4 Coaching Resume Examples, Templates & How-To Guide

A coach trains and develops athletes, creates practice plans, analyzes performance, and fosters a positive team environment. Coaches play a crucial role in helping individuals and teams reach their full potential, ensuring that training and competition are conducted safely and effectively. They must also communicate with athletes, parents, and other stakeholders to achieve the best outcomes.

Today, I will coach you, and you’ll end up with a no.1 resume worthy of a gold medal. Go, go, go!

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Coach Resume Example

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Entry-Level / Junior Coach Resume

An entry-level coach assists in coaching and developing athletes, organizing practice sessions, giving feedback, and fostering a positive team environment. Here’s a sample entry-level coach resume:

Taylor Anderson

Junior Baseball Coach

taylor.anderson@example.com

(407) 839-6739

linkedin.com/in/tayloranderson

Objective

Enthusiastic entry-level baseball coach with hands-on experience in coaching youth teams. Skilled in creating engaging practice drills and fostering teamwork. Seeking to contribute coaching skills and passion for baseball at XYZ Sports Academy. Successfully improved youth team performance by 15% through targeted training sessions.

Experience

Volunteer Baseball Coach

Community Youth Center, Orlando, FL

June 2022–March 2024

Key Qualifications & Responsibilities:

• Assisted head coach in planning and conducting practice sessions.
• Developed and implemented training drills to improve player skills.
• Fostered a positive team environment and encouraged sportsmanship.

Key Achievement:

• Improved youth team performance by 15% through targeted training sessions.

Education

Bachelor of Science in Sports Management

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL

September 2018–May 2022

Skills

• Practice Planning
• Player Development
• Team Building
• Giving Feedback
• Communication Skills
• Physical Fitness

Certifications

• Certified Youth Sports Coach, 2022

Languages

• English (Fluent)
• Spanish (Conversational)

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Mid-Level Coach Resume

A mid-level coach has several years of experience and is responsible for creating detailed practice plans, managing teams, and mentoring junior coaches. Here’s a sample mid-level coach resume:

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Senior Coach Resume

A senior coach leads the sports program, mentors junior coaches, and ensures high-performance standards. They have extensive experience in advanced coaching techniques and team management. Here’s a sample senior coach resume:

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Resume Templates for Coaches

We’ve analyzed 11 million resumes made in the Zety Resume Builder, and here are the 2 most chosen templates for coaches’ resumes:

Cascade

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Cascade deserves a gold medal. It’s one of the best resume templates in our portfolio, and I dare to say, it’s one of the best resume templates you’ll ever see. It’s an eye-catching template that’s also very professional-looking and creative. Great choice for every jobseeker!

Diamond

Use this resume template

If Cascade deserves a gold, Diamond leaves the stadium with silver. But it was close! This modern resume template uses a stand-out header and bold resume icons, resulting in a truly unique resume.

How to Write a Coaching Resume:

1. Start With the Best Coaching Resume Format

A well-executed training program is crucial to get your athletes where you want them to be. It’s similar when it comes to your resume. A well-executed format will be a great start for your entire document, and will make it easier to get where you want to be: your future job.

Here’s how I advise to do it:

• Use the best professional resume format for coaching jobs. That’s the reverse-chronological resume template. It lists your most current coaching job up top.
• Use a clean resume header with your name in the biggest font, then the title (coach), your address, email, and phone number.
• Use the best resume fonts, like Calibri or Cambria. Make them 10–12 points for easy reading, with reasonable white space in between.
• Save your high school or college coaching resume in PDF form so it doesn’t fall apart after you send it. (Check the posting first in case they don’t like PDFs.)

Pro Tip: Having a creative resume template is important, but avoid over-the-top-creative resume layouts. Don’t send soccer coach resumes with images of soccer fields in the background. The goal is to make it easy for the manager to see your qualifications.

2. Prep Your Resume to Fit the Coaching Job Description

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of coaches is projected to grow 9% in the upcoming years. That's much faster than the average of all occupations! To make sure you qualify, make a job-winning work experience resume section.

Know what they want in a coach, then show you’ve done it:

• Kick off with your latest coaching job.
• Add a job title, school, and dates.
• Say what you did, and how well you did it by showing relevant achievements. 
• Quantify. You know well how important is scoring the right number.
• Use resume action words to keep employers reading.

Before I show you some great action words, let’s see them on the field, AKA, in your resume keywords:

Keywords for a Coaching Resume

• Develop and implement practice plans.
• Assess and analyze athlete performance.
• Create strategic training programs.
• Utilize sports technology.
• Foster a positive team culture.
• Collaborate with assistant coaches.
• Provide individual coaching.
• Conduct training sessions.
• Organize and lead team events.
• Develop curriculum for various sports activities.
• Prepare teams for competitions.
• Maintain accurate records.
• Communicate effectively with athletes and parents.
• Plan and conduct coaching workshops.
• Integrate real-world applications into training.

And here are those action words:

Action Verbs for a Coaching Resume

• Developed
• Implemented
• Assessed
• Analyzed
• Created
• Utilized
• Fostered
• Collaborated
• Provided
• Conducted
• Organized
• Led
• Prepared
• Maintained
• Communicated

Pro Tip: Are you changing careers to get into coaching from another line of work? Write a career change resume to show you belong out on the field or court.

3. Drill Your Coaching Resume Education Section

Did you know, that the main educational level achieved by coaches is a bachelor's degree? But even if you’re not a bachelor, you still need to create a great education section.

What to always include? 

• Your Degree
• Minors and Majors
• City and State of Your School
• Date of Graduation

What can you also include?

• Relevant Coursework
• Sport’s Achievements
• Phi Beta Kappa
• High GPA (3.5 or higher)
• Cum Laude
• Relevant Awards
• Extracurricular Activities
• Studying Abroad

Pro Tip: In a resume for coaching jobs, list school achievements that matter to the job. If the hiring manager wants football experience, showing you played college ball is a good play.

4. Show Coaching Skills in Your Resume

You’ve got the experience, you’ve got the background, but do you also have a great set of skills? Use this coaching resume skills list below to start convincing your future employer that you deserve a shot at this job.

Coaching Resume Skills

Hard Skills:

• Giving Feedback
• Goal Setting
• Inspiring Confidence
• First Aid
• Zone Defense
• Offense
• Knowledge of Specific Sports
• Safety
• Creating Practice Drills
• Creating Game Plans And Plays
• Managing Attendance
• Working With Teachers

Soft Skills:

• Leadership
• Interpersonal Skills
• Collaboration
• Oral and Written Communication Skills
• Problem-Solving Skills
• Time Management
• Critical Thinking
• Organization
• Empathy
• Active Listening
• Physical Fitness
• Coordination
• Patience
• Adaptability
• Dependability

Pro Tip: For coaching jobs, you’ll need to list and demonstrate both hard and soft skills in your resume. Schools want well-rounded applicants who can adapt.

5. Add Other Sections to Your Coaching Resume

Your bonus sections aren’t just fluff. They must show coaching skills or soft skills. Did you organize a playground-building project? That shows leadership ability. Did you volunteer? That means you’re passionate about helping others. Do your hobbies include playing in an amateur baseball team? You get what I mean.

Select from:

• Activities
• Associations
• Resume Certifications
• Fitness activities
• Projects
• Awards and Honors
• Conventions
• Volunteer activities
• Lists of Interests
• Language Skills

Pro Tip: Always tailor your resume to the job you’re after. This applies also to your extra sections. Use only what will impress the recruiter for this very position you’re after.

6. Write a Coaching Resume Objective or Resume Summary

Your recruiter wants to get the top-line info from your coach's resume fast. Make it easy and stand out with a profile for your resume.

Here’s what you can write:

• If you’ve been around the track for 2 years or more, make that a professional summary for your resume. 
• Don’t have 2 years of experience? Looking for your first job? Use an objective in your resume. 

Let’s make it even easier. Here are the formulas to use when writing them both:

Coach Resume Summary

Coach Resume Objective

Pro Tip: Don’t tackle that coach’s resume summary first. It’ll be a breeze if you wait until the rest of your resume is finished, then hand-pick the best parts for the summary.

7. Send a Cover Letter With Your Coaching Resume

How important are cover letters with coaching resumes? As important as every point during a match, because almost half of hiring managers will toss your resume for coaching jobs without one.

Here’s how to make your coaching covering letter unique enough to catch the eye:

• Use the right format for a cover letter—half a page or three paragraphs.
• Start a cover letter with a hook. Choose a big coaching accomplishment or a fact about the school that inspires you.
• Show more ways you fit this particular job.
• Stick to the correct cover letter length. Don’t make it longer than one page.
• Finish your cover letter with an offer to talk more about how your coaching skills can help the school.

Pro Tip: Send a job application follow-up email in three days, then resend it in one week. Don’t nag or get long-winded; just remind them you’re interested in the coaching job.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Not sure a resume for coaching jobs is your best path? See our other guides:

• Substitute Teacher Resume
• Teacher Resume
• Resume Examples for Jobs in Education
• Teaching Assistant Resume
• Tutor Resume
• Camp Counselor Resume
• Special Education Teacher Resume
• Elementary Teacher Resume
• Academic Advisor Resume
• Social Worker Resume
• Basketball Coach Resume
• All Resume Examples

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This article has been reviewed by our editorial team to make sure it follows Zety's editorial guidelines. We’re committed to sharing our expertise and giving you trustworthy career advice tailored to your needs. High-quality content is what brings over 40 million readers to our site every year. But we don't stop there. Our team conducts original research to understand the job market better, and we pride ourselves on being quoted by top universities and prime media outlets from around the world.

Sources

• https://www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and-sports/coaches-and-scouts.htm
• https://datausa.io/profile/soc/coaches-and-scouts#education-and-skills