Most coaches are volunteers. Those in paid positions usually work on a contract basis for:
- Professional sports teams
- Provincial and national amateur sports teams
- Post-secondary schools
- School boards
- Sport schools at the high school level
- Recreational facilities
- Sport clubs
- Private athletic clubs
Assistant coaches may become head coaches. Some go on to become general managers of athletic teams. Others take on coaching and general manager responsibilities at the same time. Coaches also may become professional sport scouts, sport program directors or administrators in provincial sport associations and national sport federations.
With a related degree, coaches can become teachers, sport administrators or coaching consultants. Some coaches work in public relations and marketing.
In Alberta, 83% of people employed as coaches work in the following industries:
The employment outlook [pdf] in this occupation is influenced by a wide variety of factors including:
- Trends and events affecting overall employment, especially in the industries listed above
- Location in Alberta
- Employment turnover (when people leave existing positions)
- Occupational growth (when new positions are created)
- Size of the occupation
In Alberta, the F152: Coaches occupational group is expected to have a below-average annual growth of 1.3% from 2016 to 2020. In addition to job openings created by employment turnover, 21 new positions are forecasted to be created within this occupational group each year.
Employment turnover is expected to increase as members of the baby boom generation retire over the next few years.