This post provides detailed information on the sports team manager job description, including the key duties, tasks, and responsibilities they commonly perform.
It also highlights the major requirements you may be expected to fulfill to be hired for the sports team manager role.
What Does a Sports Team Manager Do?
A sports team manager is responsible for supervising the managerial and organizational, and other aspects of a sports team.
The sports team manager job description entails scheduling, recruiting, budgeting, and ensuring the team has the necessary resources to succeed both on and off the field.
They act as a link between the team, coaching staff, and the front office.
The sports team manager may also participate in coordinating different aspects of a team’s activities, leading athletes, supporting staff toward accomplishing their goals, and driving strategies to develop team performance.
Sports team managers commonly work closely with coaches, athletes, administrative staff, and external partners to ensure the successful delivery of sports events and activities.
Their responsibilities can be as simple as performing basic administrative tasks, including managing equipment, organizing team events, and scheduling practices, or as complex as carrying out strategic planning, including budgeting, negotiating contracts, resolving conflicts, and recruiting players.
They are also expected to manage the team’s reputation, intermingle with the media and the public, and recognize and ease possible risks on the team and its members.
Sports team managers make use of different tools and technologies to successfully perform their duties and manage the team.
They include team management software, event management solutions, reporting tools, fitness tracking systems, analytics tools, and communication platforms.
Sports team managers may also be asked to handle corporate affairs duties and promotional activities of the team, and to make the players concentrate on their best performances, especially during competitions.
Depending on the structure of the organization, sports team managers usually report to the Club President, Vice President, or Head Coach.
In larger sports operations, they typically report to a designated Director of Operations, a General Manager, or the Head Coach.
Where Sports Team Managers Work?
Sports team managers may find employment in different areas such as collegiate athletic departments, professional sports teams, and sports agencies.
Others may work for sporting goods companies, sports media outlets, firms involved in sports tourism, sports marketing companies, sports data analytic firms, fitness centers and gyms, and facility management companies.
A lot of countries around the globe have a high demand for sports team managers because of the development and reputation of diverse sports, including United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada.
Sports Team Manager Training
Formal education for sports team managers usually combines specialized certifications and academic degrees.
The starting point is always a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management or a related field like marketing or business.
Sports team managers need to first have foundational knowledge of sports marketing, facility management, and event planning.
If they later decide to go for further specialization, the required courses include Master’s degree in Sports Management, Sports Analytics, Sports Business Leadership, Team Management, or Talent Development.
Quite a number of certification programs can improve the skills of a sports team manager, covering different aspects of sports management, including financial management, strategic planning, and leadership.
On-the-job training for sports team managers entails practical experience and mentorship, and giving attention to skills like leadership, organization, and communication within a sports team environment.
This form of training can be important for improving the exact skills and knowledge required to successfully manage a sports team and its members.
Sports Team Manager Job Description Example/Sample/Template
The sports team manager job description may consist of the following duties, tasks, and responsibilities, depending on the organization they work for:
- Develop and execute a full strategy to improve the team’s performance within the sports industry
- Engage in financial management by running the team’s budget, coordinating and organizing team practices, tournaments, and other events, and ensuring financial sustainability
- Manage the team’s photo-taking gathering with the photographer and inform players and parents of the venue and time
- Ensure all team members are totally aware of team requirements, including travel program, lodging, match times, and team tasks
- Collaborate with team members, officials, coaches, and parents to ensure the athletes are properly dressed and informed of training, club functions, and contests
- Distribute the club newsletter and any State Association information, and serve as a point of contact for the team
- Share the necessary documentation with the team, such as team list with contact numbers, schedule of practices or games, notice of team photo-taking, and tournament schedules
- Deliver unbiased judgment on any issues that may come up among team members, the coach, supporters/sponsors, and parents
- Ensure all players stay together at the contest, while they are representing the club, and help each other
- Collect funds from players for fundraising, uniforms, and fees, and to pay for club functions and purchase or rental of equipment, ensuring receipts are provided for this money and issued to players or parents, and the funds handed to the treasurer
- Restructure the team’s operational procedures, ensure effective use of resources, and reduce administrative transparency
- Utilize effective promotional activities and partnerships to enhance fan engagement and the team’s brand recognition
- Discover and raise talented players, coaches, and support staff in building a sustainable competitive advantage
- Help the team and coach behind the bench to operate the gate in indoor season, or to supervise the players that are off the field in the outdoor season
- Always listen actively to parents’ worries and pass them on as appropriately as possible to the community representative or the coach
- Ensure all equipment is safe, the first aid kit is ready for use, the players have their own drink bottle, and other necessary things that are required are provided
- Go to the Sports Specific Team Managers conference on the day prior to competition to gather information for the team.
Sports Team Manager Requirements: Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities for Career Success
The sports team manager requires certain technical skills, industry knowledge, and a number of personal attributes to be successful on the job and career, and to qualify for hiring by most employers, including:
- Leadership: Sports team managers need to motivate and guide team members or athletes and encourage them to work together to accomplish goals. Inspiring and directing your team well will create a room for collaborative and high-performance culture.
- Communication: Interaction with players, other sports team managers, vendors, coaches, organization staff, stadium personnel, agents, lawyers, the media, and other stakeholders is possible within the sports team management career. In this case, the team manager needs excellent oral and written communication skills to explain facts and convince others to make decisions and change their contemplations, and resolve disputes when negotiating contracts and injury situations, developing communication self-confidence in the process.
- Negotiation: A sports team manager with good negotiation skills can negotiate a solution with a player to stop them from leaving and negotiate salary in instances where a player declares an interest to join a competitor team. Other situations that require negotiation skills are during sponsorship and advertisement when sponsorship fees and advertising fees are to be received by the players. The major reason why team managers need to have negotiation skills is because they usually have to negotiate contracts with players, coaches, and other team staff.
- People Management Skills: Sports team managers have lots of people including players, companies, sports fans, and sponsors to interact with on a daily basis. It is obligatory to communicate well in exceptional people management skills with others and understand how to deal with them. These skills can be displayed by giving individuals your full attention while also highlighting their speeches. It’s important to make excellent use of these people management skills as it’s the bedrock of networking with individuals in the sports sector on a regular basis.
- Analytical Skills: Making informed judgments is possible with good analytical skills as it helps sports team managers analyze information and the performance of their customers and other organizations, and find answers to issues. Having talented people who face the challenges of the way things have always been done is a clear look of a supportive and innovative organization.
- Organization: Organizational skills assist sports team managers in the management of multiple tasks and achieving effective prioritization. You can’t be in a mess in your sports team management career. Good organization requires accuracy in order to access various files immediately upon request without being cluttered and to juggle multiple responsibilities. For sports team managers to be able to manage their own time and workload, supervise the work of other employees, attend conferences and training sessions, perform assessments and review company policies, they need excellent organizational skills and properly managed time.
- Strategic Thinking: This involves the ability to analyze data, identify trends, and develop innovative strategies to advance team performance. Sports team managers need the ability to outline and execute advanced planning for the long-term business and financial success of their organization. They should be able to set priorities in consonance with company objectives, review systems and policies, attend training, and manage the continuing professional development activities of their team.
- Multi-Tasking Skills: The ability to multitask is an essential skill necessary for sports team managers. With a portfolio of clients and each having its own set of requirements, team managers must apply exceptional multitasking abilities to attend to each of them without getting confused. For sports team managers to help athletes make it to the big leagues, become a superstar athlete, receive offers from prospective employers, and other responsibilities piled up and waiting, they need perfect multitasking skills.
- Decision-Making: As a sports team manager, making decisions is a common thing that may occur at any moment. Many of the decisions that are to be made by sports team managers often require quick and confident answers, while others will require that they analyze data and develop the best possible solution, using confidence to achieve this.
- Time Management: Managing time effectively will assist sports team managers in completing more of the daily tasks assigned to them, for them to achieve success.
- Interpersonal Skills: Leading a team requires building a cordial relationship with people, dealing effectively with them, and gaining the respect of your coworkers. Sports team managers must know and understand their team members very well while still maintain professional boundaries. This requires an expression of your attributes and authority as a team manager while still performing your role as a member of the team.
- Research Skills: Having great research skills will help sports team managers understand the industry well to ensure they can properly negotiate the sponsorship fees and appearance fees of their players. The reason for a constant market research is to negotiate a better deal and avoid going into a deal that is less profitable for the team. Therefore, sports team managers need to keep abreast of industry development and changes.
- Accounting and Budgeting: Because of the total amount of money involved, the finances of a sports team may not be easy to manage. However, having good accounting and budgeting skills help ease this load on the sports team manager as they have some basic knowledge to assist them. These skills could further be useful for the sports team manager to know how much public donations and sponsorship to ask for help to keep the sports team going.
- Flexibility: This skill will help you take on roles you normally wouldn’t while still handling several different tasks at the same time. There are a lot of various things that are not in the job description that you will be tasked with doing them when working in sports team management. The management needs the team manager to display some flexibility skills when performing duties.
- Ethics: Having a strong sense of ethics is required among sports team managers as ethics are essential in sports. The principles that guide sports prohibit using performance-enhancing drugs, cheating scandals, and some tricks athletes and teams utilize in order to win that are against the rules. It is therefore your duty as a sports team manager to set an example and create a positive reputation, making right decisions to significantly make an impact.
- Event Coordination: Sports team managers need the ability to plan and organize events sponsored by the sports team. They need demonstrated experience in coordinating complicated events and accomplishing them within set timelines and budgets, and proven track record of addressing challenges during event coordination.
- Mentorship: Sports team managers need to be supportive to the team and pass their knowledge, experience, and skills on and share them with others. They can achieve this by coaching and counseling staff and developing their skills and confidence. The mentorship ability will make sports team members seek progress of team members and drive them to a greater career height.
Download sports team manager job description template (pdf).
Sports Team Manager Job Description for Resume
If you have worked before as a sports team manager or are presently working in that role and are making a resume or CV for a new job, then you can create a compelling Professional Experience for your resume by applying the sample sports team manager job description provided above.
You can express the duties and responsibilities you have carried out as a sports team manager in your resume’s Professional Experience by utilizing the ones provided in the above sports team manager job description example.
This will show to the recruiter/employer that you have been successful working as a sports team manager, which can boost your chances of getting the new job, especially if it requires someone with some sports team manager work experience.
Conclusion
This post has provided detailed coverage of the sports team manager job description, highlighting the major responsibilities and duties that they typically perform.
It also provided information on the required skills and training to be hired for the sports team manager role and be successful in the career.
Individuals interested in the sports team management career will find this post helpful in boosting their knowledge of the duties and responsibilities of the role.
Employers looking to hire competent sports team managers will also find this post useful in making detailed job description for the position.
They can apply the job description template provided on this page in making one for their company.
