Ways to Become a Coach

Coaching careers can start in a number of ways.basketball on the street image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com

There is no one way to become a coach. Many vocations have prerequisites such as advanced degrees that are strictly adhered to, but there are no broad requirements to become a coach. While there is no set track for coaching, there are a few common factors of past and current coaches that can serve as a road map.

Play the Sport

Participation in a sport is the quickest way to build a coaching foundation. Most coaches find their first training in a sport by playing. Being on the field and learning the strategy and rules of a game as a player sets a base level of game strategy and player understanding that is valuable for a coach. Also, recognition gained as a successful player can often translate into being viewed as a possible coach. Club managers and sport directors often equate on-field success with possible coaching success, so a good career as a player can lead to an easier entrance into the world of coaching.

Coaching jobs are attained through an applicant's track record of success and experience. Such a standard can be a double-edged sword. With no track record, you can have trouble finding work as a coach, but if you cannot work as a coach, you cannot build a track record. To break in, look to be a volunteer. If you need to start as a volunteer Little League coach, do it. If you have success at the lower level, you can move up to the next level. With enough success, moving forward on this trajectory will eventually see you reach your coaching goals.

Formal education is not a requirement to become a coach in general, but it can be in certain cases. Though not a rule across the board, most public schools require their coaches to have degrees. Outside of the public school sector, degree requirements are rare for coaches, but some prospective coaches will often study in field such as physical education or exercise science to build their resume. Such degrees are not usually requirements, but they can make a job candidate stand out from a crowd of others without degrees.

As varied as the sports and the bodies that govern them, some certifications can lead directly to coaching. Whereas a football coach might not need or even have access to any certifications, a martial arts teacher does. Martial artists build their way to coaching by learning their craft from a master and gaining their certification as an expert. For dangerous sports such as SCUBA diving, certifications are a legal requirement. Though programs will differ from state to state, proposed SCUBA instructors need to have a set amount of supervised diving experience and pass tests before they can become a coach. Though such coaches have more defined hoops to jump through, their map to becoming a coach is also more defined.