Gap Year Volunteering

Sports

Why sports volunteering?

Fed up of living in a country where more than half of the days are overcast? Love getting outside and passionate about sports? Enjoy getting kids involved and working in a community? A sport placement might be perfect for you! There are normally two types of placement offered:

Intensive placements

These are usually for people committed to a specific sport, or a few sports. You’ll be living with a host family and coaching a team of kids, who might range in age from primary school to young adults (an under 13s, under 15s or under 18s team for example). You’ll be working on all aspects of the game with them – giving lessons on fitness, tactics and skills, and managing them when they play in competitions.

This sort of placement is for someone who really knows their sport inside out and wants to share their skills with the community, and possibly start exploring coaching and management. You don’t need any specific qualifications, however – school leavers and university students/graduates are welcomed alike, as are seasoned coaches and teachers.

School sports placements

These are for people who love sports and the outdoors but want to teach in a school environment. You’ll be really valued in this role as PE is hardly funded or unfunded by governments in many countries around the world, so you might be the only teacher the kids have. You’re likely, therefore, to have a lot of freedom in what sports you teach and how you teach them. You have more options to diversify with this type of placement, too, as PE teachers are often encouraged to teach English. This type of placement is best for people who just love sports in general and also those considering a career in sports teaching.