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The Restarting of Beginning to Become a Data Analyst

Writer: goldenstateservicesj
goldenstateservicesj
Jul 25, 2023
4 min read

tl;dr

  • I love volleyball analysis but there’s no money in it sadly

  • Two years ago, I decided I wanted to sidestep careers and become a Data Analyst as it’s broadly similar to what I do now but there are many more job opportunities as a Data Analyst

  • I basically did nothing for two years but now I am prepared to give my full effort to it

Pre-2020

I love volleyball analysis.  This blog is proof of it.  Sadly, there isn’t much money in volleyball analysis.  There certainly isn’t enough money to make a career out of it.  

2021 Summer

With the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, I had a lot of time on my hands so I finally made the first steps into finding a new career.  I eventually identified that Data Analysis is the best candidate for a career I could sidestep into.  The process of data analysis is broadly similar to what I do as a Performance Analyst, i.e. collecting data so those involved can make informed decisions to enhance performance.  However, there are many more jobs and they are potentially highly paid.  The problem is I eventually identified that Data Analysis is the best candidate for a career I could sidestep into.  The process of data analysis is broadly similar to what I do as a Performance Analyst, i.e. collecting data so those involved can make informed decisions to enhance performance.  However, there are many more jobs and they are potentially highly paid.  The problem is I needed to have a mathematics-heavy degree, e.g. Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Computer Science etc, which I don’t have.  I do have a Master’s degree in Performance Analysis but it wasn’t maths-heavy.  This was going to be a potentially big issue.

In the meantime, a player I used to coach said I could audit some online courses to get me started.  Audit means it’s free but you don’t get the certificate at the end of the course.  This was perfect for me as I like free and I get a taste of what data analysis is.  I audited the IBM Data Analyst course on edX and it was great.  I got to understand what data analysis is, what Python is [print (“hello world”)] and I even learnt a few more cool things on Excel (e.g. Pivot tables, Pivot charts, slicers).  However, the 2021/22 season was finally going ahead after two years of lockdowns and social distancing.  I had two new teams lined up so data analysis took a backseat for a while.  

2022 Summer

As my league and cup winning 2021/22 season was winding down, I dipped my toes back into data analysis.  I found out there was a government initiative to get more people in data analysis/ science so there are conversion degrees that allow people with a non-mathematics-heavy degree to go into it.  This was perfect for me.  I researched universities that did these conversion degrees and I found a couple of good options.  The big issue now is the cost of spending £9,000 to £11,000 doing another Master’s degree.  This is a lot of money so I wanted to be absolutely sure this is something I wanted to go into.  So I decided to sit on it and see how I feel.  I then got busy with scheduling and coaching Team USA to 2nd place at the All Nations 2022 Tournament, scheduling and coaching (and winning) the All Nations Juniors 2022 Tournament, doing stats at the Commonwealth Games, holiday to Barcelona, travelling to Brussels for the Coaching for a Greater Purpose Conference, then pre-season with ASL started the day after I got back to London.  It was full-on from there with coaching and analysing seven teams in the 2022/23 season.  Needless to say, I didn’t get back into Data Analysis.

2023 Summer

As the 2022/23 season started to wind down, I kept myself busy writing a bunch of reflections (UCL Men, F6 Leopards, F6 Coyotes, Coaching Overall, Performance Analysis).  Then I got busy scheduling the biggest the All Nations 2023 Tournament yet and it was a major scheduling task.  The opportunity to do performance analysis for Scotland Senior National Team at the Small Countries Association Men’s Championships popped up, which I couldn’t turn down.  After all that, I had no excuse but to go back into Data Analysis.

I eventually decided that I was going to do the Google Data Analysis certificate on Coursera.  I watched a few videos by Luke Barousse on YouTube and he recommended that it was a great starting point.  It was £39 per month and I think I need to spend some money to keep me motivated as I really hate wasting money.  However, it is not as much as spending £9,000 to £11,000 doing a master’s degree.  There’s also the incentive that the quicker I go through the course, the cheaper it will be.  

2023 Fall Onwards

I will probably complete the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate by the end of the year.  From there I will need to build up my data analysis projects portfolio so I can show future prospective employers what I can do.  I will likely continue doing more courses on Coursera to build up my skills.  I will start applying for jobs too at that point.  The chances of getting one are very low but I think I need to get into the habit of applying for jobs.  Apparently, I might need to apply for 200+ data analyst jobs before I land one.  There’s also the option to take the plunge and do another master’s degree. 

We will see where the journey will take me.  I will probably create another blog post on data analysis, separate from my volleyball one, but we will see.  In the meantime, I will post up my reflection on each of the eight Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate courses.  See below for the links:

 
 
 

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