going to school in Austria? I’m not sure what Exercise Science is over there, but in the US it’s a fairly worthless degree at most institutions unless you’re really in to cardiac health (which it doesn’t sound like you are). Kinesiology, biomechanics, or perhaps sports science (depending on the courses) would be a much better choice.
There is money to be made, but like was said earlier in the thread and shouldn’t be glossed over - make a lot of contacts and friends in the industry if you want to get a position with a team or university. It rarely happens that someone is just looking over a stack of random applications.
First step would be to start working towards a Physcial Education, Kinesiology, Exercise Science or Physiology BSc degree. While in school it would be worthwhile to volunteer with one of the varsity teams and work on opening some doors, possibly working as personal trainer as a part time job this is where you should look at getting your ACSM or NSCA-CPT.
Once you’ve completed your Bachelor degree you should look at getting your CSCS, a necessity these days if you plan on coaching at the collegiate levels or anywhere else for that matter. You can stop there or work towards a MSc of some sort.
Throughout this entire process you should be attending seminars, networking and writing articles.
I am from australia as well and i have a few friends that work with a couple of sporting teams etc. Unless you are a ex professional you will need a degree is exercise science.
There are tafe courses you can do but that wont get into a professional sporting team set up unless you know some body.
A girl I know did that degree and something else after it and she now works with the western bull dogs afl team.
I’m going to school at present for a B.A. in Exercise Science and a Doctor in Physical Therapy. I also would like to be a Strength Coach in the future, so I talked to the coaches at my university, and asked what I could do to observe with them and possibly be an intern.
I got my USA Weightlifting Certification to prove I was willing to invest not just time but money, and was given the opportunity to observe, coach, and learn from these guys. I recently gave it up due to time constraints, but I will say those six months interning and coaching athletes were enlightening to say the least (I did not get paid, but the experience was worth it’s weight in gold. If you are an intern and an undergraduate, expect to work 12-20 hours a week and not see a paycheck).