Careers for athletes?

[ChrisSB]

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?

 

[Vertigo]

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?

I would say a Physician Assistant who works for an orthopedic or sports medicine practice. It does require a Master’s degree but the salary outlook is very good, even to start.

ETA: Sorry, I answered your first question but didn’t really answer your last question.

 

[Vertigo]

I would say a Physician Assistant who works for an orthopedic or sports medicine practice. It does require a Master’s degree but the salary outlook is very good, even to start.

ETA: Sorry, I answered your first question but didn’t really answer your last question.

I imagine a good portion of those who major in Exercise Science go on to become Personal Trainers or Fitness Instructors if they don’t go to grad school.

 

[murphdog]

DD is almost done with her masters in mental health counseling. She’s torn between working with kids and working with athletes.

 

[marriard]

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.

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

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

 

[angispeds]

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

This is what my dd currently thinks she wants to do


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[chinamigarden]

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?

My wife is a PT. Many years ago when we were young. The requirement was a
Bachelors degree. It was a bitch of a program. But once you finished you took your license exam and if you passed you were a PT. She went back to school and got a masters specializing in orthopedic and sports.

Eventually the requirement was a doctorate. The reasoning behind the change, if we force the doctorate on students. More research papers will be written and hopefully published. And therefore Surgeons will have to respect the field more. Well it didn’t work so now people are forced into extra
School and extra costs. If you know any surgeons, they don’t necessarily respect other medical Doctors. And no my wife has seen no appreciable improvement in the quality of therapists who are right out of school.

Sorry my rant for the day.

 

[Vertigo]

My wife is a PT. Many years ago when we were young. The requirement was a
Bachelors degree. It was a bitch of a program. But once you finished you took your license exam and if you passed you were a PT. She went back to school and got a masters specializing in orthopedic and sports.

Eventually the requirement was a doctorate. The reasoning behind the change, if we force the doctorate on students. More research papers will be written and hopefully published. And therefore Surgeons will have to respect the field more. Well it didn’t work so now people are forced into extra
School and extra costs. If you know any surgeons, they don’t necessarily respect other medical Doctors. And no my wife has seen no appreciable improvement in the quality of therapists who are right out of school.

Sorry my rant for the day.

Nursing was kind of similar with wanting the BSN to be the entry level degree and making the DNP the terminal degree for advanced practice nurses. I remember when hospitals were only hiring BSN’s and were having the diploma school and ADN nurses who had already been working for years to obtain the BSN degree in order to continue being employed. Then a pesky little virus named Covid hit and that all seemed to go out the window.

 

[4Martini]

My wife is a PT. Many years ago when we were young. The requirement was a
Bachelors degree. It was a bitch of a program. But once you finished you took your license exam and if you passed you were a PT. She went back to school and got a masters specializing in orthopedic and sports.

Eventually the requirement was a doctorate. The reasoning behind the change, if we force the doctorate on students. More research papers will be written and hopefully published. And therefore Surgeons will have to respect the field more…

I always consult with PTs on which surgeons are best. They are the ones who really know the outcomes! I’ve never gotten a bad surgeon recommendation from a PT.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

My wife is a PT. Many years ago when we were young. The requirement was a
Bachelors degree. It was a bitch of a program. But once you finished you took your license exam and if you passed you were a PT. She went back to school and got a masters specializing in orthopedic and sports.

Eventually the requirement was a doctorate. The reasoning behind the change, if we force the doctorate on students. More research papers will be written and hopefully published. And therefore Surgeons will have to respect the field more. Well it didn’t work so now people are forced into extra
School and extra costs. If you know any surgeons, they don’t necessarily respect other medical Doctors. And no my wife has seen no appreciable improvement in the quality of therapists who are right out of school.

Sorry my rant for the day.

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.