Sports writing question

Well, I can't really help you out much, 'cause I'm only in 10th grade. Actually, I haven't even taken the journalism class at my HS yet. I am taking it next year. But, I am hoping to get a job at my local newspaper this summer, pretty much based on what I have written here on the 'Chair. But, I will wish you good luck with getting a job at a local newspaper. I'm sure you'll find a good job writing about sports somewhere.

If there is a minor league team in your area, see if you can get in as an intern. Major and Minor League baseball have job posting on their websites. Take it upon yourself to go cover a local sporting event, write an article, then send it to the editor of your local sports paper. Find a website you like, and contact them. good luck.

I wish I was a sports editor - I'd hire you. I agree with the idea of covering a local sporting event. Go to the local high school and cover a baseball or softball game. You could explain to the coaches before the game what you're doing, and they'd probably be okay with you interviewing a couple of the kids. Post the article on your website. Then in addition to sending the article to the paper, you can reference the web site and they can see for themselves that you've been writing. Do any of your local papers have expanded sports sections dedicated to the high school scene? If they do, they could probably use some good, reliable stringers. Might not be the worst idea in the world to call the sports department and talk to the person who answers the phone. I wish I had better advice for you. Best of luck to you.

Yeah, I have to agree with the two above comments. Go local and go early. Build a history with those clubs on your own blog and website. Work with the small local papers, the weekly gazete and things like that.

Woo-hoo! Thanks to everyone who replied. I'll reply back with more later but I'm at work right now and they've recently frowned upon unproductive internet use. Thanks again!

Well, like BBB15, I'm not very knowledgeable on this topic, but I can try to help you out with some ideas.

If I was someone looking for a writer for my company, I would want him to show a lot of diligence, creativity, and loyalty. My advice would be to keep writing for your site, and keep doing what you're doing here. Show them that you're really trying your best to make something happen for a writing career. I like Sj's and Kelsdad's ideas. They could really work.

You can also ask Tylersalt what he did for this situation. He had an interview for a job, and used AGM as one of his sources of writing and showing how hard he worked. I honestly think that with the thorough and creative articles you have written, you should show him a couple of examples, and you'll be fine.

When I worked in newspaper production I saw how many sportwriters worked on Friday night football nights and they usually had some stringers that wrote for the football games that didn't work the rest of the week so that would be an excellent place to start like SJ suggested.

Kelsdad's idea to cover a game on your own is a great idea. You may even write better than whoever covered the game for the paper.

My cousin was a sportswriter for our local paper. If he got an assignment he didn't want, he'd throw me a few bucks to cover it for him. Almost without exception your local sports guy will have the same phobia about certain things. Talk to him and volunteer. You may end up covering the intramural badminton championships, but everyone starts somewhere.

All of the above advice is great.

Another thing...read. A lot. Become a news junkie. The more perspectives you get, the more styles you get to see, the more informed you are. Even if you only want to do sports, you should learn about stuff going on in the world. Newspapers are still good, especially the ones embracing the digital and convergence movement (New York Times has done an excellent job). Certain blogs are good. Podcasts are awesome too...slate.com and NPR have particularly good ones.

Good luck...hopefully you'll find the quest for journalistic greatness as rewarding as I have.

Thank you for the feedback everyone. Good stuff and great advice. Hopefully I'll land a sports job, but I told some of the newspaper people in e-mail that I'd be willing to write about pretty much anything... cooking, gardening conventions, tuppeware parties. Hopefully it works out, thanks again!

Don't be afraid to take a gig that might seem "beneath" you and your goals. Like many, I was fully expecting to go to college, graduate in four years, be a complete bad ass and have ESPN knocking down my door upon receiving handshake from dean and picking up my tossed cap.

Well, that didn't happen, nor did four years of college. Meg's advice is good, but as I started this ... I wrote for a weekly paper here and there in high school, which started from my knowledge of stats from the local sports writer. That got started because I did stats and announced basically every sport in my high school -- then applied and got a job as a phone snagger on the sports desk at the local daily. Put in your time, next thing you know, you're still in your 20's with a full-time gig.

However, I wouldn't shoot for ESPN ... it's already clouded sports vernacular with loathesome terms like "walk off" and "dimes."

UGH

If you want to really understand sports writing then go back to the columns of Murray of the Los Angeles Times when he was still alive. He wrote on some many subjects that they can't even be commented on. But what he did write was in 99% of the time golden. There isn't a sportswriter today who didn't or doesn't appreicate Jim Murray and his column. He wrote a very large article on Coach Wooden and before he had it taken to print he asked Coach's permission. Wooden wasn't and isn't God but alot of people think he is. But Murray wasn't one of them. He respected Wooden as a man and individual who had at that time done so much for college basketball that it could be described without putting out you own paper. Murray was a great writer and understood what the public wanted to hear. Even if you disagreed with him his opinions made sense. I believe today's writers write crap to just put something on paper to justify their jobs, maybe I am wrong but some of the stuff just doesn't make any sense to me at all. And the articles that are written at times don't run together completely and come to any type of sensible ending. We all were taught in English 101 in college and even high school to a point that a article has to have a start a middle and an ending by lots of them only have parts of a true article foremat. I understand that at some of the universities they are teaching a Sports Writing course that gets back to the basics. All of us here reading and writing as we do from time to time really impresses me because most are not professionals and some of the articles and comments are worthy of being printed. Let all of us keep up the good work and remember that Ben Franklin started as a printpress assistant and started writing from there.