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Coaches (5252)

Job titles

  • amateur athletics team coach
  • amateur sports team coach
  • amateur track and field team coach
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Nature of work

Coaches prepare and train individual athletes or teams for competitive events. They are employed by national and provincial sports organizations, professional and amateur sports teams, sports clubs and universities or they may be self-employed. This unit group also includes sports scouts who identify and recruit athletes for professional sports teams. They are employed by professional sports organizations.

Fields of interest

  • Managing, organizing, administrating
  • Working in the arts, culture, music, and recreation

Main duties

  • Coaches perform some or all of the following duties:
  • - Identify strengths and weaknesses of athletes or teams
  • - Plan, develop and implement training and practice sessions
  • - Nurture and develop athletes' potential skills and abilities
  • - Develop, plan and co-ordinate competitive schedules and programs
  • - Motivate and prepare athletes or teams for competitive events or games
  • - Formulate competitive strategy, develop game plans and direct athletes and players during games or athletic events
  • - Analyse and evaluate athletes' or teams' performances and modify training programs.
  • Sports scouts perform some or all of the following duties:
  • - Identify and recruit developing athletes for professional sports teams
  • - Observe and evaluate prospective athletes' skills and performance, and review their past record
  • - File reports on scouting assessments and recommendations with professional team employers.

Main characteristics of the occupation

These headings are provided for the following occupation(s) :

Employment requirements

  • * Coaches
  • * Completion of the National Coaching Certificate program is usually required for individual and team sports coaches in all sports.
  • * National Coaching Certificate Level 3 is usually required for provincial coaches.
  • * National Coaching Certificate Level 4 is usually required for coaches of national team athletes.
  • * A degree in physical education may be required.
  • * Experience in and technical knowledge of the sport is required.
  • * Sports scouts
  • * Experience in and technical knowledge of the sport is required.

Skill type

  • Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport

Skill level

  • Technical

Job titles - Classified elsewhere

Professional associations

  • Association canadienne des entraîneurs
  • 141, avenue Laurier Ouest, bureau 300
  • Ottawa, ON
  • K1P5J3
  • Phone: 613-235-5000
  • Fax: 613-235-9500
  • Email: coach@coach.ca