SPORTS WRITING

Reca Jean Dinopol, Lpt

 Why is Sport Important to students?
• Games and sports are an integral part of a student’s life, it
leads to;
• Balanced mental and physical growth.
• It teaches the children life skills like teamwork.
• Foster’s leadership, patience and Discipline.
• Builds sportsmanship.
• And the ability to deal with both winning and losing with
grace.
All of these experiences and habits are also useful in adult life.
And one fundamental aspect of
Sport is how we REPORT it.
This is where Sport Writing comes
into the picture;
 What is Sport Writing?
• -is one of the most interesting aspects
journalism.
• It covers news like a basketball or
volleyball story, sports editorial, and
sports features.
• It is known as Sport Reporting
• And considered as the most common
form of Journalistic Writing.
UY! Daug ang
Guldin – Stit SPORTS STORIES
Wariur!
• Have great interest to readers, according to
study, 95% of male readers read the sports
page.
• In the Philippines, basketball games generate
so much interest that sports pages cannot
be without them.

• Most often, the readers are interested to

read- human interest stories and write-ups
about their favorite sports personalities or
sports heroes.
 Features in Sport Writing
• Sports writing is FUN, but it also hard
work. The writer must impart to the
reader the drama and excitement he sees
in the fields.
• The manner of reporting athletic events
varies with the sport. One thing is
certain: sports writing is livelier because
the writer deals with physical motion and
action
Close like
really close! TYPES OF SPORTS WRITING

• PLAY-BY-PLAY ACCOUNT -
demands close observation and
ability to work at top speed.
Know the
DATA! Knowledge of the game is
necessary. Sportswriter should
know the rules, and all the details
regarding the players, past
records, officials, and plays.
• LEAD STORIES - centering on
the highlights and more
important plays only such as
scoring, plays, the crucial
games and the star
performers of both teams.
BRIEF SPORTS STORIES - center
on straight news reporting, but
with a sports flavor. Stressed the
score, winner, outstanding
incidents, and how the outcome
of the game affects the season’s
standing of the teams or
individual players.
SPORTS FEATURES- help brighten
up the sports page. Have broader
range of subject matter. Greater
freedom of presentation, and the
writers can use the creative
approach
 Types of Sport Writing

ADVANCE SPORTS STORIES- give

backgrounders, some unusual and exciting
games the teams have played before games.
May report the records of the teams or
individual players in the current season,
their physical and mental condition.
 Types of Sport Writing
FOLLOW-UP STORIES - furnish post- mortem
analyses. They may discuss the condition of
players injured or the psychological aspects
of the game; or they may take up statistics
and their significance.
 Types of Sport Writing
THE SPORTS COLUMN- written from the angle
of the reporter’s opinion. However, the writer
should confine himself to fair and constructive
comments. He may call attention to the
performance of certain athletes. If he wants to
make predictions, these must be kept within the
limits of probability..
WRITING THE SPORTS COVERAGE
• The sportswriter must always be
punctual in covering sports events so
as not to miss the sidelights during
the opening of the game.
• The reporters need to gather the
reaction of the crowds and the cheers
of the many competing teams or
groups and the members of the team
as well as the supporters.
The reporter must get the following
facts for his in depth sports story:
• The score of outcome (Who won? Should it
end in a tie? A riot or be called off on account of heavy rain, the
outcome is always important for the readers.)

• Significance of the outcome (Was

the championship at stake? Do team standings
change? Who gets the cup?)

• spectacular plays ( Tell about the last

minute fumble, the three-bag that won the game or the
basket from mid-court.)
 The reporter must get the following
facts for his in depth sports story:
Yeah! Im the
Star!
• individual stars (Who were the
Stars)

• comparison of the team (How did

the weights compare? Were the visitors better trained? In
what departments of the game did the winners excel?
Where were the losers weak?)

• coincidences, if any
 WRITING THE
I CAN USE SLANG,
EXPRESS MY
SPORTS NEWS
OPINION & ITS
The sports writer must be guided
OKAY! the Inverted Pyramid Style
in writing the sports story.
In writing sports news, the reporter uses short words, short
sentences, and short paragraphs. However, he has more
freedom in his writing style. His writing has more pep, more
enthusiasm. (livelier)
While the news reporter is not permitted to write his own
opinion about persons or events, the sports writer can do this
to a certain extent. He can even use slang which is
discouraged in the news page. He even use figure of speech
more freely than the news writer.
 PARTS OF A NEWS STORY
Because a sports report is news, it must have the part of a
news story namely, the headline, the lead, and the body.
1. HEADLINE- Use the appropriate sports lingo. Don’t
forget the total score.
Undesirable: Mindanao State University softball players
defeat Holy Trinity College softball players.
Preferred: MSU sluggers rips HTC batters, 15-5
 WRITING THE SPORTS NEWS

2. THE LEAD- Like any other news

reports, a sports story has a lead and
a body or text. The sports lead is the
attention getter- the news in a
nutshell. It uses sports lingo and
contains the total score of the game.
 WRITING SPORT NEWS
The Classic 5 Ws Lead- It answers,
1) Who won?,
2) Against whom?,
3) By what score?,
4) Where?,
5) When? And
6) How?
Example:
(The Philippines fought with steel nerves and refused to be crushed by
a giant’s 55 points might to rip favored North Korea, 97-96 in its
biggest triumph yesterday in the Asian basketball tournament)
 WRITING SPORT NEWS
3. The Body- After the lead comes the body
composed of the other elements arranged in
descending order or decreasing importance. If
it were a basketball story, report it quarter by
quarter; if a volleyball story, set by set of frame
by frame; if a softball/baseball story, inning by
inning; if boxing, round by round, etc. in
narrative form. Follow these with their
respective scores.
 QUALITIES OF THE SPORTS WRITER
1. A sports writer must be a natural descriptive
writer who can paint a quick verbal picture
without resorting to the dictionary for the
right word.

1. It is important that the sports writer must

have a feeling and genuine love for the
sports. (PASSION)
 QUALITIES OF THE SPORTS WRITER

3. Training is important in this form of

editorial life.
4. The sports writer must always be in the
struggle in finding new words, new
ways to describe punches, new ideas
for stories because ideas are the
currency of sporting journalism.
 QUALITIES OF THE SPORTS WRITER

5. The sports writer must be endowed with

a keen memory.

6. The sports writer must have a good

digestion of significant events.
 QUALITIES OF THE SPORTS WRITER

5. The sports writer must be endowed with

a keen memory.

6. The sports writer must have a good

digestion of significant events.
 TIPS FOR SPORTS WRITERS
1. Be minor sports enthusiasts. (Know about
basketball, baseball, and all the games your
going to write about)
2. Write for the average reader. (Write simply
with no unusual and technical terms)
3. Use the active voice.
4. Write with vigor. (Use strong verbs but not
murderous)
5. Be fair. Don’t take sides
 TIPS FOR SPORTS WRITERS
6. Be constantly on the lookout for unusual incidents and
angles.
7. Describe the players.
8. Get additional facts from the players, coaches, and
spectators. Support your story with quotes.
9. Be careful with the statistics. (scores, league standing)
10. Never use ten words when seven will do.
11. Read the best sports writing in the dailies. ( Study and
analyze the techniques of outstanding sports writers)
AND THEN
PRACTISE!
PRACTISE!
PRACTISE!
THANK
YOU!!