Sports Coach

The challenges confronting coaches vary, though most are, to a large degree, training amateurs to compete. It can be invigorating as well as frustrating. Most coaches do not have the luxury of recruiting the best talent; they work with the players that chance offers them. At its most basic, coaching is teaching, except in an athletic venue instead of a classroom. At its most extreme (picture Remember the Titans or Friday Night Lights), a coach is a pillar of the community. Building a successful team can be very rewarding, but for every winner, there is at least one loser. A coach with a poor win/loss record must remember that while he or she remains in the sporting realm year after year, the players—the true products of his or her labors—move on. Success in this profession is not measurable by a season's record.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects 29.4 percent employment growth for sports coaches between 2010 and 2020, adding 71,400 more positions. Favorable job prospects help this profession rank well among Social Service jobs in the Best Jobs of 2013.

The BLS reports the median annual wage for sports coaches was $28,470 in 2011. The best-paid 10 percent in the field made $65,060, while the bottom 10 percent made approximately $17,110. The highest-paid in the profession work in the metropolitan areas of Athens, Ga., and Auburn, Ala.

There are no nationwide educational requirements. Familiarity with the sport is preferred but not always necessary. Most schools—the nation's largest employer of athletic coaches—hire one of their current teachers part-time to coach a sport. Coaches who are not already teachers may need state certification.

"Teaching skills and techniques is only 5 percent of the job," says Bob Ferraro, founder and CEO of the National High School Coaches Association. "The best coaches have a good mind for business and good people skills." How do you demonstrate these skills? "With background checks, coaching certifications, and the technology to produce a coaching video," says Ferraro. "It's not just a resume; it's a personality test." Candidates should send their materials to the school where they wish to work.