Given that I’m just a big kid trapped in an adult’s body, it comes as no surprise that I like kids. Coupled with my love for sport and talking, being a sports coach seemed like a pretty natural employment fit.

While at university, I was looking for part-time work to pay the bills when I stumbled across a company called Kelly Sports, who were looking for a kids sports coach. The kids were aged 4 – 10, and the role was to go to their various schools and teach them how to play different sports – soccer, basketball, hockey, etc. Of course there were lots of fun and games involved too, but at a minimum they needed to be learning a few skills too. Sometimes they’d run kids’ birthday parties on weekends too. I absolutely loved the job description, and it wasn’t long before I was driving around in a Kelly Sports t-shirt.

On Saturday mornings I was also privileged enough to help run similar sports programs for kids with autism. It was actually some of the most rewarding work I’ve ever done…

The photo above was taken on my last day as a sports coach with my favourite group. I had the exact same group of kids for the two years I taught at that school, and I got the chance to watch them grow up and excel.

Basically I got to teach awesome kids how to play sport. Plus I was outside getting some fresh air. It couldn’t have been a more perfect job.