The various options available in sports as a full time career:

Coaching

This option has now assumed a greater significance with more and more schools and parents realising the importance of physical activity. Many parents prefer educational institutions that offer their children a wholesome curriculum covering activities like swimming, horse riding and yoga etc. As more and more Indian sportspersons gain fame and recognition in the international scene, many a parent is willing to let his ward have a chance at proving his mettle in sports. Educational institutions are expected to provide opportunities for students to determine where their aptitude lies. Therefore job openings in this area have increased manifold. This can be a rewarding and satisfying job for a person who enjoys outdoor activities and mingling with youngsters.
Besides educational institutions, many private clubs employ coaches for teaching groups of youngsters. These may be special vacation batches or even regular evening batches. Upcoming sportspersons sometimes employ personal coaches to enhance and optimise their performance. In this situation, it is the responsibility of a coach to chalk out numerous training programmes that will help keep the trainee in perfect mental and physical shape. One star prodigy can help shoot the coach also into limelight.

Sportspersons

Once a person decides to take up playing a particular sport or athletic activity as a profession, then the training for it takes precedence over everything else. A strict training regimen under the expert guidance of a coach, coupled with a wholesome and nutritious diet programme (again under expert guidance) needs to be followed. The country encourages and supports those who excel in their fields and bring the country's name into limelight in international sports meets. Actual performance on field may be short-lived, but a successful stint opens many other avenues for a sportsperson who retires from active sports due to age. Positions in state level and national level sports organisations are often offered to sportspersons after they retire from active sports.

Private sector

The increasing awareness about physical fitness and the popularity enjoyed by many games has led to the mushrooming of sports clubs all over the country. From simple ones that offer coaching to ones that are fully equipped to cater to the elites and upper classes. Such clubs are privately owned and the owners prefer persons with exposure in relevant sporting fields to operate sports and leisure clubs. Such jobs carry many administrative responsibilities alongside.. Persons working in such places need to have excellent interpersonal skills, as they will need to interact with many people who come to use the facilities offered by the club, with various sportspersons to be appointed as instructors, equipment suppliers and so on.

Consultants (sports medicine)

The current awareness about health and fitness has created a need for experts who can advise individuals about their health needs and suggest a personalised fitness programme taking into account lifestyle, time constraints and other relevant factors. Such professionals may be employed in an advisory capacity by leading health clubs. Hospitals and rehabilitation centres also utilise the services of such specialists to provide sound advice on the best course of action for patients who need structured physical activity. Such specialists also attend to the maladies of the sportspersons during action e.g. sprains, muscle pulls, torn ligaments, fractures etc. Physiotherapists are also required in the field of sports to provide continuous and sustained treatment to the injured individuals.

Manufacturing sports equipment

Innovation and experience is an excellent combination and works well in many areas including that of sports equipment manufacture. This is a very specialised field and has new products aimed at enhancing the innate abilities of sportspersons and enabling them to do their best. Big sporting events like the Olympics/Asian/Commonwealth games regularly showcase such innovative equipment, of which many go on to become standard equipment. Sports goods and equipment has an increasing market. So specialists are engaged to help in market research and development.