Why Hire an Apprentice
Here's why we believe more employers in the sport, leisure and activity sector should be considering apprentices as a core part of their workforce.
The sports, leisure and activity sector lags behind others in using apprenticeships, which is crazy to us. We believe an apprentice solves many workforce problems and should be a no-brainer for lots of employers. Hiring an apprentice allows you as an organisation to:
Reduce the cost of employing casual coaches
We know that hiring casual coaches can be an expensive and time consuming process. In hiring an apprentice, you will bring in someone who can work across a range of areas in the business – including staffing events, administration, social media and more – not just coaching. Yes, you are committing to them for over a year, but the value you get is tremendous.
Have staff who understand your values and mission
Casual coaches come and go, and many are in the building for only as long as it takes to deliver their session. An apprentice, employed for close to full-time hours will bring consistency and reliability across your operations. In addition, they will have a much deeper understanding of what your business is trying to do, and develop better connections with both staff and customers. All that means a higher quality of work and greater commitment to your cause.
Gain new insights and perspectives
Evidence shows that a diverse workforce brings increased creativity and an improved ability to serve local needs, which can aid competitive advantage. Hiring an apprentice will allow you to diversify your coaching workforce whilst also better understanding and responding to the needs of your local communities.
Gain new skills
Apprentices are eager to learn – they wouldn’t be on an apprenticeship if they weren’t. Your company will benefit from their up-to-date training, and they’ll soak up anything you ask them learn, meaning you can mould them into the exact type of workforce you need.

What does a Coach Core apprenticeship offer on top of all that?
In brief:
- Funding: we provide a grant towards the cost of taking on an apprenticeship
- The reward of mentoring a young person who has faced challenge and helping them develop personally and professionally
- An apprentice who can engage with local hard-to-reach communities
- The support of a local consortium of other Coach Core apprentice employers and a project administrator
- The support of our national partners
- Our 8 years of experience doing this (apprenticeships may seem daunting, but we can help make it simple).
You can find out more about the Coach Core apprenticeship here.