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Careers in Sports Team Management

A lot of us who take up sports management, aspire to work for our favourite teams, in fact, for most people, that aspiration is what drives them into this field of work. Thinking about being in the team’s official uniform all the time, showing off with pictures on social media, being around the big guys and gals, it’d be like a dream come true.

And then some of us after reaching 5% of a realistic perspective also tell ourselves that if Team A doesn’t hire us, it’s okay, there’s a big pool of teams, we’d be happy working at any and then the realism keeps on building to the point where we realize ‘Nah that ain’t happening’. Whoa! That’s spooky and real let’s talk about that some other day.


The point is getting a job working for a top team is no piece of cake, but it’s not impossible either. Today, on our weekly sports management blog chatter, we’ll be taking you through an overview of basic careers in Sports Team Management (where you being a former player is not necessary)

Team Manager:

A team manager does not have to have the coaching skills, a lot of you guys might be picturing a Zidane or a Guardiola so just in case. It is a bit different in football but basically, a team manager has to take care of literally everything. Once the team leaves their personal lives to get on board, everything that they go through other than the match is the responsibility of the team manager till the moment they’re back to their privacy. Of course, it’s not a one-person job, there are subordinates like the Media Manager, the Logistics Manager etc. but managing and ensuring the overall coordination is of peak importance.

Physiotherapist:

The physiotherapist holds a very important position in the team as injuries are inevitable in sport. The greatest of players go through career-threatening injuries and we can’t blame them, sometimes the sport does demand the effort out of them. Sometimes the injuries are serious enough and that is why a good physio and his/her team are needed to help the athletes be the athletes they work so hard to be.

Strength & Conditioning Coach:

The team outside of their game practice also has to work on their bodies to develop strength and mobility. The strength and conditioning coach focus on the areas a player should work on with a holistic approach into making his/her game better. One has to have the advanced knowledge of human anatomy, the advanced knowledge of movement, and the advanced knowledge of that particular sport to be able to click a job like this.

Sports Nutritionist:

The strength and conditioning, practising and exercising, all make a real effect when the eating habits are in the right place. The nutritionist has an important role to play in a team with the physical factors dependent. Protein, carbs, micro-nutrients, macro-nutrients, fibre, calories etc. might be things that you never cared about but they do leave a massive impact on the life of an athlete. A good nutritionist is eloquent.

Also read: 15 Biggest sports management companies in India

Sports Psychologist:

The mind is a powerful entity, keeping it in the right state growing in a healthy direction is what ensures success. A sports psychologist has to find, unlock, maintain and develop that healthy situation for every athlete. Like the fitness is co-dependent to the dietary attributes, this co-dependence is dependent on the mental attributes.

Sports Massage Therapist:

The muscle memory gets positive reinforcement through rest and recovery, so does the mind. After working out the muscles like freaks in the game, it is essential that the athletes get them massaged for proper recovery and sustainability, it also reduces the risk of injuries.

Sports Analyst:

Every team needs someone to look up the videos, find the numbers and put them into perspective for the team’s better understanding. The analyst plays an important and influential role directly linking up with the strategies applied by the team in their game. You can’t just get this role on the basis of your understanding of the game, there’s a lot of theoretical and practical study of analytics that goes into making a good analyst.

Administrative and Operative Roles:

1) Media Manager: The athletes keep engaging with the press as we have always known. Somebody has to coordinate with the team manager and with the media, maintain relations and keep up with the schedules. The media manager does exactly that.

2) Logistics Manager: The logistics manager takes care of the logistical proceedings of the entire team. We hear from a lot of cricketers how Rohit Sharma keeps misplacing his stuff, that then becomes the task of the logistics manager to resolve at the earliest, it is one of the jobs that keeps one on their toes.

3) Finance Manager: We are all in it for the money aren’t we? To manage this basic and the most important showrunner, steps in the finance team and their boss.

4) Marketing & Branding: The publicity, visibility, and PR keep the world engaged outside the field. The marketing department, often outsourced, manages the team’s social media, looks after the sponsorships and handles the marketing campaigns to keep spreading the word and increasing the fan following.

5) Scouting: MS Dhoni being spotted by Kiran More in a domestic game as shown in the movie MS Dhoni: The Untold Story is one of the best examples of what a good scouting team can do. They keep an eye on the potential.

Of course all these guys have their assistants at that level who also get to do those jobs, but what the uplines do matters the most.

These are the various roles you can play if you aspire to make a Career in Sports Team Management. If you feel there is more to be added, do let us know in the comments.

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