What are the Common Qualities of Sports Therapists

If you are considering your career options you may be wondering what the common qualities of sports therapists are in order to decide if it is the correct career path for you.  

Sports therapists can work in a variety of environments from pitch-side to backroom teams, directly with professional sports people and with members of the community from children to the elderly. If you are passionate about developing a career as a sports therapist this means there are plenty of opportunities to bring your caring, helpful qualities to people in this industry.  

Some of the common qualities of sports therapists include: 

• Good interpersonal skills 
• Physical fitness 
• Conscientiousness 
• Ability to form strong relationships with people from diverse backgrounds 
• Ability to deal sensitively with injured clients 
• Encouraging and motivational communication style 

Let’s look at each of these in more detail and examine where they fit into the role of sports therapists. 

Good Interpersonal Skills  

Sports therapists work with a variety of people, no two days are the same, making it an exciting and rewarding career. Interpersonal skills are the skills we use every day when we communicate and interact with other people, both individually and in groups. Interpersonal communication involves the face-to-face exchange of thoughts, ideas, feelings and emotions between two or more people. This includes both verbal and nonverbal elements of personal interaction. A sports therapist will interact with people of all ages from all backgrounds, colleagues, sportspeople, managers and sports officials during their career and therefore good interpersonal skills are a common quality of sports therapists. 

Physical Fitness  

Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of sports, occupations and daily activities. Sports therapists are not expected to be professional athletes but some level of good physical fitness is necessary for the physical aspects of the job. From running on and off the pitch at games to the strength needed to carry out therapy correctly and consistently without becoming tired, physical fitness will help any sports therapist to be the best that they can be at their job. An interest in physical fitness also goes hand in hand with ensuring the therapist’s own health and well-being in order to take care of their patients.  

Conscientiousness 

This refers to the quality of wishing to do one's work or duty well and thoroughly. It is important that sports therapists truly want to improve the lives of the people they work with and to do so to the highest standards at all times. People’s bodies, health and well-being will be in your hands as a sports therapist so it is important that you take the role seriously and always want to do your best work to help others.

Ability to Form Strong Relationships With People From Diverse Backgrounds 

Just like no two days as a sports therapist are the same, no two people you will work with will be the same either. It is important that sports therapists are aware of equality and inclusion when working with people from diverse backgrounds including people from different age groups, people with varying abilities and disabilities, people with chronic or short-term illnesses and people from different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. The ability to form bonds and strong relationships with people from diverse backgrounds will help sports therapists to succeed in their careers. 

Ability to Deal Sensitively With Injured Clients 

As a sports therapist, you will deal with people suffering from a range of injuries and ailments. Some will be short-term injuries which can be fixed with some therapy and others will need longer-term support. The ability to treat each patient with the care and time they need is an important quality of a sports therapist. It is necessary to respect each person’s medical background, worries and past experiences with healthcare to be able to treat them appropriately and help them in their recovery. Your use of language and communication skills will be important for you to be able to deal sensitively with each person’s individual needs.  

Encouraging and Motivational Communication Style 

While working as a sports therapist you will be helping people on a healing journey from some physical pain or injury they are experiencing. It is therefore important that you have an encouraging and motivational communication style that supports your patient’s needs and helps them to remain positive when enduring physical pain and encourages them to keep up with their prescribed treatment which may involve them needing to do their own stretching, training, warm-ups and cool-downs. Your support and encouragement can make a huge difference in the speed and efficiency of their progress.

Get in Contact  

If you are interested in any of our sports courses or have any questions you can book a consultation call with our expert sports advisor Sharde Sebastian here, email sharde.sebastian@portobelloinstitute.com or call 01 892 0029. Visit our sports department here.