Careers for athletes?

[Vertigo]

The DPT was one of the biggest scams from higher education. Forcing kids to go to school for up to seven years when the job is no different than it was for those with a four year degree proves it was nothing more than a money grab. I see PTs graduating with $350K plus in loans only to draw a salary of $75-$110K.

They did a similar thing with pharmacists. I remember when that was just a Master’s degree program. They have been trying to do it with advanced practice nurses, as well; however, it’s a hard sell when there’s no salary increase for obtaining said degree.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

They did a similar thing with pharmacists. I remember when that was just a Master’s degree program. They have been trying to do it with advanced practice nurses, as well; however, it’s a hard sell when there’s no salary increase for obtaining said degree.

Yup. And then they sold kids on the importance of the seven-year direct program. Kids are so afraid they won't get into the doctoral program, so they go to the expensive schools for seven years and graduate with loans out the bum.

NY has one public option for pharmacy, SUNY Buffalo. They have direct, indirect, and partner programs for admission. The direct program is really difficult to get in to, so many students choose St. John's as an alternative. Well, St. John's costs roughly $65K per year for 6-7 years. Buffalo costs around $26,000 for undergrad, and $42,000 for the grad work. That's a huge savings over the private schools.

 

[ChrisSB]

Depends what you mean by 'working with athletes'

Pro sports and even Power 5 colleges are basically big businesses, so there are other roles as well that are there for the taking if you want to pursue.
Marketing in particular has a lot of potential and a lot of roles work directly with the team for promotional purposes. DD has a couple of friends who have gone down the marketing path and have worked for many organizations including MLB, Miami Heat and FSU. One does event & promotional planning - the other create a lot of the teams social media and promotional video. Both currently travel with the team multiple times per year and always during playoffs. She also has a friend who works for a sports agent basically doings logistics on behalf of their clients.

I've worked and sold a lot of solutions to the sports world, so know people doing all sorts of roles for the teams. There are other careers that go down other paths as well - a lot of business and finance - event planning, community liaisons - and most pro teams have a deep tech & IT team.
A lot of the people in these roles came through internships that they pursued in college because they wanted to be involved in the industry but in a capacity they were studying.

I also know a lot of officials in Pro and College (basketball mainly) who make a good to great living - that is a VERY different career path. Burt hey, if you want to work with athletes - you can be right there in the playing field with them

Thanks, those are some interesting ideas. Hadn't really thought too much about this route, she thinks she wants more hands on involvement, but this made her check into what other options there are for dual enrollment her last semester of senior year and they have a sports management class so she's going to take it and see if she likes it.

 

[ChrisSB]

Thanks everyone for all the input, lots of great things to think about!

 

[jakel]

A couple of other options that I have had some career success with and didn't see listed here.

1. Athletic/Activities Directors
At bigger high schools or even small colleges this makes at least moderate money and would maintain at least sort of close to the action. You likely need to be a teacher/coach for a time first before moving into administration.
2. Community Ed Director
I got my career started running the activity center for a large school district. It was largely a supervisor role but I had to do a lot with actual athletes and teams with reserving field or gym space and facilitating tournaments and summer rec programs. I had planned for this to be a stepping stone but ended up landing a career in the next option first.
3. Sports Tech
This isn't so hands on with athletes but this is big business nowadays and with plenty of powerhouses in the market you can certainly make decent money without needing an advanced degree. My job worked a lot with coaches and team administrators at the youth level and I always enjoyed helping them spend more time coaching and less time on things like registrations and other administration duties that can be major time sucks for volunteers.

 

[pdqkevin]

Anyone have thoughts about careers for girls who want to work with athletes for a living? The options I can think of are athletic trainer, physical therapy, coaching, sports nutrition, strength and conditioning coach.

It seems like athletic trainers hardly makes any money unless you are with a pro team. I just saw a job posted for a mid major and the pay is $38 - 43,000 a year. Considering you have to have your Masters that's a horrible ROI. Physical therapists make more, but their schooling is even more expensive since they have to have their doctorate and I've read that with all the insurance and Medicaid costs their salaries haven't gone up in years. It looks like the cost of grad school for a DPT around us would be $120,000+ OUCH. I can't imagine college coaches make much unless they're at the P5 level. Any idea of what a coach at a smaller college makes?

Any other ideas for jobs? What can you do with a degree in exercise science if you don't go to grad school?

Become a teacher as a career and coach school teams at the same time. She can be a personal hitting/pitching/fielding trainer and/or physical fitness trainer at the same time. Credentialed teachers usually have priority in filling coaching openings plus they also often get a daily free period and a little extra pay.

 

[Thunder17]

I have a daughter (Junior in college) currently playing ball and majoring in Kinesiology. She was deciding between AT (athletic training) and PT (physical training) as you have to choose one to get a masters. She's having second thoughts as AT isn't as rewarding as she thought it would be, plus finding out where you start (generally HS working nights and weekends attending events all school year) plus the starting salary wasn't what she envisioned. She started looking at PT more closely, but seeing it requires even more schooling and its more intense that AT. She added a Phycology major where she hopes to maybe focus on athletes as Colleges, Health Care, and even HS's are hiring more people in these positions.

 

[Northball]

A real challenge would be financial advisor who specializes in keeping athletes from blowing what suddenly seems like an unlimited amount of money.

 

[Tazman]

A real challenge would be financial advisor who specializes in keeping athletes from blowing what suddenly seems like an unlimited amount of money.

I've often thought players associations should negotiate that any pay above say 2m-5m per year should be Given 50% as deferred compensation that is invested but can't be touched until 10 years after the playing career is complete. This would still provide a lavish lifestyle but avoid the Ferrari, Gucci, mansion today bankrupt tomorrow stories.