If you love sports and you love writing, then being a sportswriter for your favorite magazine, newspaper, or website is probably something you have long thought about, but how should you turn those thoughts and ideas into reality? Where do you start on your journey to becoming a sportswriter, and most importantly, do you have what it takes? Do you have the drive, determination, and motivation to succeed? We look at how to get your dream job below.
What is the Entry Route?
As sports writing is a job that appeals to many, competition in the job market is fierce. To land a position, you need to have a good solid education behind you; you need to get a sports journalism degree online if you want to stand a chance of being seen and being noticed. Many people and applicants try to land a job without the correct qualifications as they are simply not aware of really what it takes to be a sportswriter. Those without the passion, interest, and qualifications will stand a very slim chance of getting paid work, as qualifications are what every employer looks at first. Once you have a good education and degree behind you, then you can start seeking out opportunities.
Why Sports Writing?
If you are passionate about watching sport, playing sport, or even talking about sport, then sports writing is for you. It is more than just writing about who won last night’s soccer match or who is the NBA’s next star player. It is about bringing sports to life, involving the reader, and making them feel part of the game or sport you are talking about. If you enjoy learning about players, training, and sports and you love conveying your knowledge, passion, and enthusiasm, then being a sportswriter is something that you would find satisfying and rewarding.
What is it Like to Write About What You Love?
If you do something that you love, then it will be something that you will enjoy doing even when you are writing about a sport that perhaps you have little interest in or little knowledge about. Writing about sports is fantastic as there are no two days that are the same. One day you could be writing about the week’s basketball results, and the next day you could be researching and talking about baseball or football. Sports writing is flexible and fun, and it is rewarding knowing that you are informing fans and followers about how their team has performed. Sports writing involved background research, and it involves using investigative skills, so it is a job that will always keep you on your toes.
What Career Opportunities Lie Ahead?
With the world of journalism and the world of sports constantly involving, the opportunities that lie ahead are both broad and diverse. The opportunities are varied and flexible, from becoming a sportswriter for your favorite baseball team to writing for online news agencies. You may find yourself in a job that takes you all over the country reporting on all types of sports, or you may find a job that turns into a career at a top newspaper or magazine. There are also opportunities that arise to get onto TV and become a reporter. The career opportunities that lie ahead are ever-changing and flexible, and to be ready for the challenges and developments, you need to be prepared by studying for your sports journalism degree online.
Studying Online for a Masters
Studying for your degree is an exciting time. It is the opportunity to turn your writing skills into a job or career that truly gives you satisfaction and happiness in return. Studying online gives you flexibility, which is needed if you balance a family, juggle work, or just try to spin all your commitments without anything falling. When you study online, you ensure that you can study what you love and at a time that is convenient for you. Studying for a sports journalism degree online gives you much-needed flexibility, which is essential if you are juggling work, family, and other commitments. Time is something that you cannot unfortunately buy, but the good news is that you can save it when you study for a sports journalism degree online. Forget the long or stressful commute across town or state to get to campus, and instead learn from the comfort of your own home.
Setting Up to Study Online
Whether you have studied online from home before or not, it is important to know that you must be dedicated and committed to earning your sports journalism degree online. There are lots of distractions and commitments that will try to take your concentration and time away from your studies, and therefore it is essential that you treat studying from home online as seriously as possible. Setting up a base to work from is essential and informing others when you are studying is a must. Within your workspace, you must have a place to work from, a comfortable chair, and access to a good internet connection. If you do not have a dedicated space to work from then you should try to create a division within your home by using a screen to create a physical boundary. When you study online, you need to have a positive mindset, focus, and dedication. There will, of course, be times when you do not feel like logging on and studying. There will be countless distractions within your home, especially if you have children running around, but you have to learn to switch off from all of these things. You have to remember that you are studying for a better life and to land a job that you will love and enjoy for many years to come.
Succeeding at Studying Online
When you study online, you need a focused mindset. When you learn at a campus you need motivation and direction, but you need more of it when you are studying on your own from home online. There is always support for you, and you will never feel like you are alone, but you must understand that you need to push yourself and focus yourself even harder than before to ensure that you succeed and get the results you desire and deserve. When you are going for your sports journalism degree online, it is important that you do not place too much pressure on yourself. You can achieve what you want without adding unnecessary pressure or stress, which is not beneficial to anyone. Ultimately to make the most out of studying online, you need to focus on your end goal, always keep in sight what you want to achieve and why and this will help to make the whole process both interesting and enjoyable.
What Qualities Makes a Good Sportswriter
A good writer is one that spends time researching their topic and conveying the information to the reader or end-user in an informative and engaging manner. A good sportswriter will convey their interest, their passion, and their love for all sports, and they will engage sports fans from all walks of life. Most people who love sports can tell you the scores from last nights soccer match or the top three basketball players currently playing but can they engage you within a sport, can they capture your interest, spark your imagination, and want you leaving more, probably not, and this is what makes a sportswriter special and in demand. Anyone can write, but to be a recognized and respected sportswriter, you must love what you write, and you must captivate and capture your audiences’ interest and awareness.
Good writers are tenacious, and they are dedicated to getting the best results; they capture the essence of a sport or game, and they bring it to life for their audience. Unless you specialize in one sport, you will see that a good sportswriter must be flexible as you may have to write about sports that you have no real interest in or no real knowledge about. You must excite your audience, and your work must be current and accurate. All news and information must be up to date and relevant for it to reach the target audience successfully.
Finding a Balance Between Work, Study, and Play
The all-important balance between studying for a sports journalism degree online, working, and enjoying life is a balance that can be difficult to achieve. A suitable balance is not impossible, but it will require sacrifices along the way, and you will find times when things do not go as smoothly as you had hoped or anticipated they would. A balance is crucial to ensure that you do not end up burning out. When you are studying for a sports journalism degree online, you need as much support and help as possible as you will be trying to fit studying in around other commitments within your life. A balance will not be achieved at first, but with practice, effort and time, it is possible. You must work hard to fit everything you need to into your day, and you must plan your time meticulously to ensure that everything gets done. Studying online and from home gives you the opportunity to achieve balance as it provides you with flexibility and freedom, which you would just not find with a physical campus.
To balance your time, you will need to create a timetable. Your assignments and your workload will not get completed on time if you do not focus on what needs doing and by when. Your timetable should cover your home life, work-life and studies. Without a timetable in place, you will struggle to fit everything in, and your family will struggle to help you out where they can as they will simply not know where to start or what to do to help. Achieving a balance is important to ensure that you get the most out of studying for a sports journalism degree online. If you cannot find a balance, you will ultimately struggle to get the results you desire, which can be frustrating and can cause setbacks to your job and career search.
Seeking Out Opportunities
Once you have your qualifications under your belt, it is now time to seek out those dream opportunities. Of course, you will have to search online and offline to find them as they will rarely be presented or handed to you on a plate. As opportunities arrive and present themselves all over the place, it is important to be flexible and open to new opportunities and new ways of working. Networking is important to undertake as soon as possible as you need to build up your network of contacts, and you need to ensure that you are opening as many doors as possible. It is important to establish exactly what you want to achieve and ultimately where you see yourself to find suitable opportunities. For example, if you see yourself covering basketball, try to seek opportunities with clubs or associations. Similarly, if you want to cover a vast range of sports without really specializing, then seek out freelance opportunities that allow you to work on several areas of interest. To get your dream job, you may have to walk on a few steppingstones along the way, but if you have a career goal and plan in place, then you will land the position that you deserve.
Landing Your Dream Position
It may or may not happen at first but landing your dream position requires you to put in the work beforehand. You will not get the job or career you want without putting in the hard work beforehand. It is important that you establish exactly what it is you are after and why as soon as possible. Once you have your position established and in sight, you can then begin on the road to success. If you do not have a vision or end goal in sight, then how can you possibly expect to reach your destination within a timely manner.