Apprenticeship as a sports and fitness management assistant

At the time you start your training, you should have an intermediate school leaving certificate (Realschulabschluss). Good grades in German, English, mathematics and sports are also desirable.

The working hours are usually based on the opening hours of the fitness studio and the general university sports. This means that in exceptional cases you may have to work evenings or weekends.

The training program for sports and fitness management assistants has a dual structure. It lasts three years. The trainees work on the one hand in the administration of the General University Sports Department and on the other hand in the university's own fitness studio "UNIfit", where they gain practical experience right from the start.

Theory is taught at the vocational school on certain days of the week. The vocational school is the Paul-Julius-von-Reuter-Schule in Kassel.

During the theory phase at vocational school, trainees to become sports and fitness administrators learn all the important know-how from the fields of sports and fitness as well as business administration and law. On the one hand, there are topics such as anatomy and exercise theory, and on the other, areas such as marketing and personnel management.

Sales and service management: What is the best way to sell a product - in this case, for example, a fitness course? That's what this learning field is all about. The trainees train how to deal with customers; for example, how to deal with complaints, how to advise customers individually on the phone. It also deals with the conclusion of membership contracts and the various sales channels.

Sports and exercise: The subject of sports and exercise covers many areas: Here, for example, trainees learn how bones, joints and muscles interact in the body or how the metabolism works. They are taught different training methods for individual training as well as group courses. They soon know how to draw up a training plan and are familiar with the special features of equipment training.

Marketing and event management: In this learning field, trainees get an insight into marketing and event management. They learn about marketing strategies in order to create advertising concepts and to be able to select the right advertising media and cooperation partners. In the area of sports management, trainees receive guidance on planning sports events.

Operational safety and accounting: Here, topics such as commercial arithmetic, investment planning and administration are on the timetable. It also involves compliance with sports-specific legal and administrative regulations. Sports and fitness business people should likewise know what measures to take in the event of an accident.

A monthly training allowance is paid in accordance with Section 8 (1) of the Collective Agreement for Trainees of the State of Hesse (TVA-H BBiG). This currently amounts to

1,126.85 EUR in the 1st year of training

1,181.43 EUR in the 2nd year of training

1,231.51 EUR in the 3rd year of training

Athletes: Of course, you should be physically fit and able to work under pressure. After all, as a sports and fitness merchant you will be active in sports every day.

Organizational skills: In order to keep things running smoothly at the General University Sports Center and the fitness studio, a lot of things have to be organized: Recording and maintaining customers, setting up the course program, searching for personnel - all of this also falls within your area of responsibility. You should therefore have a talent for organization.

Entertainer: It is an advantage if you have good communication skills and can approach people. For example, you should have no problem standing in front of a group of 20 people and demonstrating fitness exercises.