What Does a Teenage Sports Trainer Do?

A teenage sports trainer helps teach younger kids how to play a particular sport or how to improve in that sport. You will need to plan lessons on the sport of your choice, which should include a short and simple teaching part, lots of drills, and a friendly game. Keep in mind that a lot of work goes into being a sports trainer, but it’s also very rewarding.

This is the ideal summer job for an older teen who is passionate about a certain sport and who likes working with younger kids. By planning out a week’s worth of activities, you can sign kids up to your “Sports Camp” where they can come to the park, learn a sport, practice and improve their skills, and have a ton of fun.

How Much Does a Teenage Sports Trainer Get Paid?

How much you get paid will depend on several factors including how much you charge per child and how many kids come to your camp. You may also need to buy extra sports equipment when you are first starting: practice jerseys, cones, balls, etc. If you know someone who has these, you may also borrow them.

Depending on what sport you are teaching and how many hours per day you will be holding your lessons, you may charge between $50 and $200 per child. Keep in mind that if you get too many kids, you will need to hire friends or family members to come help you out.

How Can I Get Started as a Teen Sports Trainer?

1. Get permission from your parents. This is important because you will be working with kids you don’t know and will most likely be away from home, so they will need to know what you are doing.
2. Create a schedule. Ideally, you would have 5 days (Monday through Friday) of training days and one day (Saturday) that would be a game day where the kids can invite their families out, and when you would have a small awards ceremony. Each training day should be 2 – 3 hours (any longer and you’ll need to stop for lunch or offer a snack), and the game day will likely be a little shorter.  Once you know how many days you will be training, you’ll need to break down the sport into the most important skills, and then focus on one or two of those skills each day. For example, soccer would be dribbling/ball control, passing/working as a team, shooting/how to kick the ball, and defense/goalkeeping.
3. Prepare drills and activities. Once you know what you’ll be focusing on, you need to figure out some fun drills and activities to teach each lesson. Here is a list of books for drill ideas, or get creative and come up with your own ideas.  As you plan the drills, make sure you know what equipment you will need for each one and have an idea of how much time each will take. It’s a good idea to also include some non-sports team-building activities as well, and you’ll also need to take time to warm up and cool down at the beginning and end of each day.
4. Find a place to play. Look into local churches or schools as well as community parks to find a field where you are able to have your training days. Some may let you use their facilities for free, but many privately-owned places will want you to rent the area. Public parks are another option, but this can be difficult because you may not be able to reserve a field which means there’s no guarantee that you’ll have the space available when you want it.
5. Make some flyers. Before you can train kids, you first need to get kids to come out to your sports camp. Create an eye-catching flyer that includes information on what sport you’ll be teaching and what you’ll be focusing on, what ages the camp is for, where the camp will be held, when the camp is (dates and times), how much it costs per child, and your contact information so they can register.
6. Make a registration form. This should be filled out and signed by each parent on the first day, and you should not allow a child to participate without one. The registration form needs to have the child’s full name, age, and birthdate as well as the parent’s full name, phone number, and address. Unfortunately, many people are quick and eager to sue people today, so you’ll also need each parent to sign a release that says that they understand sports can be dangerous and so they can’t legally hold you responsible if something happens to their child while they are with you. You should be able to find one online that you can use, but make sure to edit it to include your name if you’re using one from an organization.  Make sure you make a copy of each of these forms and keep them in a safe place at your house. You’ll need to keep the parents phone numbers with you at all times in case you need to call one of them, so to avoid carrying around a stack of registration forms, you could also make your own master list to keep with you.
7. Start advertising. Put your flyers up on as many bulletin boards in your community as you can, including as sports stores, the library, and grocery stores. Then, start going door-to-door in your neighborhood to let people know what you’re doing. You can also visit local parks where there are a lot of kids and give flyers directly to the kids to get them excited about what you’re doing.
8. Accept registrations over the phone. Have a limit to the number of people that you will allow to register by phone, and once you reach that limit, you can put people on a waiting list. Tell the people who registered first to come about an hour before your first training session begins to register, and tell those on the waiting list that they can come about half an hour before to register if you have people who didn’t show up.
9. Start training! Once you get everybody registered on the first day, gather the kids, go over your camp rules, and start teaching them your sport! Remember to have fun and that your primary goal should always be that the kids enjoy themselves, not that they perfect every skill you’re presenting them with.

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Helpful Resources

• Amazon.com:  This is where you can go to buy drill guides and training equipment for your students.