How to Create a Professional Athlete Resume (Plus Example)

If you're a professional athlete, you may create a resume when applying for specific positions, teams or sponsorships. These resumes may differ slightly from traditional ones because of the uniqueness of the role of a professional athlete. Understanding how to create a resume for this type of role may help you advance your career as an athlete. In this article, we discuss how to create this type of resume, give a template you can use to create your own and provide an example athlete resume.

What is an athlete resume?

An athlete resume is a document that a professional athlete creates to show their experience playing professional sports or in other relevant positions. Athletes may use resumes to express their qualifications to potential coaches, sponsors and other private organisations. Athletes can also use resumes to apply for positions related to athletics that don't involve participating, such as coaching and training jobs.

How to write an athlete resume

Here's a guide you can follow to write an effective athlete resume:

1. Document your contact information

At the beginning of your resume, write your contact information. This typically includes your first and last name, your email, your personal phone number and your professional website, if you have one. A professional website can help you show employers examples of your athletic successes through videos and pictures.

Related: How to Become a Sports Marketing Manager (With Salary)

2. Devise a professional summary

After that, make a section for a professional summary, which is a one- to two-sentence explanation of your all-around work experience and credentials. A professional summary for this type of resume may express your experience as a professional athlete or important events in which you've participated. Only include the most significant qualifications in this section that help differentiate you from other possible candidates.

Related: Great Extracurricular Activities to Include on Your Resume

3. Explain your professional experience

Now, describe your previous and current professional experience. This includes the name of the organisations that employed you, the title of your positions, the dates of your employment and the specific tasks you conducted. When expressing your responsibilities, include action verbs that convey your exact function within your team and how you contributed to the completion of assignments. For athletes, including information on any professional sponsorships or additional compensation can also be useful to include in this section.

Related: What Does a Sports Marketer Do? (And How to Become One)

4. Detail some suitable skills

In the next section, you can document some distinguishing skills that you have related to athletics or your specific sport. This can include verbal and written communication, branding and specific sports abilities. It's often best to include both technical and non-technical skills.

Related: How Far Back on a Resume Can You Go? (With Templates)

5. Describe your educational background

After that, express any academic programs you finished, such as university degrees. For university degrees, communicate the name of the institution you attended, the type of degree you earned and the year of completion. For professional athletes, degrees in sports medicine, physiology or physical therapy can be useful to include.

Related: 96 Adjectives For Your Resume to Increase its Quality

6. List pertinent certifications or awards

Last, you can detail applicable certifications or awards. For example, this may include a tournament medal you received in a competitive athletic event. State the name of the certification or award, the year you earned it and the name of the organisation or institution that granted it to you.

Related: Career Break Resume Samples for Explaining Employment Gaps

Athlete resume template

Here is a template you can use for this type of resume:

[Full Name]
[Phone number] | [Professional email address] | [Professional website]

Professional Summary

[Brief summary that mentions your core competencies, work experience and career achievements]

Work Experience

[Job Title], [Start date–End date]
[Company Name], [Location]

• [strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

[Job Title], [Start date–End date]
[Company Name], [Location]

• [strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

[Job Title], [Start date–End date]
[Company Name], [Location]

• [strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

Skills

[Relevant skill] | [Relevant skill] | [Relevant skill] | [Relevant skill]

Education

[Degree earned]
[Institution name], [Graduation year if you graduated within the past three years]

Certifications and awards

• [Certification Name], [Host organisation] - [Year completed or expiration date]

• [Certification Name], [Host organisation] - [Year completed or expiration date]

Related: How to Create a Resume Using Google Docs Resume Templates

Example of athlete resume

Here's an example of an athlete resume you can create:

Fāng Leung

852-1235-5679 | FLeung@mail.com | f.leungwebsite.com

Professional Summary

Experienced professional baseball player with experience playing in several international leagues, including the BaseballWorld international league.

Work Experience

Professional baseball player, May 2020-March 2022
New City Bengals

• placed career-high in games played, with 12 in the spring season

• ranked fourth with a .216 batting average and registered 14 RBIs from 68 at-bats

• signed a league contract with the New City Bengals

Baseball coach, May 2016-May 2020
Hong Kong Best Baseball Coaching

• instructed beginners on baseball fundamentals

• assisted players in improving their batting, running and fielding skills

• coached teams in various baseball tournaments where Hong Kong Best Baseball Coaching participated as a representative from Northern Hong Kong Island province

• achieved a win-loss record of 37-27-1 from 2016 to 2020.

• won the silver medal for the Central League soccer tournament in 2016 and finished third place for the same competition in 2017

Assistant baseball coach, May 2012-May 2016
Hong Kong Best Baseball Coaching

• assisted players in improving their batting, running and fielding skills

• coached the team to win the gold medal for the Central League soccer tournament in 2013 and 2014

• won silver medals in 2015 and 2016

• began teaching players how to pick a baseball bat properly.

• played with various teams around Hong Kong Island to gather experience

Coaching | Communication | Teamwork | Competitive analysis

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Communications
Hong Kong Western Mountain University, 2021

Certifications and awards

• Silver medal, 2015 - Central Kids Hong Kong Tournament

• Best Rookie Player, 2021 - Major League Baseball

Tips for creating an athlete resume

Here are some additional tips to help you create your resume:

• Proofread your document. It's important to proofread your resume to ensure you use correct grammar, punctuation and spelling. You may read it aloud to ensure it's easy to read and understand, or you can share it with a friend to have them review it for you and give you feedback.

• Seek advice from experienced professionals. To get the most professional advice, speak with your friends, relatives or employers and ask for their advice. You can also go online and research book recommendations that discuss resumes.

• Showcase your achievements. Try to highlight the achievements you earned during your career so that people know what you've done and understand the impact you've made in the sports world. You can create a themed resume by highlighting only performance-based achievements or skills which relate to your own sport or position in life.

• Update as needed. As you earn more experience, gain more certifications or acquire new skills, feel free to update your resume to show this development. For example, if you win a tournament, update your resume to reflect that win.

• Make sure all information is relevant. The information on your resume should be relevant to the job for which you're applying. If the position requires certain skills that aren't demonstrated on your resume, then employers may not accept you for the position.