Studying sports management at university is ideal for those who have played sports throughout school and who are interested in a career in sports and wellness management. Sports management courses will teach you management skills, communication skills and, if you are interested in the wellness sector of sports management, you will learn about health, fitness and nutrition.
If you are looking into studying sports management courses in South Africa, read on for information on what jobs you can get with this degree.
Gameday and event coordinator
As a gameday and event coordinator, you will need to be vibrant, able to work with people and also be highly organised. You will be putting together the essential elements of promoting, executing and broadcasting a sporting event which requires a highly creative mindset with time-management abilities.
You will be acting as a liaison between players and fans, as well as the sporting team and the media. Your jobs as a gameday and event coordinator is to ensure that the event is lively, exciting and fun and that everyone involved has a pleasant time. Sports management courses will teach you how to manage your time effectively so that your events go off without a hitch and that the sports teams you represent are represented accurately.
A sports blogger
Now, this might not sound like an actual career but being a sports blogger can provide lucrative opportunities for those who love to write and love sports. You can use the knowledge and insights gained from your sports management courses and create a blog that is well-versed in the business of sports.
There is the possibility of making it big as a sports blogger if your website and blog posts bring in significant traffic and if you have advertisers using your blog’s ad-space. For this type of career, you will have to do sufficient research on your topics and have the innovation to spin a story a new way to make it interesting to readers. This is best suited to someone who can write well and who has a solid background in sports management and business.
Athletics administrator
As an athletics administrator, you will be tasked with making many of the important decisions in a sports organisation, such as ordering equipment to hiring and firing staff. You will have to be highly organised and have an analytical mindset if you choose to take on this role.
You will also be asked to ensure compliance with legal regulations in your organisation, especially in the collegiate setting among younger athletes. You might work as part of a professional sports team or you could be hired by a university to handle the day-to-day administrative duties of the team. Without your approval, decisions cannot be made regarding equipment, staffing and legislation making it a highly important role.
A social media manager
Sports management courses will teach you about effective communication, which can be used for social media management of sports teams. Sporting teams need a social media presence too, as they have to promote themselves to their fans and notify everyone when and where they will next be playing.
There are plenty of sports networking opportunities out in the world, such as organising charity events or playing against a local team for the exposure of the team. These events need social media exposure which is where you will come in. You will create and curate posts for the team’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages and share these with fans in order to build a presence and encourage traffic to the team’s website. These posts will also encourage people to attend events and make them aware of all the events the team will be attending.
A financial and contract analyst
Sports management courses through UNISA and other institutions will teach you how to deal with contracts and with the financial side of the sports business. As with any organisation, sports teams try to be as fiscally efficient as possible, which is why they need to have a financial and contractual analyst.
You will be tasked with analysing available funds, capital and expenditures to maximise revenue and report on performance to the owners and managers of the team. This role is suited to someone with a mind for numbers and the ability to analyse data in order to make decisions. You may also be asked to analyse contracts to ensure that they reflect the values of the team and that the players are being paid fairly for their performances.
The opportunities are endless
Taking sports management courses will open up a world of opportunities for you career-wise. You could be an event coordinator for a local or national team, tackle the social media presence for players who need a boost or be an athletic administrator for your favourite team. Sports management is a lucrative industry to get into and will allow fans to connect with teams and take part in the world of a sport they know and love.