If you like to move, a career in the world of sports could be an option! And because of this search for a healthier life, this is a growing professional field in Australia and around the world.
Unlike in Brazil, where the Physical Education curriculum is closed and locks you in for four years before inserting you into the job market, in Aussie lands you take shorter courses that allow you to work in different roles.
Understand the types of courses and how they train you:
Certificate III in Fitness: This course covers anatomy, physiology and the fundamentals of exercise science, as well as healthy eating principles. The student is trained to be a gym instructor and group fitness instructor. Becoming a fitness instructor is the first step in the field of physical education. Instructors can work in the assessment, training and supervision of clients in fitness centers and gyms.
Certificate IV in Fitness: This course prepares students for a career as a personal trainer in an unsupervised environment, as well as making them competent to work with children and senior citizens. Students who complete this qualification are also able to offer strength and conditioning training.
Certificate IV in Sport Coaching: This qualification provides the skills and knowledge for the student who wishes to pursue a career as a coach in Australia. Possible roles for someone with this qualification include observing athletes' performance to determine the level of coaching and planning required, implementing talent identification programs, recruiting and managing volunteers, adopting sport psychology principles, conducting and evaluating individualized and team training programs.
Diploma of Sport Coaching: This qualification provides the skills and knowledge for the student to work as a coach in Australia and other countries. The student leaves able to instruct athletes, plan, manage projects, budgets and organizational risks, determine client needs, carry out and evaluate individualized and team high-performance training programs. Those with this qualification will also supervise practice sessions and provide in-competition assistance to athletes, which includes supporting their psychological preparation and carrying out post-competition analysis of performance and strategy.
Certificate IV in Sports Development: This course provides knowledge for the student to organize sports-related projects, as a talent identification coordinator or manager, competition manager, program coordinator, coach, club development manager and trainer.
Diploma of Sport Development: This qualification provides the skills and knowledge for an individual who wishes to pursue a career in sports development. The professional outcomes of this qualification range from competitions to academies, and identifying and developing athletes. The course makes the student a professional able to work autonomously.
"Can I work in another country?"
A International Confederation of Registration for Exercise Professionals (ICREPs) and European Register of Exercise Professionals (EREPs) offer relationships between fitness associations in different countries around the world, and Australia is one of them. This relationship allows international portability of the certificate, enabling the professional to validate their qualification to work in the member countries of ICREPs and EREPs.
As well as allowing fitness professionals to work in different countries, the aim of these international registers is to ensure that quality standards are maintained and are consistent between the associated countries.
A Fitness AustraliaFitness Australia, an Australian association, is a member of ICREPs and EREPs. Once a fitness professional has gained registration or a portability card from Fitness Australia, they are eligible to register and work in ICREPs member countries. However, in the case of EREPs, professionals will only receive a validated certificate and not a portability card.
A Physical ActivityThe ICREPs, a fitness association in Australia, also provides a portability card for professionals to be eligible to work with ICREPs members.
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