Recreation Director
Recreation Director
Career Overview
Recreation directors plan and manage programs that help people stay active, social, and engaged. They may oversee sports, fitness, camps, community programs, facilities, staff, budgets, and events, using technology to organize programs, communicate with participants, and manage operations.
Education
A college diploma in Recreation Management, Sports Administration, or a related program, or a university degree in Recreation, Physical Education, Kinesiology, Sports Administration, or a related field can prepare you for this career. Several years of experience in recreation, sports, or program management are usually needed to become a director.
Work Environment
Recreation directors work in community centres, recreation facilities, sports organizations, municipalities, fitness organizations, and professional sports settings. They balance office and on-site work, manage teams and programs, and may work evenings or weekends when programs and events are running.
Future Outlook
People continue to look for opportunities to stay active, healthy, and connected to their communities. Recreation directors who combine leadership, program management, technology, and strong people skills can find opportunities across sports, fitness, community recreation, and leisure services.
Recommended High School Courses
- Math
- Business
- Communication
- Physical Education
- English
- Computer Studies
- Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Far Vision - The ability to see details at a distance.
- Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Time Sharing - The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Enforce rules or regulations.
- Organize recreational activities or events.
- Gather information in order to provide services to clients.
- Promote products, services, or programs.
- Monitor recreational facility operations.
- Administer first aid.
- Explain regulations, policies, or procedures.
- Prepare operational reports or records.
- Demonstrate activity techniques or equipment use.
- Assign duties or work schedules to employees.
- Supervise service workers.
- Train service staff.
- Arrange facility schedules.
- Document client health or progress.
- Greet customers, patrons, or visitors.
- Communicate with management or other staff to resolve problems.
- Develop treatment plans for patients or clients.
- Evaluate employee performance.
- Provide counsel, comfort, or encouragement to individuals or families.
- Accompany individuals or groups to activities.
- Develop plans for programs or services.
- Arrange items for use or display.
Schools
Eastern Illinois Universi...
George Mason University
Illinois State University
Indiana University-bloomi...
Kent State University
University Of Mississippi
University Of Northern Io...
University Of Toledo
Utah State University
Western Kentucky Universi...
Brock University
College Of The Rockies...
Douglas College- Coqui...
Durham College- Oshawa...
Lakehead University- O...
University Of Alberta
University Of New Brun...
University Of Waterloo
Vancouver Island Univer...
Potential Scholarships
Ache Police Officers And...
Aqha Region 1 Quarter Hor...
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Aqhf Nebraska Quarter Hor...
- Creditcardgenius 2020 S...
- Haywood | Hunt & Associ...
Approx Salary Expectation
Low End:
$68,000.00 /yr
Avg/Med:
$94,000.00 /yr
High End:
$130,000.00 /yr
Related Careers
References
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
PayScale, Inc., https://www.payscale.com/.
WorkBC's Career Trek, http://www.careertrekbc.ca/.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.
PayScale, Inc., https://www.payscale.com/.
WorkBC's Career Trek, http://www.careertrekbc.ca/.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.