Sports professional
Sports professionals are skilled and talented sports performers, who are paid to compete in their chosen sport.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
You'll:
- compete in matches and competitions
- keep up and improve your skills with regular practice
- maintain your general fitness and stamina by training
- make sure your diet and lifestyle help you to achieve peak performance
- take advice from coaches, nutritionists, exercise professionals, sports psychologists and doctors
Working environment
You could work on a sports field or at a fitness centre.
Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding, outdoors in all weathers, you'll travel often and you may spend nights away from home.
Career path and progression
In the more physical and contact sports, your career would usually be short. Many professionals finish their sporting career by the age of 35.
After your career ends, you could stay involved in sport by moving into areas like:
- coaching
- refereeing
- team management
- sports journalism and broadcasting
- sports centre work
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- persistence and determination
- ambition and a desire to succeed
- physical fitness and endurance
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- physical skills like movement, coordination, dexterity and grace
- leadership skills
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
Restrictions and Requirements
For some sports you'll need to meet very specific entry requirements, for instance:
- horse racing requires jockeys to be a certain height and weight
- boxing has divisions according to weight
For all professional sport you'll need determination, talent and a high level of fitness.
How to become
You can get into this job through:
- an apprenticeship
- amateur sport where you could be spotted by a talent scout
- a sponsorship or scholarship scheme
The Sporting Excellence Professional, advanced apprenticeship is available in the following sports:
- cricket
- football
- rugby league
- rugby union
The apprenticeship gives talented amateur sports players the chance to develop their sporting talent alongside their education.
Once you've completed your apprenticeship, you may turn professional or continue as an amateur while you get more experience.
You can find out more from the professional body for each sport.
Entry requirements
Employers will set their own entry requirements.
More Information
The route to becoming a professional varies from sport to sport.
Typically you'll start by joining a club, academy or amateur organisation where you can train and get coaching.
Most sports professionals are spotted early on by talent scouts at this stage.
In some sports you may be able to get financial help to develop your sporting talent as well as to continue your general education.
You can find out more about different schemes through Sport England.
Your chosen sport's National Governing Body (NGB) is the best place to get more information on the way to get ahead in your sport.
Career tips
Some professional sports careers can be quite short, so it's useful to have plans for what you will do when you can no longer play or compete.
Further information
You can get more details on what it takes to become a professional sportsperson from Sport England.
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This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.