To many American high school students, participation in athletics is a way of life; in nearly every school it is the backbone of the high school experience. Needless to say, the world of high school sports is intense, demanding and highly important. For scholastic journalists, this world can be particularly intimidating.

Yet there are ways the adviser can open the journalist to the wonders of this world, to show that there is far more potential for a story in this pervasive world of athletics than many other areas of the school. Roy Peter Clark, senior scholar of the Poynter Institute, in an e-mail interview recommended, “There are only three ways to get better: read, read, read; write, write, write; and talk to someone who knows more than you about reading and writing.”

Students often look at professional newspapers and assume their newspaper should have game recaps and statistics. Advisers know that with the turn-around time of a high school paper, timeliness becomes a major issue where game recaps and statistics are an impossibility. It is the duty of the adviser to demonstrate to a budding journalist how engrossing and important sports features and profiles can be.

This can be done through studying great sports writing of present and the past, developing an understanding of athletics, and gaining experience beyond the scope of the high school paper.

Study great sports writing

Local newspapers don’t often have the space or ability to run great feature stories in their sports sections. Don Bott, adviser at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School, suggested activities using Sports Illustrated. His students pick a profile on a player, a pair or a team and analyze the article for structure and composition. “They are shocked that it is mainly human interest,” he said.

Clark encourages budding journalists to dig into the writings of journalists of the past. “Styles change, of course, which is itself a good lesson. More important, a rich writing life depends upon a rich reading life. Great sports writing has always been about great story telling. Reading those old stories will teach you ways to approach new stories in your own voice,” Clark added.

Former Executive Editor of ESPN Magazine, John Marvel encourages journalists to read such sports writers as Bill Plaschke, Mitch Albom, and Mike Lupica. In analyzing these writers, scholastic journalists are better able to grasp not only the idea of a featurized story, but also the necessity of a strong voice.

Though students may resist the idea of reading the classics of sports writing, once they begin reading they should discover that the spirit of the game persists for generations.



Develop an understanding of athletics

Knowing the game is not always enough to make a great sports writer, though it can help. “Expertise is far less important than the ability to tell a story about a game or an athlete,” observed Susan Slusser, sports writer for the San Francisco Chronicle via e-mail. “As long as you ask the right questions and can develop a cohesive story, you're fine. Good sportswriters aren't trying to show off their knowledge. They're asking the people they cover to provide their knowledge.”

Once this concept is clear to the reluctant sports writer, the only limits the writer has are those he or she allows. Sports writing will take some research and some digging, much like any good news story. Instructing the student to have enough background information on the subject of the story will lead them to a better interview.

“Interviewing is the most important way to get your information. Always ask a question you don’t know the answer to,” Marvel told 35 teachers at the institute. “A great reporter has no idea what they are going to find. Don’t let your students be hypothesis reporters,” he offered. The reporter needs to be able to build a rapport with the subject of the interview to open him or her up, he advised.

Rapport is not a difficulty for a seasoned reporter like Marvel, who, with his booming voice and flailing arms, is as charismatic as he is jovial. Marvel recounted how he once conducted a memorable interview with Michael Jordan as the two played blackjack at a Las Vegas gaming table. They talked for several hours, he said. Though this type of situation is not feasible for students, a lesson is evident from the anecdote: make the subject comfortable and take the time to let the story emerge.

Gain experience beyond the scope of the school newspaper

Though not every student journalist will love sports writing, after reading great sports writing and developing more of an understanding of the world of high school sports, a handful of those reluctant writers will become engrossed in the field. Here is where the student should branch out to a broader scope.



Slusser’s advice to students: “Work for your student papers in high school and college, and find out if local newspapers need help covering high school games or if they need someone to answer phones on Fridays and Saturdays (when high school teams call in their scores). Newspapers value experience of any kind, at any level, far more than they care what kind of degree you have or where you went to school.”