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High-performance coaches work with elite and professional athletes to help them achieve peak performance in their chosen sport.
practitioner
Coach, Coaching In High-Performance Sport
The role
Examples of coaches who work in a high-performance sport environment are individuals employed or deployed in the sport and physical activity sector who coach performance and/or elite athletes/players. Roles that such coaches may take up will be in various environments and programmes including podium potential, preparation for podium and podium (or equivalents in professional sports).
What it takes
The following common or transferable skills are most frequently asked for by employers in coach job adverts across the UK:
| Skills and behaviours | % prevalence in job adverts |
|---|---|
| Coaching | 43% |
| Teaching | 38% |
| Communication | 29% |
| Planning | 13% |
| Management | 13% |
| Enthusiasm | 12% |
| Interpersonal communications | 11% |
| Teamwork | 10% |
| First aid | 10% |
| Customer service | 9% |
To find out more about the minimum knowledge and skills an individual must understand and demonstrate to become a high performance coach, you can visit our environmental specialism professional standards library.
Getting in
To become a high-performance coach, you first need to qualify as a sports coach. After that, you can work towards more advanced coaching qualifications.
You can learn more about starting your coaching journey on our coach career page.
A level 3 qualification is often needed to coach at high-performance level.
You can complete a non-sport-specific qualification such as a Level 3 Certificate in Coaching (Sport and Physical Activity).
Alternatively, you can complete a sport-specific coaching qualification with the national governing body (NGB) of your chosen sport.
Most level 3 coaching courses require you to hold a level 2 coaching qualification before you can begin your course. You can check the entry requirements with the course provider.
Some colleges and universities have embedded coaching qualifications and high performance sport qualifications into their sports coaching and development learning programmes.
You can browse our CIMSPA endorsed training directory to check for colleges and universities that are recognised by CIMSPA for providing quality training to students.
In the training directory, you can also check what courses our endorsed colleges and universities offer as well as course entry requirements, a summary of course content/material and more information on how to apply.
You can find out more about completing a CIMSPA-approved apprenticeship to become a sports coach via The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) website. This will then allow you to progress to working towards the qualifications and experience needed to become a high-performance sports coach.
Training
Typical earnings
Not currently available
Demand
Not currently available
Typical working patterns
Not currently available
As well as exploring new career pathways, as a high performance coach, you can also choose to progress your career by completing further training or continued professional development (CPD) in your role. This training can be added to enable high-performance coaches to show their expertise in additional populations, in different environments and with technical specialisms.
Examples of specialisms that may be added are:
The content of the job posts displayed on the CIMSPA jobs board are pulled in through feeds from websites which are not under the control of CIMSPA.
CIMSPA will not be liable for any false, inaccurate, inappropriate or incomplete information presented on the jobs board.