What are the career opportunities for youngsters in sports?

The purpose of wholesome education is ensuring a holistic development of a young mind and body. While academics often takes care of the first, it is hardly able to contribute to the physical health of your child. This is where sports comes into play. Though we, as a nation, take pride in our achievements in various arenas of sports, our kids are not encouraged to take it up as a career option. Do not discourage your kid if he is passionate about and wants to pursue a game he loves. However, being a sportsperson or athlete isn’t the only career option in this field. Your youngster can kickstart his career as sports commentator or sports journalist too. Here are the career options for a sports enthusiast.  

Sportsperson/Athlete 
This is the most popular career choice for any youth, playing a particular sport  alone or together as a team. Being an athlete and making her way to the top is perhaps the one of best feelings a sports person can experience. Not to forget, the prospect of fame and money that comes with it.  

Sports Journalist 
A sports journalist is someone who has immense knowledge about all kinds of sports. However, instead of being directly involved with the games, he chooses to write about it. A sports journalist should therefore be a sound reporter, an exceptional and innovative writer with a keen interest and enthusiasm about sports. A degree in journalism will widen the scope in this field. 

Sports Analyst/Statistician 
A sports analyst may not share the limelight of those closely associated with sports. But he is as important as anyone else, if not more. A sports statistician is someone who keeps track of scores and other essential information regarding the game. His contribution to any game is paramount as without analysts, one will lose track of crucial records. They not only record statistics during an ongoing match, but also analyze them and prepare the final data. As is evident, a statistician therefore needs to have excellent mathematics skills apart from utmost concentration. A Graduation or Master’s degree in mathematics, statistics, economics, computer science or a related field will be required to pursue a career as a sports statistician.    

Sports Physician 
Another significant career option in sports is that of a physician. Sports physicians are trained doctors who specialise in treating injuries and illnesses of athletes. They must have the optimum medical knowledge in diagnosing musculoskeletal problems, that are widely prevalent among sportsters. If your  youngster is keen on studying medicine and is equally inclined towards sports, this is an ideal profession to pursue.  Sports Medicine is a super specialised specialized branch of medical science, which can be studied at the post graduate level only. So, one needs to complete the MBBS degree first.For admission into a PG diploma course in sports medicine, one needs to appear for the All India Sports Medicine Post Graduate entrance test, followed by an interview. 

Sports Psychologist 
In simple terms, sports psychologists are appointed to maintain a sound mental health of the athletes. They must specialise in psychology and work in collaboration with other sports medicine specialists. But if we delve into the details, sports psychologists need to also have adequate knowledge about other social sciences as well, like, biomechanics, physiology and kinesiology. Their job role also includes determining the psychological factors that affect the performance of the athletes.  Sports Psychology, as a subject can be pursued at the Masters or Doctoral level after completing graduation with psychology. While Bachelors in psychology can be pursued in India, it's best to go broad for higher studies in this subject.