Career · Sport and movement
Sports coach
Teaches technique, plans training sessions and prepares athletes for competitions.
Career overview
What a day looks like
A coach runs sessions, shows and explains exercises, looks after safety, goes over mistakes and supports their students. A lot of the work happens in the evenings and at weekends, plus trips to competitions.
Try it yourself this week
30 minutes
Analyse 15 minutes of a match or training session like a coach
- Choose a recording of any match or of your own training — any sport or dance.
- Watch 15 minutes and pick one player. Write down three things they do well and one thing they could improve.
- Write this player a piece of advice in two sentences — so they don't get upset and understand what to do.
- Think it over and write down: was it more interesting to watch the game, or to look for mistakes and figure out how to fix them?
What you'll learn about yourself: Whether you notice the details of movement and can talk about someone's mistake in a way that makes them want to get better.
30 minutes
Put together a 10-minute warm-up and do it yourself
- Build a warm-up in three parts: joints (from top to bottom), light cardio, stretching. No weights.
- Do it yourself with a timer and pay attention to how you feel. If anything hurts, stop.
- Write down what was easy and where you fell behind on time.
- Rework the plan the way you'd explain it to a group of ten-year-olds: what words, what pace, what to demonstrate. You can run it for a brother, sister or friend — if you want to.
What you'll learn about yourself: What suits you more: moving yourself, or coming up with exercises and explaining them to others — and whether you have the patience for repetition.
What you can do next
Next 3 months
Analyse a game like a coach
Do the task about analysing 15 minutes of a match or training session.
In six months
Help the coach at your sports club
Ask your coach if you can help with the younger kids' warm-up, and watch how they explain things.
In a year
Talk to someone who does this job
With your parents or a teacher, find someone who does this job and ask what their working day looks like and what is hardest about it.
What it pays
No verified information is available in this section yet.
Where to study
Notes on sources are in Russian, as in the original source.
Universities
You apply after grade 11, based on your UNT results.
- КазНУС (Казахский национальный университет спорта) (opens in a new tab)
Astana
Тренерская деятельность (по видам спорта), 6B11501
after grade 11UNT: 2 university creative examsСсылка ведёт на агрегатор univision.kz: сайт университета, срок и язык обучения мы не проверяли. Ещё один вуз этой группы — Казахская академия спорта и туризма (Алматы).
- КазНПУ имени Абая (opens in a new tab)
Almaty
Факультет физической культуры и военной подготовки: учитель физической культуры, а не тренер
after grade 11UNT: 2 university creative examsЭто педагогическое направление: выпускник — учитель физкультуры. Тренерская подготовка — группа B098 «Спорт» (КазНУС, Казахская академия спорта и туризма).
The UNT, if you apply to university
Required subjects: History of Kazakhstan, Reading Literacy, Mathematical Literacy. Profile subjects for this career: 2 university creative exams.
Programme group: B098 Спорт. Checked: October 2026.
Source: National Testing Centre list (opens in a new tab)How to get into college
College gets you a profession faster than university. You can apply after grade 9 or after grade 11.
- Colleges accept students both after grade 9 and after grade 11. After grade 9 you study longer — about 3 years 10 months; after grade 11, about 2 years 10 months. The exact length depends on the college and the specialty.
Source: kchk.edu.kz (opens in a new tab) - About 80% of students admitted to colleges in the 2024/25 school year study on a state order, which means in state-funded places (in 2023/24 it was about 70%). But each college and each specialty has its own number of state-funded places.
Source: inbusiness.kz (opens in a new tab) - There are also paid colleges. For example, training as a nurse at ADILMED costs 450,000 ₸ per year. Check the price and conditions on the college's website.
Source: adilmed.kz (opens in a new tab)
UNT: which subjects to take for university
The UNT (Unified National Testing) is Kazakhstan's national university entrance test. You need it to get into university after grade 11.
- The UNT 2026 has three compulsory subjects: History of Kazakhstan, Reading Literacy and Mathematical Literacy. On top of these, you take two profile subjects, chosen to match your specialty.
Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab) - In total, the test has 120 questions (maximum 140 points) and you get 4 hours. The format is the same as in 2025.
Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab) - Profile subjects depend on the group of specialties. For example: information technology — Mathematics and Computer Science; nursing and veterinary medicine — Biology and Chemistry; electrical engineering — Mathematics and Physics; law — World History and Fundamentals of Law. The full list is published by the National Testing Center.
Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab) - For creative specialties (for example, media and design), you take History of Kazakhstan and Reading Literacy through the UNT, and two creative exams at the university itself.
Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab) - Some universities have their own admission rules. Nazarbayev University, for example, requires a UNT score of at least 85, a GPA of 4.0 and English at IELTS 6.0 level.
Source: nu.edu.kz (opens in a new tab)
Courses and opportunities
No verified information is available in this section yet.
History of the career
No verified information is available in this section yet.
Well-known people in this field
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