Careers in Sport and Recreation
My name's Matt Hayes. I'm the operations manager at Woodman Point Recreation Camp for the Department of Sport and Recreation. My occupation involves a variety of things. Occasionally, I do get an opportunity to get out of the office and actually run some abseiling, flying fox, even some team games or something exciting like that. There's a lot of client interaction and we have a lot of groups that come in who speak to a lot of the teachers and the kids or the participants in the group.
But there is quite a large administrative side as you progress through the camps industry. You have duties and responsibilities in terms of pay and staff duties and human resources, but you do get that chance to get out there and play hard. That's one of our philosophies. We do work hard but then we go out and play hard. I've been working in DSR camps for just under four years now. Before that, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do. I was at UWA for about nine years, both studying and then going on... ..starting a PhD and doing some lecturing there, and I think I was using it as an excuse to prolong my decision-making as to what I wanted to do. In some careers, you become a doctor or a physiotherapist, you become something that is quite specific. I was doing a degree - human movement - at UWA that gave me a variety of different skills, and I couldn't quite narrow down what I wanted to do. Eventually, I stumbled across a role with camps. I thought the Department of Sport and Recreation sounded pretty good because I've always played sport and I've loved the outdoors.
And since I started, there was hardly anything I found that I didn't like about it, and I've been moving up the ranks through there and I've enjoyed every second of it. The hours are quite flexible. Because we run a camp where clients can be there 24/7, 365 days a year, you can have some after-hours commitments, if something breaks down or you need to come and run a program late at night.
But I also see that as a positive. A lot of people get stuck in a job that is quite routine, 9-5, every single day of the year, and I like the fact that some days you get to have a sleep in but you work a little later, or if you want to work a little bit earlier and go home a bit earlier, if it's a nice day and you want to go for a paddle at the beach or something, you have that flexibility. As an instructor, your income can start at a low level, however, for what it is, getting out there and participating in abseiling, flying fox and all these activities I keep mentioning, it's probably right up there as one of the better pay rates in the industry.
Instructors can earn almost 30 dollars an hour, teaching kids to go and have fun in these activities, so that's a pretty good perk. Some of the full-time jobs within camps start at a very good salary that is good for a young person and can sustain them very well, but as you progress up the chain, through camps, and even the Department of Sport and Recreation, here can be some good salaries. The qualifications and degrees or certifications that I needed, I probably, myself, have done more than I need to do. I did come through UWA with a degree in exercise and sports science. Quite a few of our instructors are trainee teachers or trainee outdoor ed instructors, and they come through and use camps as an opportunity to get a bit of income and a bit of training while they're supplementing their degree, as well. Some of the full-time staff who have come through, they don't necessarily need a lot of tertiary qualifications but certainly a sense of fun and enthusiasm, some skills in outdoor recreation - if you're a good paddler or if you've had experience in ropes.
But similarly, we like to train up our staff, as well, so anyone who enters the camp sector have an opportunity to go in any direction they want within it and have an opportunity to have training to go further with whatever they like to do. If I had a suggestion for someone who wants to get into camp sector, I would say don't hesitate, jump in, take that leap into the unknown. I did and it's paid off for me. I enjoy everything that I do in camps. It's a wonderful place to be involved with and some of the people that you meet and the opportunities that you get, plus the fun that you can have, sometimes it doesn't feel like a job at all. That's my little hidden secret, but I won't tell my boss that!.
