Sports Writers

Most Newspapers and Top Sports Magazines will offer graduate schemes, and you will have to do **** work all day for a few years. You would need at least a 2-1. However you will be working in an awsome envoroment.

If you don't have a degree, either go and get one (your from Leeds right, they do a decent Sports Journo course at leeds met i would imagine) or ask around local papers and sports websites, you would probably work for free.

Starting a blog would be another way of getting expirience.

 

3 year BA Sports Journalism degree at Leeds Trinity in Horsforth.

 

Full time in Uni land is only 15 hours a week.

You can do a part time course but that would take 6 years.

 

you could work part time and get a student loan. if this is a dream, then you gotta risk being poor. I had no cash for a long time and was working 18 hours 7 days a week until i sold my business, its what you have gotta do.

dont expect to make a decent living as a sports writer. probably only 20 sports journos in this country make 30k plus.

what was you english like at school?

 

I'm taking a considerable paycut to follow my dream but there's a lot of perks. Travelling around the country, getting top quality seats at shows for nothing and interviewing the stars of boxing. I only started writing about boxing a year ago and already I've been to some decent bills and interviewed the likes of Joe Calzaghe and Junior Witter.

Just tonight I've spoken to Dave Coldwell and Ryan Rhodes. Last week was John Fewkes, Matthew Hatton and Rendall Munroe.

Like Boxing News' Danny Flexen said to me last week at Rendell Munroe's fight in Nottingham "In this game the money is't great but you get see the best fights and get to meet your heroes."

 

I went for an interview for Newsquest a year ago (who own boxing news) but I'm not a journo, I'm Marketing. I would have been mithering the boxing news team all the time if I'd got the job. Luckily I didn't but got a better job at a much more prestigious media owner.

Wages vary. Depends if you are a newcomer on the news desk, or a feature writer, if you manage a team at all etc etc.

£30k ish is probably a fair reflection for a writer with a bit of experience.

Of course if you are good you could progress to newspapers, TV, radio. Write books.

Like anything though it takes talent and hard work, and skills beyond a core ability to write... I'd say the ability to 'write' is way down the list, you'll have sub-editors to check your grammar and spelling. I work alongside Editors whose spelling and grammar is appalling !

It's about people skills and politics and networking.

Like when Bunce says on here he can't just slate whoever he feels like - that's the name of the game. You've got to be savvy. You can't just say what you think. You'll be shunned, and sued.

I suppose like anything when the glamour of it wears off (quickly) you're left with a heap of BS to deal with.

 

Where can we read the Rhodes interview ?:thumbsup

 

www.secondsout.com on Monday.

 

Thanks. Hope you asked if he could still make LMW, he was a monster puncher at LMW.

 

His weight is down and his training has been spot on. He's been sparring Gary Woolcombe.

 

How much do I owe you this time, Mr Dooley?

Starting on the Internet is a good way of getting a foothold. I mean, I started to write for BBN three years ago and had no writing (except for A-level coursework, of course) experience behind me. I have now wrote for the Birmingham Evening Mail, and also get asked to do the odd thing for the Sunday Mercury, Black Country Express and Star and a couple of local rags. I have also done programme notes for several promoters.

Oh, but the fact that a lot of papers take my quotes, articles and put them word for word in their publications does get annoying (well, it certainly annoys Ian McNeilly) after a time. I suppose it’s a compliment, but a little credit (just say: "so and so told BritishBoxing.net….") would be nice.

I’m not going to proclaim to be the greatest writer ever - or on BBN - but I enjoy what I do.

And it was never my intention to pursue this; just wanted to write (waffle, bore) about the sport I love. But I decided to take the plunge and scrapped the course I was going to do at university (History) and go for Sports Journalism instead. I start my course on September 29 and move tomorrow up t’north, after five years sitting around, working, etc.

I’ve been promised a job with one of the papers if I get my degree.

As Terry has pointed out, people skills are important – on two levels. Firstly, there is no use in being shy when you have to go up and speak to a person (be it in the gym or after a fight) whom you may never have spoken to before. And secondly, if you don’t get on well with the hand that feeds you (promoters, press officers, etc) then you’ll find yourself ostracised very quickly.
But the pay is awful!

 

Good luck Tom Pod.