Sports therapist

Sports therapists apply the principles of sport and exercise science to support optimum levels of fitness and to help prevent injury and assist rehabilitation

As a sports therapist, you'll provide an immediate response when sport and exercise-related injuries occur and will rehabilitate the patient back to full fitness. You'll also provide advice and support to help prevent injuries from happening in the first place.

You’ll use physical techniques and develop rehabilitation and injury prevention plans to help patients. Your patients can be adults or children involved in sport or fitness at amateur or professional level or for general fitness and recreational purposes.

If injuries or health-related issues go beyond your scope of practice, you'll refer the patient to an appropriate healthcare professional. Many therapists combine working in this discipline with other sports-related roles.

Responsibilities

As a sports therapist, you'll need to:

• conduct a fitness-level assessment on people involved in sport and exercise, and advise on exercises prior to an event or fixture
• test joints for ease and range of movement, pain and dysfunction
• mentally and physically prepare athletes before a competition and use strapping, taping and massage techniques where necessary
• provide emergency aid and basic life support in a sport and exercise environment
• examine and assess injuries and determine whether the sport and exercise participant can continue safely with the event or activity
• treat and manage injuries to alleviate pain
• rehabilitate injuries by using manual therapy techniques and exercise design and monitor rehabilitation programmes appropriate to the injury and/or sport and level
• decide whether extra treatments are needed and coordinate referrals to other practitioners
• work alone or with coaches/trainers/fitness advisers to implement exercise, conditioning, core stability and injury prevention programmes, so that sports people reach and maintain peak performance
• liaise with other healthcare professionals in the sports sector and in mainstream medicine
• educate athletes and clients on injury prevention strategies, training techniques, and lifestyle factors
• keep accurate and up-to-date clinical records, treatment notes and rehabilitation plans, in line with professional standards and legal requirements
• contribute to the planning and delivery of pre-season screening (for injury, illness and other risk factors), fitness testing and performance monitoring programmes
• manage and maintain therapy equipment and treatment areas to ensure a safe and professional environment
• support the psychological wellbeing of athletes during injury recovery by offering reassurance and motivation.

Salary

• Sports therapists working in a clinic earn in the region of £24,000 to £35,000, depending on experience.
• Working in the private sector typically pays more, with salaries reaching £40,000 to £45,000 in some private clinics or with professional teams.
• Flexible, short-contract and part-time work are all available and these will pay different rates. For example, smaller sports clubs offer sessional work to cover training or match days, and pay is in the region of £20 per hour. While part-time work at a professional club that covers evenings and weekends will pay around £40 per hour.
• It’s also possible to work as a sports therapist for the NHS, usually as part of a musculoskeletal (MSK) team. Salaries are paid at Band 4 or 5 depending on experience at between £26,500 to £36,500.

Salaries vary depending on a range of factors including your location, experience and type of employer, e.g. a national sports team or private clinic, as well as whether you are employed or self-employed.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

You'll usually work around 37 hours a week, although the hours are often irregular. Evening and weekend work is common.

If you work with a sports team, you need to be available for weekend fixtures and seven days a week during the season.

Part-time options are available, and work can also be seasonal, being busier when sports teams/individuals have more fixtures and events.

What to expect

• As a sports therapist, you're usually part of a wider medical and performance team.
• You'll often work in a treatment room with specialist equipment. However, the job can involve spending time outside in all weathers during sporting fixtures and training.
• Jobs are available throughout the UK.
• It's possible to affiliate yourself to one or more gyms, which may recommend you to members so that you develop a pool of private patients/clients.
• You may have a portfolio career, involving part-time work in several clinics and with multiple amateur or professional sports clubs. Other typical part-time jobs include teaching, coaching and personal training.
• The role may include regular travel to fixtures, meetings and other events and many roles will ask for a driving licence. If working with sports teams you may need to travel nationally and possibly internationally.

Qualifications

Although you don't need a degree to practise as a sports therapist in the UK, many jobs now require a degree-level qualification and membership of The Society of Sports Therapists (SST).

To become a member of The SST, you'll need to have completed an undergraduate or postgraduate degree accredited by them. Although not essential, membership is a good idea as it shows employers and clients that you have met certain criteria and are able to work at the necessary level as a sports therapist. Search for accredited BSc Courses.

If you haven't taken an accredited first degree, or you have a degree in another subject, ideally sport and exercise or similar, you could consider taking an accredited Masters in sports therapy. Search for Accredited MSc & MSci Courses.

It's also a requirement of The SST that you have a valid and physically assessed first aid certificate, which you must maintain to keep your membership.

Alternative qualifications are also available at different levels but do your research to make sure each qualification meets your career aims and allows you to find work as a sports therapist.

If you're working with children, you’ll need to undergo a check with Disclosure & Barring Service check (England and Wales), Disclosure Scotland (Scotland) or AccessNI (Northern Ireland).

Skills

To work as a sports therapist, you'll need:

• the ability to motivate and encourage others to engage with their own care and rehabilitation
• the capacity to work well with groups, individuals and professional colleagues
• a flexible and innovative approach to work
• a positive attitude to problem solving
• the ability to work proactively and deliver results
• excellent communication and interpersonal skills to establish a rapport with patients
• a firm but encouraging and empathetic attitude
• teamworking skills and the ability to work alone, using your initiative
• the ability to recognise and manage risk
• organisation and time management skills
• a good level of physical fitness
• self-motivation and confidence
• sensitivity and tact, especially when the injured patient's skills and confidence are affected
• IT skills
• skills in business administration, marketing and networking – if working freelance or running your own clinic
• a full UK driving licence - is usually required.

Work experience

Experience in fitness training is highly recommended as you'll need knowledge of different sporting disciplines to provide suitable treatment. You don't necessarily have to have been an athlete, player or coach but many in the profession do come from this background.

Look for vacation, weekend and evening work, which will add to your CV and network of contacts. Even an administrative role, as a receptionist in a sports injuries clinic for example, can add to your knowledge and skills.

You'll need to network and develop contacts to build a reputation and raise your profile. This might be through:

• personal involvement in sport, e.g. playing or coaching
• getting work experience with sports clubs and clinics
• involving yourself with community sports organisations.

If you're completing a programme of study in sports therapy accredited by The Society of Sports Therapists (SST), you can apply for student membership. You'll receive specialist publications and will be eligible to attend courses, seminars and conferences, as well as other benefits.

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

Most sports therapists are either self-employed or have two or more part-time jobs. Alternatively, they could be doing a combination of both options.

It’s common to find sports therapists work in sports injury clinics or directly with a sports club or sportsperson, either professional or amateur.

Opportunities exist in:

• amateur sports clubs and teams (at national, county or local level, usually on a part-time or freelance basis)
• professional sports clubs or teams who employ a full or part-time sports therapist or sports massage therapist
• sports injury clinics, either on a part-time or full-time contract or a freelance basis
• private health clinics, where a range of practitioners offer diverse treatments such as podiatry, osteopathy and reiki (this work would usually be part time or ad-hoc)
• the NHS, within musculoskeletal (MSK) teams, and less commonly within mental health teams
• health and fitness clubs and gyms
• sports and leisure centres (local authority and private sector)
• sports development
• sports science support
• research
• further and higher education.

It's also possible to set up and run your own sports injury clinic and offer sport and exercise injury assessment and treatment sessions. You’d typically need a good level of experience and client base for this.

With further experience it may be possible to offer a consultancy service, e.g. for TV and film productions.

The level and content of your qualifications will influence the types of organisation you work for, as some employers specify particular qualifications and specialist knowledge.

Find out more about self-employment.

Look for job vacancies at:

• Jobs.ac.uk - for academic jobs.
• Jobs in Sport
• The Society of Sports Therapists

Occasionally, sports magazines advertise suitable vacancies, as do employment websites and national professional sporting bodies.

Vacancies may be filled through contacts or personal recommendation. Networking and involvement in sport at any level is a good way of finding work.

It's also worth making targeted speculative applications. The national governing bodies of individual sports may have directories of sports clubs you can contact.

Professional development

You need to keep your skills and knowledge up to date throughout your career as new treatments, research and theories in this field are constantly being introduced.

Membership of The Society of Sports Therapists (SST) is useful and provides a range of benefits including professional malpractice and public liability insurance. To retain membership of The SST you'll need to carry out continuing professional development (CPD) each year and keep a CPD portfolio, which can be requested by The Society at any time.

CPD activities can include:

• attending and presenting at conferences and exhibitions
• completing short courses, workshops and seminars
• reading and researching relevant articles, journals and scientific papers
• reflective practice
• taking part in professional activities and meetings such as committees, panels and focus groups
• giving lectures
• taking higher qualifications in sports therapy.

The SST has a list of relevant courses, webinars and CPD opportunities, often run by third parties and some offering a discount to members. See SST Courses for more information.

You'll usually maintain a general interest in various sports throughout your career as this can provide important new perspectives. However, you may wish to specialise in particular aspects of injuries and techniques, such as strength and conditioning and manual therapy. This can be achieved by attending courses and reading professional journals.

Developing and expanding your qualifications allows you to offer a broader range of treatments and can open up additional employment opportunities. If you have a sports therapy degree, you could decide to go on to a part-time Masters course while you work. Search postgraduate courses in sports therapy.

If you're a self-employed sports therapist, you'll have to meet your own training costs and attend training in your own time.

Career prospects

Most therapists build their career using a portfolio approach, often supplementing their income with other part-time work.

From student days onwards, networking by making and retaining contacts within sport, sports therapy and the wider fields of healthcare and complementary therapies is important for career development. Sports therapists often find work through personal recommendation or word of mouth.

Voluntary roles can lead to paid employment, and part-time or temporary posts can turn into full-time work. You might find additional work on a part-time basis with members of local sports clubs and teams, as well as with individual athletes.

A full-time job with a sports club or team could be an option after a few years' experience, perhaps with supervisory responsibility for an assistant. It may take several years before you're working at elite level.

It's also possible to specialise within a certain sport or therapy technique or set up your own private clinic, once you have built up some experience.

As well as working as a sports therapist for a club or team, or in private practice, some sports therapists choose to move into a related area of work, such as fitness consulting, personal training or health promotion.

Another option might be to move into lecturing in further or higher education or to move into teaching.