Hiring & Charging Instructors for Your Sports Facility

As your sports facility grows, it may be time to expand your team. When starting with a small group of instructors, many of whom may be family members or former colleagues/teammates, it is easy to hire and agree on a pay structure. But as you expand and bring on outside talent, finding candidates with the right technical skills who fit your budget will take time.

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In this post, we’ll talk about a few strategies for selecting the right candidate for your next coaching position and creating a mutually beneficial compensation plan with them.

Hiring Instructors

Finding Talent

If you found this post, chances are you’ve exhausted your word of mouth and initial network for candidates. While those are great methods for getting a qualified instructor, they are not the only way.

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LinkedIn is a great network for your business to expose itself to professionals in your industry. If you’ve ever posted a coaching position job on the platform though, you know it can be a large mixture of candidates. That’s why I recommend all facilities (and their managers specifically) grow a Twitter/X following. I know countless former colleagues boasting impressive qualifications without a LinkedIn profile. With many instructors and coaches being former players they may have just never been exposed to that platform. In contrast, Twitter is a hotbed for coaches in all sports. Whether recruiting, networking, or learning from industry experts, Twitter might be a more direct platform to reach your ideal candidate.

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You can also look into large coaching organizations for your specific sport. For example, many baseball facilities we work with at Swift use ABCA as a hiring platform. They offer a free job board to view openings for on-field coaching roles and instructor positions at facilities. ABCA also hosts the largest annual baseball coaching convention where you can connect with coaches interested in working for your facility. Our team attended its first convention in 2022, and can attest to it being an amazing experience!

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Attracting Talent

Identifying which platform to post your job ads is just half the battle. Learning what will attract top talent to your facility and open positions is arguably more important. Beyond the basic roles, responsibilities, and compensation package, consider what else your business offers that makes you stand out. For example, for candidates out of state, you may have the budget to include a relocation bonus. The type of clientele you work with can also be a major draw for high-profile coaches. If you have a prominent core of professional athletes calling your facility home be sure to include that in the description of your business. Other factors candidates may be interested in are things such as a continuing education stipend, flexible hours, remote coaching (work-from-home opportunities), revenue sharing, etc.

Selecting Candidates

Using the strategies above, you now have dozens of candidates to choose from. Moving through the interview process it’s important to consider factors such as:

• Location (will they be relocating for this position)
• Existing clientele (can they bring an existing customer base into your facility)
• Familiarity with technology (your facility likely has specific technologies to attract athletes - your instructors should be experts at these!)
• Certifications 

Charging Instructors

 With the next instructor ready to join your team you might be considering a few methods of compensation. At Swift, we have observed instructors and coaches at sports facilities tend to operate (& get paid) in a few different ways. They either:

1. Rent Directly: The coach rents space from the facility owner like any other customer would, albeit at a discounted rate. They manage their own customers and bookings.In this case, the facility owner is not responsible for payroll because the instructor’s athletes are paying the instructor directly.

2. Operate as Independent Contractors:The coach is affiliated with the facility’s business as a 10-99 employee (for US-based companies). They generally get a fixed $ or % amount of the revenue they bring in for lessons and camps, and the facility is responsible for their payroll because the revenue comes to the facility first.‍

3. Part-time or Full-time Employees: Occasionally, some facilities will also end up hiring contractors they’ve worked with and turn them into part-time or full-time employees. In this case, they’ll get paid hourly for the lessons and camps they run. Again, the facility i responsible for payroll in this case.

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The majority of your staff will fit into one of these categories. As you scale, however, you may be taking a closer look at each method and weighing the pros and cons financially and culturally.

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Pitfalls to Avoid

Turnover

It’s no surprise that turnover is high within the coaching industry. Especially for instructors renting space directly or on a contractor basis, there’s a risk of them picking up their clientele and jumping ship to another location.

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Finding a good cultural fit that shares your vision is important to screen for during the hiring process. But once onboard, how can you retain them?

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Here are a few effective strategies we’ve seen work from the hundreds of facilities we work with at Swift.

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1. Build rapport

If you as the owner or manager don’t work directly with your instructors, consider putting some quality time in on the floor or front desk to show face and spark conversations. I can tell you firsthand there becomes a big divide in your facility culture when the person cutting the cheques isn’t “in the trenches” with the coaches. 

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2. Offer quarterly bonuses and/or contract renegotiations

A point of contention for instructors on a contract might be a feeling of stagnation. Be in 3 or 6 months in, with a client list booming and the facility profiting from their hard work, an instructor could be influenced into joining the competition with a better compensation package. Being mindful of their growth and ambition, having regular check-ins is a great way to curb a “grass is greener” sensation.

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3. Encourage holidays and offer paid time off

The coaching industry is rampant with burnout. The case might not always be your instructors leaving for the competition, they could be leaving the industry entirely! Adding some quality of life, PTO, mental health days, etc, into their compensation or just day-to-day working relationships can be a great way to limit burnout.

Hiring Too Soon or Too Fast

The business might be booming, clients are flying through the door, and cages/lanes/courts are full almost every hour – naturally, you think it’s time to hire more people. But you better be sure. Make sure to run a cost-benefit analysis of bringing on a new member to your team. Also, consider factors like seasonality when looking at how packed your calendar may be. Ensuring clients are on memberships can be a reassurance come slower times of year.

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Giving Too Much

When it comes to hiring an instructor, there is a fine balance between giving them enough incentive to work versus maintaining lessons, classes, and/or camp profitability for the facility. Within Swift, you can track and manage your sales, revenue, and payroll to maximize your facility's profitability.

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Micromanaging

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The last thing you want by bringing on more instructors is adding more to your plate. You may feel the need to manage the availability and schedules of your instructors, but with technology like Swift, you can set custom roles and permissions empowering each staff member to set and maintain their schedule. This leaves you with more time to think about ways to double down on your facility's growth!

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We’re Here to Help

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With a team of industry experts, and experience helping hundreds of sports facilities, Swift is more than just a facility management software – it’s your next business partner.

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If you’re looking for help taking your business to the next level, book a product demo with a member of our team and we’d be happy to discuss if Swift is a good fit for your facility.

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