PROFESSION

Talent Project Coordinator

Name:
Anna Longman

Degree:
BSc Sports Science
MSc Sports Science

Employer:
UK Sport

Typical Day
Advantages
Qualifications
Resources

A day in the life of a...
Talent Project Coordinator

There really isn’t a typical day in my job. I work in a team of talent identification specialists. Some of us (including me) are based within UK Sport and we work on the strategic planning and development of talent identification system across Olympic and Paralympic sport in the UK, and the rest of our team work for the home country sports institutes and they are delivering our talent identification projects on the ground. My job is very varied but it includes coordination of this team, and researching and sharing the latest research and best practice in talent identification. I am often in meetings with sports coordinating projects and initiatives we are running, as well as planning and delivering master classes to educate and up-skill talent identification practitioners who are working in the field with the sports. I am also responsible for the development of a national talent identification resource library.

3 great things about being a Talent Project Coordinator

1.	Meeting lots of different people and providing them with the opportunity to discover whether they could be a future British Olympic or Paralympic Champion

2.	Working closely with some of Great Britain’s most successful Olympic and Paralympic sports, coaches and experts

3.	The potential to travel internationally and learn from other countries’ world class sporting systems

3 not so great things about being in talent identification

1.	Working long and sometimes unsociable hours

2.	Travelling to meetings all over the UK can take up a lot of your working day at times

3.	The job is varied, which is great, but this can mean your workload is unpredictable and you have to be prepared to be flexible

Qualifications recommended you gain

I would recommend science A-levels, a sport science degree and, depending on whether you would like to be a scientist or a manager, a masters degree in either sport science (especially physiology) or sports management. I would also recommend that you get involved in sport early on and gain relevant experience – get involved with your local sports club or do some coaching qualifications.

3 opportunities and experiences you recommend people gain?

1.	Volunteer at sports events or local sports clubs to gain experience and contacts

2.	When you go to University, volunteer to help out (either as a subject or assistant) on research trials within the sports science department

3.	The are occasionally opportunities for current sport science students to help out on UK Sport talent identification testing days, so if you are interested in helping out, please get in touch

Salary range?
The salary for anyone working in talent identification is dependant on your qualifications and experience but there are opportunities to progress your career once you are involved. UK Sport’s benefits package to staff includes a pension allowance, healthy lifestyle benefit, sporting leave and 30 days annual leave.