Sports Nutritionist | Sports Medicine Career Overview

Sports Medicine Careers

Sports medicine is an area of healthcare focused on athletes. A sports medicine practice covers myriad medical and physiological goals and concerns that can and do impact athletes.

Such an expansive goal demands a commensurate breadth of practitioners and professionals. That’s why the field of sports medicine encompasses a dynamic range of job types and career opportunities.

The article below explores sports dietetics. Additional sports medicine career roles include:

Sports Medicine Career Overview

Meet Stephanie Urrutia, Assistant Athletic Director of Performance Nutrition at UCLA Athletics

A registered dietitian and a classically trained chef, Stephanie Urrutia directs performance nutrition for UCLA Athletics. She loves helping student athletes perform and feel their best. Building meaningful relationships with them stands out as a highlight of her work.

Supporting them and helping them achieve their goals through nutrition makes her truly part of their teams. Knowing she gets only a fixed amount of time to work with them before graduation makes her interactions even more meaningful.

“Throughout that period of time, you get to watch them develop and make progress toward their goals,” Stephanie says. “You get to support them through it all and watch them make the entire journey from point A to point B.”

What Does a Sports Nutritionist / Registered Dietitian Do?

Sports nutritionists and dietitians create customized dietary plans to optimize athletes’ performance and overall health. They assess each athlete’s physiology, performance demands, and other physical and lifestyle factors to determine how to best support each through diet and nutrition.

They help athletes pinpoint nutritionally driven strategies for a range of goals and concerns—from decreasing body fat composition to building muscle.

How, precisely, a sports nutritionist approaches those goals varies highly from day to day in order to accommodate athletes’ unique and rapidly shifting nutritional needs. If the athletes in question are students, then the sports nutritionist’s schedule is also beholden to an ever-changing academic calendar.

“No day ever really looks exactly like another,” Stephanie says.

There are, however, a few core tasks she’ll handle throughout a typical week:

Having individual meetings with student athletes.
Attending team meetings, during which she’ll provide some form of nutritional education.
Attending team practices.
Attending games when applicable.
Checking in on player fueling stations, to make sure operations and offerings are up to standards.

Regardless of the specific line items on her schedule, Stephanie does one thing every day in her role as a sports nutritionist. She does her best to meet people where they are.

That’s because helping clients lead their healthiest lives often involves deconstructing long-held and deeply personal habits and/or introducing new ones. “Everyone might have a different opinion, a different background, or a different experience with dietitians and nutrition,” she says. “If you respect that and remain open and communicative, you can drive change forward from there.”

For example, if someone is strongly resisting a certain food or dietary recommendation, it’s rare that any justification or persistence will change their mind. In this case, approaching the underlying goal in a different way will be more successful, and less frustrating, for everyone involved.

Beyond these core functions, a sports nutritionist also plays an important role in a team’s comprehensive injury prevention and recovery strategies. For example, a sports dietitian might create an anti-inflammatory diet as part of an athlete’s comprehensive recovery plan.

Their work is highly collaborative. Sports nutritionists consult with individual athletes as well as coaches, trainers, and other multidisciplinary professionals affiliated with a team.

View a sample sports dietitian job description from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Sports and Human Nutrition practice group

How to Become a Registered Dietitian in Sports Medicine

It takes around 5 to 7 years to become a registered dietitian certified in sports dietetics:

Earn a bachelor’s degree.
- Estimated time required: 4 years
Complete a dietetic internship/practical supervised training at a program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND®).
- Estimated time required: 6 - 12 months
Study for and pass the Commission on Dietetic Registration’s national registered dietitian (RD) exam to earn a license.
- Estimated time required: 2 - 4 months
Meet any additional initial licensure requirements for your state of practice.
- Estimated time required: 2 - 4 months
Complete additional training and certification specific to sports dietetics, such as the Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD) credential.
- Estimated time required: Varies highly per individual and experience level. To be eligible for this certification, individuals must have 2,000 hours of sports dietetics practice. In some cases, applicants may substitute commensurate education (a master’s degree) and/or research experience to satisfy eligibility requirements.

To continue working as a registered dietitian beyond this initial certification, practitioners must complete ongoing continuing education and licensure requirements.

Where can aspiring sports dietitians/nutritionists find additional information about education, training, and licensure?

Advice for Aspiring Sports Nutritionists and Dietitians

Stephanie provided one key takeaway for anyone considering a career in sports nutrition: Be sure you truly love the work—and the field—before you commit.

The work feels incredibly rewarding when everything goes smoothly. However, Stephanie admits it can become challenging. Her passion for supporting athletes helps her be both effective and happy in her role, even on the hardest days.

“You have to love what you're doing, because there are days that are longer than others or more challenging than others, and it can get tough,” she says. “But if you love the work, those days you work until 11 PM won’t feel quite as bad.”

Beyond genuine passion, the following characteristics and skills make someone a good fit for a sports nutrition career:

Pristine organization skills.
Flexibility when handling work approaches and scheduling.
Strong empathy and the ability to meet people where they are.

Quick Facts: Sports Nutritionist / Registered Dietitians

What are the core job responsibilities of a sports nutritionist / dietitian?

Evaluate athletes’ unique dietary needs and preferences.
Create individualized dietary plans to optimize athletes’ performance and overall health.
Provide nutritional expertise to strengthen multidisciplinary training, performance, and recovery initiatives.

Where can a sports nutritionist / dietitian find employment?

Sports nutritionists and dietitians may find employment opportunities in a variety of different settings, including:

Professional athletic teams and organizations
Olympic teams and organizations
School athletic teams of all levels
Sports rehabilitation centers
Sports medicine clinics
Healthcare facilities (clinics, hospitals, and private practices)
Gyms/training facilities

How much does a sports nutritionist / dietitian make?

Estimated annual salary range: $50,000 - $80,000

Registered dietitians practicing in the United States make around $50,000 - $80,000 annually. Earning potential varies widely depending on the dietitian’s location and industry of work, education, and certifications.