Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media · Holland code SER

Coaches and Scouts

Instruct or coach groups or individuals in the fundamentals of sports for the primary purpose of competition. Demonstrate techniques and methods of participation. May evaluate athletes' strengths and weaknesses as possible recruits or to improve the athletes' technique to prepare them for competition. Those required to hold teaching certifications should be reported in the appropriate teaching category.

Also called: Basketball Coach, Coach, Football Coach, Track and Field Coach, Baseball Coach, Cross Country Coach, Gymnastics Coach, Soccer Coach.

O*NET 27-2022.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $47,320; Middle half earn $35,330 to $64,710. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 49% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +6% · Faster than average; 306,500 jobs in 2024, projected 326,000. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Coaches and scouts".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Plan, organize, and conduct practice sessions.
Provide training direction, encouragement, motivation, and nutritional advice to prepare athletes for games, competitive events, or tours.
Adjust coaching techniques, based on the strengths and weaknesses of athletes.
Instruct individuals or groups in sports rules, game strategies, and performance principles, such as specific ways of moving the body, hands, or feet, to achieve desired results.
Plan strategies and choose team members for individual games or sports seasons.
Monitor the academic eligibility of student athletes.
Counsel student athletes on academic, athletic, and personal issues.
Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of opposing teams to develop game strategies.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Speaking4.4 / 5
Learning Strategies4.1 / 5
Monitoring4.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking4.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Education and Training3.8 / 5
English Language3.7 / 5
Administration and Management3.6 / 5
Psychology3.6 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.5 / 5
Communications and Media3.3 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic54
Investigative19
Artistic24
Social72
Enterprising69
Conventional41

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

sport administrator · DE Sportverwalter/Sportverwalterin · FR administrateur sportif/administratrice sportive
physical education teacher secondary school · DE Lehrkraft für Sport Sekundarstufe · FR professeur d’éducation physique et sportive/professeure d’éducation physique et sportive
sports programme coordinator · DE Koordinator für Sport und Freizeit/Koordinatorin für Sport und Freizeit · FR coordinateurs de programmes sportifs/coordinatrices de programmes sportifs
professional athlete · DE Berufssportler/Berufssportlerin · FR sportif professionnel/sportive professionnelle
sports coach · DE Sportlehrer/Sportlehrerin · FR coach sportif
football coach · DE Fußballtrainer/Fußballtrainerin · FR entraîneur d’équipe de football/entraîneuse d’équipe de football

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services (1163)8,000 employed
Secondary education teaching professionals (2313)504,100 employed
Sports players (3431)13,300 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.12. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (27-2022).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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