Sports, exercise and recreation

How to become a recreation worker supervisor

Official title: Recreation worker supervisor

Also called: Community recreation adviser, Holiday programme coordinator, Recreation assistant, Sports coordinator, After-school programme coordinator, Activities coordinator, Sports development officer

Recreation worker supervisors manage or supervise recreation staff in public and private facilities, parks and recreation centres.

Main tasks

Supervise and support recreation staff
Plan recreation programmes and activities
Create staff work schedules
Make sure activities are safe
Explain rules to staff and visitors
Work with teams to organise activities
Inspect facilities and equipment
Check equipment works properly

How to become one

You usually need experience to become a recreation worker supervisor and a qualification may be useful. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job, but Level 2 may be useful. Required: to pass a police check. Other requirements: experience in similar work; a New Zealand Certificate in Sport, Exercise, and Leisure Operations (Level 3); a New Zealand Certificate in Sport and Recreation (Programme Delivery) (Level 4); a First Aid Certificate.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

Certificates and diplomas: Intermediate certificates in sport and recreation activities. TEC links this job to study in sport and recreation. Qualifications: NZ Cert in Outdoor and Adventure Education (Multi-skilled), Cert in Sport and Recreation, NZ Cert in Diving (Supervision). Usually 6 months to 1 year. Graduates of these qualifications earn a median $41,000 a year one year after study and $56,000 five years after; 36% are employed one year after (TEC, from Stats NZ IDI data).

Pay · Past change

Median pay: $54,000 a year, a TEC estimate before tax.
Upper: $88,000 a year
TEC shows pay for this job by the hour: median $25.96 an hour.
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.

Who does this work

About 420 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).

Questions people ask

How do I become a recreation worker supervisor?

How much does a recreation worker supervisor earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $54,000 a year, before tax.

Has the number of people working as a recreation worker supervisor grown in New Zealand?

It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Sources

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026