Updated 5/24/24
Your knowledge and passion for athletics has gotten you far, but now you have to figure out exactly how to present your skills and experience to potential employers to finally land the job. A K-12 coach is a rewarding, but sought-after position where, like athletics, only the most competitive applicants will achieve their goals. But rest easy, you already know everything you need to know to become a K-12 coach, and this guide will explain how to effectively communicate that knowledge through your resume.
Aside from your cover letter, your resume will be the first impression prospective employers have of you. Don’t let this be intimidating, rather, embrace resume writing as an opportunity to showcase your experience and expertise. Your resume will illustrate your experience and abilities as a sports coach, and demonstrate your ability to lead your student-athletes and achieve success for the school.
Key Qualities of a Coach
At the most fundamental level, a coach is a mentor who trains and strengthens athletes. However, a coach working in grades K through 12 also plays an integral role in their players’ academic success. Coaches need to lead both on and off the field and act as advisors to their student-athletes. An essential skill is being able to guide students through their anxieties and make them thrive.
A successful coaching resume has to emphasize not only your previous high school coaching jobs, but also your players’ academic performances. A great example to include is a year your team had a great season without sacrificing their GPAs. Describe any programs you implemented to improve your team’s athletic and academic abilities. Experienced coaches should include subsequent student successes, such as scholarships earned for athletic and academic performances. Less experienced coaches can discuss their own knowledge and successes as former student-athletes, and how that experience could help the team if given the opportunity.
Make sure to highlight that you have the essential skill-set of a coach, namely: leadership, communication, patience, and expert knowledge in the field.
Key Responsibilities of a Coach
Though each job posting will have its own list of responsibilities, most high school coaching jobs will generally involve a similar job description. Include in your resume any experience you have fulfilling the following responsibilities:
- Inspiring students to improve their athletic skills both individually and collectively
- For younger children, teaching them the rules, regulations, and framework of the game
- Teaching strategies and techniques to optimize performance
- Identifying players’ strengths and positioning players in the team accordingly
- Spotting weaknesses and helping players address them
- Building strong programs and training techniques
- Instilling sportsmanship, integrity, school spirit, and pride within the players
- Learning new techniques to improve coaching abilities
- Scouting young players for the team
Key Components of Your Coaching Resume
Before detailing your experience and education, include a brief paragraph that summarizes your skills and qualities and identifies the position to which you are applying.
Following your introductory paragraph, list your relevant work experience with your most recent position at the top. When outlining your experience, keep the following points in mind:
- Be detailed in your descriptions
- Understand the job profile and display your qualifications accordingly
- Quantify your achievements
- Break down your successes
- Emphasize the skills and achievements that correlate with the role
- Identify the qualities that make you unique
List any volunteer experience you may have, especially if you’re applying to your first coaching job, followed by your education. Finally, list any awards or achievements you might have that you weren’t able to include in your experience.
Good luck with your search for a coaching position! To find high school coaching jobs register with OLAS.
We hope this article was helpful for you. If you would like to view a coaching resume sample click here.
