Exercise Sport Scientist
As a sport scientist you will help athletes achieve their best possible sporting performance. You advise on coaching, training, competition and recovery practices across all levels and areas of sport.
What the job looks like
Salary expectation
starts at $45,000 up to $90,000+
The good
- Working with sport
- Being outdoors
- Helping a team or athlete reach their full potential
- Having a hands on job
- Potential to travel or work overseas
- Using technology and equipment
The not so good
- Irregular hours and working weekends
- High demands and expectations
Sport scientists use knowledge and techniques from a wide range of areas such as medicine, psychology and nutrition to help athletes achieve the best possible sporting performance.
This may include developing specific training programs, collecting and analysing data for ongoing improvements, assisting with recovery or rehabilitation and even dealing with psychological issues that impact performance.
Sport scientists can work for various institutes of sport and the Defence forces also employ exercise scientists for training and to conduct research.
To be a sport scientist, you should have an interest in sport and fitness, have good observation skills, like working in a team and be able to work with accuracy.
You will use maths frequently to develop programs and measure human movement, while good English skills will come in handy to understand the wide range of advanced terminology and write professional reports.
It’s the ultimate job for a sports lover; you can go into any area.
Pathways to this career
Subject suggestions for the HSC
Choosing your HSC subjects from this list could really help with your career. Think carefully about what you want to study after school as you might need to choose specific HSC subjects for that course and to count towards your ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank). An ATAR is your academic rank in relation to other HSC students and helps with University admission.
HSC subjects
Some subjects will count towards your ATAR, others will not. Check with your career advisor before making subject selections.
- English (Advanced or higher)
- Mathematics (2 Unit or higher)
- Biology
- Physics
- PDHPE
What can I do after I have finished school?
University degrees
Studying one of these degrees can help with your career.
- Bachelor of Exercise Sport Science
- Bachelor of Human Movement
Courses and qualifications
Courses and qualifications can give you a great start.
- Certificate IV Fitness
Suggestions
Check out the Australian Institute of Sport for more information
- Keep up your own fitness
- Follow several different sports
- See if you can do work experience with a local sporting team
- Go to career expos and events like university Open Days for information about what you will study
