Trainer bandaging an injured football player’s ankle beside a sports pitch.

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Sport First Aid

Certificate course

Sport First Aid

First aid for sports injuries and physical activity.

Duration: 1 day6 contact hours
Onsite: £495per group, up to 12

Train your team onsite.

Practical training at your workplace.

£495per group

Up to 12 learners

Course details

Everything you need to know about this course.

Who is this course for?

This course is designed for coaches, sports volunteers, PE teachers, fitness instructors, personal trainers, team managers and anyone responsible for the safety and wellbeing of participants during sporting activities.

Whether you work in grassroots sport, schools, gyms, clubs or community organisations, this course provides the practical skills and confidence to respond effectively to injuries and medical emergencies before professional help arrives.

No previous first aid experience is required.

What you’ll learn

Whether you coach, manage a team, volunteer at a club or teach PE, this course prepares you for the injuries and emergencies that can happen during sport and physical activity. You’ll learn how to assess a casualty on the pitch, court or training ground, decide what needs to be done first and give the right first aid until further help arrives.

There’s plenty of hands-on practice, with scenarios based on real sporting situations. You’ll practise CPR for adults and children, using an AED, the recovery position and controlling severe bleeding. You’ll also learn how to recognise concussion and when a player should be removed from play, look after sprains, strains, suspected fractures and spinal injuries, and respond to shock, chest pain, heat exhaustion and hypothermia.

Your role and assessment

Your role as a sports first aider, including when to stop play
Medical information, medical alerts and emergency contacts
First aid kits for training and matches
Assessing a casualty: primary survey, levels of response and secondary survey
Communicating with the emergency services

Life-saving skills

CPR for adults and children
Using an AED (defibrillator)
The recovery position
Shock
Severe bleeding

Injuries

Minor cuts, grazes and splinters
Head injuries and concussion
Sprains and strains
Fractures and dislocations, including slings
Spinal injuries

Illness and other emergencies

Heat exhaustion
Hypothermia
Chest pain: angina and heart attack

Every topic on this course, free

Open the Sport First Aid guide →

Ongoing trainer assessment is used throughout the course to provide support, monitor your progress and ensure you develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to achieve the learning outcomes.

Practical learning

You'll take part in practical activities and realistic scenarios to apply what you've learned.

Trainer assessment

Your trainer will observe your performance throughout the course, giving feedback and support to help you build confidence and competence.

Achieve the learning outcomes

By the end of the course, you'll be assessed as competent in the key skills and knowledge covered.

Practical, real-world skills

Gain the confidence and skills to respond in real-life situations.

Northlight certificate

Successful learners receive a Northlight certificate.

Successful learners receive the Northlight Sport First Aid Certificate, valid for three years.

This practical course teaches first aid skills for sporting environments. If your organisation needs workplace first aiders, we also offer Emergency First Aid at Work and First Aid at Work.

Is this suitable if I coach a youth team?

Yes. The course is built around sporting situations, from grassroots and youth sport to adult clubs, and you’ll practise CPR for both adults and children. If you work with babies, or need a paediatric qualification for an early years setting, our Emergency Paediatric First Aid and Paediatric First Aid courses cover baby CPR and wider paediatric first aid.

Does the course cover concussion?

Yes. You’ll learn to recognise the signs and symptoms of concussion, what to do straight away, and when a player should be removed from play and referred for medical assessment.

Does this cover our club’s workplace first aid needs?

If your club needs workplace first aiders for its staff, we’d recommend Emergency First Aid at Work or First Aid at Work. Sport First Aid is designed to sit alongside that, focusing on the injuries and emergencies you’re most likely to see during training, matches and events.

I’ve never done any first aid. Will I be okay?

Yes. No previous experience is needed. The course starts with the basics and is also useful if you want to refresh skills you’ve learned before.

How practical is the course?

Very. You’ll practise CPR and using an AED on training manikins and work through realistic sporting scenarios. CPR is practised at floor level, so wear comfortable clothing you can kneel and move in. If you have a mobility or medical need that might make this difficult, let us know before the course.

When will I receive my certificate?

Certificates are usually issued within 72 hours of the course. You’ll receive yours by email, and you can access it any time through My Northlight.

Can you deliver the course at our club?

Yes. We can deliver it at your club, school or gym for up to 12 learners per course. You’ll just need a room with enough clear floor space for the practical work.

Who is this course for?

No previous first aid experience is required.

What you’ll learn

FREE WITH THIS COURSE

Read the Sport First Aid guide

All 31 topics on the course, written and reviewed by our trainers. Use it to prepare, and keep coming back to it after your certificate.

Concussion

Head Injury

Spinal Injury

Fractures & Dislocations

Sprains & Strains

Heat Illness

Hypothermia & Cold

Asthma Attack

Open the Sport First Aid guide

Free on Northlight Knowledge. No sign-up.

CHOOSING A COURSE

Not sure which course?

OTHER COURSES

Related courses

Courses that cover similar ground, at a different length or level.

Emergency First Aid at Work

STA Level 3 · Regulated

First Aid at Work

STA Level 3 · Regulated

KEEP READING

Helpful guidance

Read all guidance →

A volunteer coach stands pitchside at a floodlit youth football training session, with a green first aid bag on a bench beside her.

Training Advice

Does my sports club need a first-aider?

What Northern Ireland law requires of a sports club, what governing bodies expect at training and matches, and what we’d have in place before every session.

Training Advice

Does my sports club need a first-aider?

A trainer points to an AED training unit on a clubhouse table while four club volunteers watch, with two open first aid kits in front of them.

Training Advice

Sport First Aid or EFAW: which suits coaches and volunteers?

How Sport First Aid and Emergency First Aid at Work compare for club coaches, volunteers and staff, and where your governing body’s own course fits.

Training Advice

Sport First Aid or EFAW: which suits coaches and volunteers?

Train your team onsite.

Practical training at your workplace.

£495per group

Up to 12 learners

Book with confidence

Northlight certificate
Every learner who completes the course gets a Northlight certificate.
Certificates usually within 72 hours
Sent to each learner by email and kept in My Northlight, with a reminder before renewal is due.
Plans change
Swap in a colleague free, up to the day before. To move a date or cancel, ask in My Northlight and you'll see any charge before you send.
If we have to cancel
It's rare, but if we ever cancel a course you can move to another date free or have a full refund.
Small groups, qualified trainers
Never more than 12 learners. Every Northlight trainer holds a recognised teaching qualification, backed by 15 years of delivering training.