I have been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do with my life, and although my dream is to be a strength/conditioning coach for Olympians, I would probably only be able to do that for maybe 10 years tops as after that time frame, most high level institutes (NCAA, most Olympic teams, Pro-teams etc…) require masters programs.
This wouldn’t be a problem except that most high class Universities are extremely hard to get a Masters in Kinesiology, ie some where in the range of 3.5-3.8 for the entirety of your under-grad degree. My current GPA is way below that and I would have to up-grade for like 2 full years getting nothing less then an A- or maybe one or two B+'s just to stand a chance. Then of course another 2 years to complete the masters which would bring me to approximately 9 years of education to have a chance of training olympians for 70g per/year TOPS (unless you some how get in with the NFL or something)
The next thing that comes to mind is becoming a Physical Education teacher. Sure its not a prestigious, but you get to really help kids to improve and be better humans, coaching is really just another word for teaching as well and I have found that it is more rewarding to coach children then super high-level athletes. Plus there is way better job security, better benefits, pension, way less travel time (ie less family stress) pretty similar salary to an Olympic Strength Coach and instead of another 4-5 years on top of my Kines degree, I would only need 1 or 2 depending on the university I choose.
My main question to and PE Teachers how is the work life balance, I realize that with the teaching and coaching outside of school time and lessen plans that the day is much longer then the 9-3 that the kids are around for, but are you still able to lift seriously, have good relationships, and have leisure time?
I think I would really enjoy teaching PE and would be really good at it, but i am not willing to give up working out seriously.
[quote]carbiduis wrote:
Gym teachers make $70k/yr?
Wat?[/quote]
Depending on how long you are with the school. My hometown PE teacher makes 6 figures but he has been with the school for over 20 years and is a three season coach who has led the football and baseball teams to numerous titles.
I don’t know if you are planning on teaching in the US but if Bill Gates has his way (and so far he has) gym class and sports will not be part of the American education system.
Stay in Alberta, all the young guys who can’t find decent jobs are heading west. I have known some principals, teachers, ect that would train kids in high school and train at the same time, well some times anyways. It seemed do able,especially being a physed teacher I would assume it takes alot less planning than a english, history, science teacher plus the bene’s you talked about. Sounds like a good field for what you are talking about needing in your life.
Plus if you start churning out some stars and put good size and strength on them you will grow your rep and can move up from what you were doing. If they start selecting players from your school for football,hockey, rugby, these schools will start to look at who has been training them. Or so it would make sense, all these guys with degrees sometimes lack the time under the bar which a price can not be set on.
I spent a day at my local elementary school teaching the kids about soccer. It was a fucking nightmare. They have roughly 30 minutes for gym. The first 10 minutes is spent yelling at them to line up and quit talking and the last 10 minutes is spent yelling at them to line up and quit talking. The gym ‘teachers’ were 2 guys with little to no ability to do anything, but teach gym. They were also the only 2 males in the building which might sound fun until you see the whales and feminazis they work with. Their best teaching trick was to call a child’s name who was ‘acting up’ and say, “Really?”
Maybe it’s different in Canada, but apply yourself a little more in science, technology and math and find a real job suitable for a man.
If you want to be a strength and conditioning coach, become a student intern at your college for the sports team… you will start at the bottom but you may eventually get a graduate assitant gig, preference into masters program and get school paid for.
[quote]carbiduis wrote:
Gym teachers make $70k/yr?
Wat?[/quote]
In my area, teachers pay is determined by highest level of education completed and experience. Doesn’t matter if you’re teaching Chemistry or Phys Ed. Anyone teaching for 20 years with a Masters is making 6 figures.
District superintendents are making between $250k and $400k per year.
The band director at my (middle class) HS is still teaching, making $155k/year.
[quote]carbiduis wrote:
Gym teachers make $70k/yr?
Wat?[/quote]
In alberta you start at about 55k/year as a teacher and over time can get up to close to 100k.
As a strength/conditioning coach pretty much anywhere except for NFL, NBA etc… you probably start at like 35k and if your at it for ever and get lucky you might make 70k.
My main question to and PE Teachers how is the work life balance, I realize that with the teaching and coaching outside of school time and lessen plans that the day is much longer then the 9-3 that the kids are around for, but are you still able to lift seriously, have good relationships, and have leisure time?
I think I would really enjoy teaching PE and would be really good at it, but i am not willing to give up working out seriously.
[/quote]
If you are worried about quality-of-life-and-me-time issues with this profession, pretty much any career you chose you are in for a big shock.
My main question to and PE Teachers how is the work life balance, I realize that with the teaching and coaching outside of school time and lessen plans that the day is much longer then the 9-3 that the kids are around for, but are you still able to lift seriously, have good relationships, and have leisure time?
I think I would really enjoy teaching PE and would be really good at it, but i am not willing to give up working out seriously.
[/quote]
If you are worried about quality-of-life-and-me-time issues with this profession, pretty much any career you chose you are in for a big shock. [/quote]
This is true, and im not talking about training for the olympics or for the world power lifting championships or something like that.
Im talking about having enough time outside of work where I can have a family and still workout 3-4 time/week for 60-90 minutes.
[quote]carbiduis wrote:
Gym teachers make $70k/yr?
Wat?[/quote]
Depending on how long you are with the school. My hometown PE teacher makes 6 figures but he has been with the school for over 20 years and is a three season coach who has led the football and baseball teams to numerous titles. [/quote]
Sounds do-able…most people should be able to win state titles
My main question to and PE Teachers how is the work life balance, I realize that with the teaching and coaching outside of school time and lessen plans that the day is much longer then the 9-3 that the kids are around for, but are you still able to lift seriously, have good relationships, and have leisure time?
I think I would really enjoy teaching PE and would be really good at it, but i am not willing to give up working out seriously.
[/quote]
If you are worried about quality-of-life-and-me-time issues with this profession, pretty much any career you chose you are in for a big shock. [/quote]
This is true, and im not talking about training for the olympics or for the world power lifting championships or something like that.
Im talking about having enough time outside of work where I can have a family and still workout 3-4 time/week for 60-90 minutes.[/quote]
I’ve worked in a very time-demanding job, had a family, and found time to train that much. Granted, I might not have slept as much as I would have liked, and I trained very early in the morning at times to make it work, but part of transitioning into a career is figuring out how to make all this work. And I will say, it’s a very individual thing, because you can get consumed by most any career if you let that happen. You have to really learn to prioritize your time and set boundaries no matter what you do.
[quote]carbiduis wrote:
Gym teachers make $70k/yr?
Wat?[/quote]
Depending on how long you are with the school. My hometown PE teacher makes 6 figures but he has been with the school for over 20 years and is a three season coach who has led the football and baseball teams to numerous titles. [/quote]
Sounds do-able…most people should be able to win state titles[/quote]
Haha in Canada, coaching is all voluntary, they aren’t paid based on that at all. However, we pay all our teachers a good wage because we want it to be competitive so that we get better teachers, on average. I’m in Ontario, but Alberta looks similar, he’d start at around 60k and after ten years be around 100k.
And OP, I’m a Phys Ed teacher and I love it. It is super busy at first, but once you get going it’s not so bad, work-life balance isn’t an issue. That said, I plan on doing my masters next year and the year after while teaching, I’m sure that’ll be nuts. However, it definitely does take a certain type of person to be a teacher, and it’ll be draining if you’re not in it for the right reasons. But if you really want to, go for it, it can be incredibly rewarding.
[quote]carbiduis wrote:
Gym teachers make $70k/yr?
Wat?[/quote]
Depending on how long you are with the school. My hometown PE teacher makes 6 figures but he has been with the school for over 20 years and is a three season coach who has led the football and baseball teams to numerous titles. [/quote]
Sounds do-able…most people should be able to win state titles[/quote]
Haha in Canada, coaching is all voluntary, they aren’t paid based on that at all. However, we pay all our teachers a good wage because we want it to be competitive so that we get better teachers, on average. I’m in Ontario, but Alberta looks similar, he’d start at around 60k and after ten years be around 100k.
And OP, I’m a Phys Ed teacher and I love it. It is super busy at first, but once you get going it’s not so bad, work-life balance isn’t an issue. That said, I plan on doing my masters next year and the year after while teaching, I’m sure that’ll be nuts. However, it definitely does take a certain type of person to be a teacher, and it’ll be draining if you’re not in it for the right reasons. But if you really want to, go for it, it can be incredibly rewarding.[/quote]
Thanks for that!
Was exactly the kind of insight I was looking for. Im NOT considering it because I expect it to be easy with more days off then most professions, but because I find it rewarding to coach/teach and it would give me a career and not just a job.
Judging by your physique, I would say its quite do-able to be in great shape and be a teacher!
I’m a PhysEd and Science teacher. Right now I’m teaching in the UK because the job market back home (Southern Ontario) is terrible. Elementary school is a completely different ball game than high school. I for one could never teach PE to elementary school grades but high school is very doable. Finding a job out west should be easier but it is really tough to land a PE gig right off the bat.
Teaching is VERY rewarding - but, if it’s not for you you’ll hate the job…only time will tell. Like another person said, it is a lot of work at first: creating good lesson plans, teaching strategies etc. but after you do get the hang of it and things can go very smoothly. The amount of free time is really up to you. You can be a very dedicated teacher and spent 2-3hours a night lesson planning which will show the next day in class. Alternatively, you can give two shits and have all the free time after school and produce crappy lessons.
There is definitely enough time for you to train after school (hell, if you teach weight training you can work out during that lesson, which I did in my placements for teachers college). I was able to coach, workout, lesson plan and teach power skating after school all with getting to bed before midnight. Teaching pays well (do your AQ courses, get a masters and you’ll easily make over 100k a year within a good time frame). If you can’t handle kids then it’s probably not the best career for you.
Hope this helps…any other questions you have about it let me know. Hopefully this made sense… I’ve dabbled into the booze already.
I’m a PhysEd and Science teacher. Right now I’m teaching in the UK because the job market back home (Southern Ontario) is terrible. Elementary school is a completely different ball game than high school. I for one could never teach PE to elementary school grades but high school is very doable. Finding a job out west should be easier but it is really tough to land a PE gig right off the bat.
Teaching is VERY rewarding - but, if it’s not for you you’ll hate the job…only time will tell. Like another person said, it is a lot of work at first: creating good lesson plans, teaching strategies etc. but after you do get the hang of it and things can go very smoothly. The amount of free time is really up to you. You can be a very dedicated teacher and spent 2-3hours a night lesson planning which will show the next day in class. Alternatively, you can give two shits and have all the free time after school and produce crappy lessons.
There is definitely enough time for you to train after school (hell, if you teach weight training you can work out during that lesson, which I did in my placements for teachers college). I was able to coach, workout, lesson plan and teach power skating after school all with getting to bed before midnight. Teaching pays well (do your AQ courses, get a masters and you’ll easily make over 100k a year within a good time frame). If you can’t handle kids then it’s probably not the best career for you.
Hope this helps…any other questions you have about it let me know. Hopefully this made sense… I’ve dabbled into the booze already. [/quote]
Haha, thanks for this. very insightful!
I do like working with kids, although I think i would be much better at teaching jr high or high school.
Im in the US, so the pay is lower, but not nearly as bad as some make it out to be. The job is more stressful than you’d expect, and RS hit the nail on the head when he said if it’s not for you you’ll hate it. Most teachers love or hate their work. Very few seem to view it as just their job. If you are passionate about it you’ll be OK. If not, you’ll be among the 50% or so that last 5 years or less.
[quote]BossKean wrote:
Im in the US, so the pay is lower, but not nearly as bad as some make it out to be. The job is more stressful than you’d expect, and RS hit the nail on the head when he said if it’s not for you you’ll hate it. Most teachers love or hate their work. Very few seem to view it as just their job. If you are passionate about it you’ll be OK. If not, you’ll be among the 50% or so that last 5 years or less.[/quote]
In my experience the opposite is true. If you are passionate you will be miserable. Teaching, as a profession, is on the way out. The trend is to have “babysitters” while technology does the “teaching.” Bill Gates, who is the devil, has brought the Khan Academy into some classrooms and kids hate it.