Sports coach

Briefly explain what you do for a living.

I am a professional coach specialising in weight lifting technique teaching and physique coaching. More than 500 crossfit enthusiasts, fitness enthusiasts and athletes participate in my coaching every year. I coach at camps, training and group exercise classes in my own sports hall in Nummela, Vihti and at the facilities of other gym entrepreneurs.

Running sports hall operations involves versatile work typical of small entrepreneurs, such as customer acquisition and cleaning. I also work as a trainer on courses to train future personal trainers and coaches.

How have you ended up in the profession of your choice?

Sport has played a major role in my family's life, and growing in such an environment has affected my choices. However, my road to becoming a coach was not self-evident. Originally, I intended to become a visual artist, but I was the first on the waiting list in the entrance exams for the School of Art and Design. After the entrance exams, I seriously considered what I wanted from life, and I came to the conclusion that I need more financial certainty than the career of a visual artist would probably be able to offer.

I ended up studying for a Bachelor of Business Administration degree because I was interested in management, and I thought that commercial education would provide good skills for many tasks. At the same time, I completed a training for gym instructors so that I could earn pocket money alongside my studies. On this basis, my career choice began to gradually take shape. I realised that I could create the kind of job for myself for which I would probably never find a job advertisement.

Describe your typical working day or week.

A typical working week focuses on evenings and weekends. The evenings are filled with group and individual training. On weekends, I spend a lot of time at competition venues for athletes. On weekday mornings, I do office work at home, such as training programmes, invoicing and contacting customers.

What kind of work environment or working hours do you work in?

I coach at various sports facilities, such as gyms and crossfit halls and competition venues. Some of the work involves office work at home. I accumulate a lot of travel days each year both in Finland and abroad. I travel in my home country on a weekly basis, and I travel abroad about 7–8 times a year. Coaches usually work when others spend their free time, i.e. in the evenings and on weekends.

What kind of competence or qualities are required in the profession?

The most important component is interaction skills because the coach works with people and the goal of the work is change. You need to be able to listen, read the atmosphere and adapt your communication methods to suit the situation. A coach's technical competence is not useful if they are unable to explain things comprehensibly or motivate the person being coached. It is essential to find everyone's own potential and make it visible. Competitive sport requires the coach to be able to withstand pressure and to distinguish between large and small entities. Coaching in competitive sports can be compared to building a puzzle.

Those acting as entrepreneurs should be familiar with the laws of business and entrepreneurship. Then you will also have to think about what people are willing to buy and how to market it to potential customers.

What is the best thing about your profession?

The best aspect is that I can work with people and bring different kinds of people together. It is great to see both small and large successes. Success in competitions is always rewarding, but it also feels good when ordinary fitness enthusiasts say that doing exercises is the highlight of their week. I like the challenges my work provides and the need to develop myself continuously.

I feel that we have succeeded in lowering the threshold for weight-lifting, which has previously been perceived as competitive sports. Now beginners also have the opportunity to participate in a weight-lifting course without competitive goals.

What are the downsides of the profession or what seems challenging?

The uncertainty and financial pressures of entrepreneurship sometimes generate stress. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the sector was considerable and will not be soon forgotten. Uncertainty is currently associated with an increase in energy prices, as for the customers, buying a weight-lifting course is not as necessary as paying an electricity bill.

What would you tell a person considering the profession of a sports coach?

If you train as a sports coach, it gives the work a framework. If you train as a personal trainer or physique coach, there is more freedom and there are more opportunities. This makes it easier to get a job if you are comfortable with entrepreneurship and self-branding. I don’t recommend being too modest, because there are plenty of customers, and everyone is looking for a coach that is right for them and easy to approach.

Experience plays an important role in coaching. Experience cannot be gained if it is not actively acquired. I also recommend networking boldly, as work assignments often come through familiar contacts.

How do you see the future of your profession?

The future of coaching is more diverse than before. A holistic approach is increasingly important. For example, when training personal trainers, you notice that the trainees already have skills in various sports, nutrition, mental well-being and muscle care. At the same time, I believe that demand for comprehensive welfare services will increase.

Photos: Teemu Heikkinen, Petri Mast (frontpage photo).