Republic of the Philippines

BOHOL ISLAND STATE UNIVERSITY

Main Campus, Tagbilaran City
Vision: A premiere S&T university for the formation of world-class and virtuous human resource for sustainable development in Bohol and the country.
Mission: BISU is committed to provide quality higher education in the arts and sciences, as well as in the professional and technological fields:
undertake research and development, and extension services for the sustainable development of Bohol and the country.

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Second Semester A.Y. 2021-2022

Teacher: Dr. Joylene Macabenta Date: May 11, 2022

Student Teacher: Danes Clauei A. Guhiting Year & Section: BSEd-English 3

Subject Taught: Campus Journalism Class Schedule: Thurs (12:30-2:30 PM)

I. Learning Objectives

At the end of the lesson, 90% of the students are expected to:
a. Cognitive: identify the different structures, elements, and jargons in sports
writing;
b. Cognitive: distinguish the types and kinds of sports news stories and their uses
in sports writing;
c. Affective: appreciate the importance of sports writing and the qualities of a
good writer in the field of journalism;
d. Psychomotor: criticize a sample of a sports news based on the important
components of sports writing through an essay

SPORTS WRITING

Sports writing plays a huge role in stirring up expectations and giving fans the information they crave
about the people behind their favorite sport. 

What Is Sports Writing in Journalism? 

According to Yen Cabag of TCK Publishing.com, sports writing is a form of creative non-fiction
or journalism that covers sports, athletes, or other sports-related issues. A journalist who reports on
sports is called a sportswriter.
Creative nonfiction is a genre of writing that uses elements of creative writing to present a
factual, true story.
Elements of Sports Writing

Sports writing typically covers basic information, such as: 

 highlights of the game
 the names of the teams involved
 the type of sport
 score or final outcome
 when and where the game was played

But in order to write a good sports article, remember to focus on what an athlete does. Because
sports revolve around the drama of competition, spotlighting a single person gives your story a human
side that your readers can relate to. 

5 Types of Sports Stories

1. Straight-Lead Game Story
The most basic form of all sports writing, the straight-lead (also spelled straight-lede) game
story is an article using a straight-news format. The article summarizes the main points of a game:
which team won or lost, the final score, and what a star player did. 

A straight-lead might look something like this:

Second-string quarterback Robert Jameson threw the game-winning touchdown with just 10
seconds left to lead the Mountain View High School Bears to a 21-14 victory over the Canyon del Oro
High School Captains Saturday night.

 2. Feature Game Story

 The feature game story is a favorite tool for professional sports writers because it gives fans and
readers a different angle from the highlights they have seen on TV. 

 3. Profiles
Whereas a feature game story spotlights a game, a profile features an individual character. This
person might be a rookie athlete rising in the ranks, or perhaps an influential coach. 

4. Season Preview and Wrap-up Stories

Every sportswriter needs season previews and wrap-up stories in their collection. These stories
are published while the coaches and their teams are preparing for the upcoming season, or after the
season has ended—whether in victory or in defeat. 
These stories take a bird’s eye view of the season: they normally share the expectations that
coaches and players have, or how they feel at the end of a season. 

5. Columns
A sports writing column is the place where a sportswriter shares their opinion. Sometimes these
columns may include venting when a team, player, or coach doesn’t meet expectations. Other times,
they may write about what they admire in a team, player or coach. 
A favorite subject is a coach who is able to direct a weak team to an unexpected championship,
or perhaps an underdog player who demonstrates unusual determination and teamwork. 

How Do You Write a Good Sports Lead?

 A lead is the introductory section of a news story, intended to hook the reader into reading the full
story.
 To write a good sports lead, first pick which of the 5 types of sports stories you would like to write.
The type of story you choose will determine the lead you write. 
 If you opt for a straight-news story, pick a highlight from the game you are writing about and focus
on that in your first paragraph. 
 If you choose a feature or profile, pick something that stands out about the team or person. Think of
a scene that best describes the characteristic you want to highlight. Do you describe a practice
session? A game huddle? Or an after-game interview? 
 For a season preview or wrap-up story, pick a sport you love and describe a broad perspective of
an upcoming season or the season that just wrapped up, beginning with the best teams. 
 For or an opinion column, find one angle that you would like to express your opinion on and that
you feel passionate about.

Writing about Sports

Writing about sports is not only exciting, but it also gives us a chance to get to know the people
in our favorite sport and share those findings with our readers.
Excellently written sports stories make these characters come alive, letting fans connect to their
favorite teams in a more meaningful way.

The Sports News

The sports page has the greatest appeal to a large number of student readers. Part of the thrill of high
school life is rivalry between schools and between intramural teams. Because of this keen interest,
school papers devote more space to sports than to any other single area of activity.

Managing the Sports News

• Have just the proper play of sports. The adult reader must not get the impression that athletic contests
are the only activities in school.
• Contribute to good sportsmanship. Neither the alibi nor the boast has a place on the page.
• Encourage feature treatment to give known facts readers interest.( School papers come out later than
dailies ).
• Have a variety of material besides the sports story. Include interviews, features, a column, and items
about graduates who are involved in athletics in college or larger groups.
• Play up advance news.
• Use cartoons, illustrations photographs.
• If it is important, pull a story a story from the sports page and play it up on the front page.
• While playing up the major sports like basketball, football, don't overlook minor sports stories, such as
tennis, swimming, bowling, ping-pong, badminton, boxing, and wrestling.

The Nature of Sports News

• Basically the same as general news and also requires accuracy, organization, brevity, good writing.
The 5 W’s and the H of a news lead may also be found in a sports lead.
• Primarily describes action. It is usually centered on a conflict.
• Uses a special vocabulary which the reader (presumably a sports fan) is expected to know. However,
the sports reporter should avoid both slang and too technical language.
• Uses a more colorful, vigorous style. Although he has greater freedom, sports writer should not be
carried away by over exuberance.

Kinds of Sports Articles

1. The advance story helps to create interest, to develop unity, and to generate enthusiasm
through the inside facts. It should be accurate and conservative. The advance story furnishes
the reader with plenty of data - the line-ups, the strong and weak points of the contenders, the
performance records of the teams or of individuals the competitors, the betting odds, tradition
and history, systems of play, other feature angles. The advance story may have several
treatments. It may involve more than one game: it may combine future and past games or it may
report on a game after deadline but before publication. The last type uses expression like "was
to play" or it may be in a feature style with a timeless nature.
2. The report of the event ( see writing the news )
3. The analytical story accompanies the straight report and carries a review of the game - the
strategies, the key player, the outstanding performer.
4. The "off-the-court" story involves conflicts among sportsmen, particularly the officials, as well
as other side-lights.
5. The follow-up sports story is a summary of the activities of a team during a week or season. It
sometimes gives an opportunity to preview public reaction if the sports is very important, such
as the Philippine Basketball team against Japan or Korea in the Asian Basketball
Championship.
a. The follow - up sports story is usually brief in a school paper and includes only details about
outstanding plays and players.
6. The sports article does not report a definite news event. It is general in character and
expository in form. It may summarize past records and performances of a team, explain new
rules, publicize athletic tradition, and sketch the career of a prominent player.
7. The sports feature is more of a personality sketch of an athlete or coach, his superstitious
hobbies, experiences off the athletic field, or it may deal with events in the gymnasium.
8. The sports column consists of miscellaneous facts about prominent athletes written in an
informal easy to read style. It is a pleasing blend of facts and personal opinions. Care must be
taken not to hurt the feeling of any individual player.
9. The advance - coverage story includes information of the coming event as the first part of the
story and information of the past event as the last part.
a. It devotes more space to the future and condenses the highlights of the past. The advance
coverage does not include a running or chronological account.

Structure of a Sports Story

• The lead may be summarized or analyzed, it may give the significance, the winner, the hero ,the score.
The score is usually played up in the first sentence or set in bold above the story proper.
• The body plays up other elements not in the lead and gives details of those already mentioned.
a. key play and outstanding performer
b. Quotations from players, trainers, and coaches
c. Play-by-play account (seldom found in the school paper for lack of space)
d. Personalities
e. Background on players
f. Importance of the event
g. Summaries of results and statistics (those may be compiled for future reference)

Qualities of a Good Sports Writer

In addition to the qualities of the general reporter, the sports writer should possess:
1. Sportsmanship. He should write up the game without partiality and permit the better team to win in
the story as well as in the game. He should sustain even unpopular decisions of the officials. He may
analyze the cause of the defeat of his team but the analysis should not be an alibi.
2. Ability to report accurately a fast contest.
3. A style of writing that includes familiarity with sports terms. Slang is not acceptable but sports terms
add liveliness and vividness to the account. However, it should not include overly technical terms.
4. A basic knowledge of sports rules and regulations. He does not have to be an athlete, but merely
interested in the game.
5. A specialized use of summary and feature leads.

Gathering Information
Generally, information gathering on an athlete contest falls into three parts:

1. before the game

2. during the game
3. after the game
 Gathering Information before the game
A reporter constantly gathers materials, building contacts with people and picking up
background that may help him later. He prepares before the events in various ways.

1. Read the rules

2. Know key people - the athletic director, coaches, the team's business manager, players, student
manager and others who figure in sports. Some student sports reporters also play on athletic teams.
This affords them inside information and many contacts.
3. Get the names in full and check the spelling. Don't depend on memory. Get a game program or list of
names before the event starts. This information should include player's numbers, classes, and heights
if possible .
4. Attend sports events and practice sessions. Even if you aren't covering and writing news about the
game, attend if you can. Learn more about the game from the coach's instructions. Observe what
happened and how others reported it.
5. Make notes on things that count. Jot down a fact, a quote, an anecdote, or an idea that may help you
somebody in writing a story.
6. Read various newspapers and compare how sports writers cover a particular game.

Gathering information during the game

During the game the reporter observe and records accurately.
1. Organize your materials -- a clipboard and plenty of paper, notebook or stenographer's pad for note-
taking.
2. Be there well ahead of the event.
3. Secure a good working place. Work close to the action.
4. Note interesting events before the game.
5. Develop a system of note-taking. Learn to use abbreviations and other short cuts.
6. Make notes as complete as possible.
7. Observe:
a. important plays
b. the unexpected or unusual
c. personal standouts on things other than point scoring
d. touches of humor or the light things
8. Collaborate with the reporter from the rival school.
9. Don't get too involved as a cheering spectator.

Gathering information after the game

Post-game information usually gives an inside story.
1. Seek out the coach, outstanding players as well as a less important participants.
2. Get quotes.
3. Check facts, especially scores, with the scorebooks.
4. Gathering more information from:
a. special statistics
b. newspaper stories
c. game movies
d. box scores
e. standings

Writing the Sports Story

The sports writer combines the skills of the general reporter, the features writer, and the headline writer.
In addition, he should strive to:

1. Be accurate. Not only in the score but in all the other highlights. If you aren't sure of an episode in
the game, check personally with the players involved or their coaches.
2. Avoid clichés like, "splicing the hoop", "walloped the pill" (made a hit in baseball), "turned the tables
on, "lowered the boom", and “sank a twinnie” etc.
3. Include human interest. The personal background of the performer can lead color and depth to a
story. Is he coming back from a slump, redeeming himself from a previously poor performance,
the oldest cyclist or the youngest rookie in the lineup?
4. Keep your sense of humor.
5. Exercise discipline. When you cover a game, a multitude of detail crowds in on you. Be selective and
pick out for your story only the ones that count or which would give point to your story. The editing on a
story starts with the reporter himself.
6. Follow the inverted pyramid order --- the big facts first, the lesser next.
7. Write the headlines along with the story.
8. Write the story immediately after the event. Like any other news story, the sports must pass the "cut-
off" test.

Writing the Sports Lead

 Just like any straight news story, the sports story may use the conventional summary lead.
However, the presence of striking material may lend itself to a feature lead. Besides "who won" and
"what's the score", a number of conditions in athletic contests make good material for feature lead:
1. special significance of the game
2. cause of victory or defeat, also called analytical lead
3. names of outstanding players or player
4. names of competing teams
5. names of the coach
6. description of the crowd, such as the size, unusual behavior
7. a moment of intense interest

Consider the following sports idioms, for example:

1. Cover the bases (baseball)

2. Hit it out of the park (baseball)
3. Run interference (American football)
4. Call an audible (American football)
5. Beat someone to the punch (boxing)
6. Down for the count (boxing)
7. Come out swinging (boxing)
8. Roll with the punches (boxing)
9. Saved by the bell (boxing)
10. No holds barred (wrestling)
11. Go to the mat (wrestling)
12. Par for the course (golf)
13. Slam dunk (basketball)
14. Down to the wire (horse racing)
15. Win by a nose (horse racing)
16. Drop the ball (ballgames)
17. Get the ball rolling (ballgames)
18. Keep your eye on the ball (ballgames)