The cost of a career in sport

How much are aspiring coaches and psychologists paying to pursue their professional dream?

The figures are stark. £50k. $180k. $400k. But these aren’t the weekly wage packets picked up by elite athletes.

The numbers represent the investment aspiring psychologists in the UK, US and Australia are required to make as they seek to become accredited practitioners - the theoretical gateway to a career supporting top sportsmen and women.

But with regulated professionals and their unions citing the increasingly ‘commonplace’ presence of unaccredited counterparts in clubs and teams across the world, there is intense scrutiny over the price of a 7-10 year cycle of education and training that offers little in the way of job security.

In this issue, I’ll be comparing the cost of studying in the UK, US and Australia and exploring what can be done to help psychologists and coaches realise a return on their investment.