How do you become a sportswriter? You like sports and you like writing, but this is the question you’re stuck on. How do you make it happen? The truth is, it’s different for everyone. Everyone has a unique path, but there are a few specific principles that can help you no matter how you approach it.
To learn more about the topic of becoming a sportswriter, we spoke with Tony Catalina, a Texas A&M beat reporter for the Austin American-Statesman. Through Catalina’s career journey which began as a blogger, he has plenty of insights to share for aspiring sportswriters.
How to Become a Sportswriter: Insights From Those With Experience
Lesson 1: Find a Topic You’re Passionate About and Follow It
If you want to become a sportswriter but don’t know how, you can start by identifying your passion. For all of the work that is to follow, you have to be passionate about what you do and what team or sport you cover. Otherwise, you won’t have the energy to keep up.
For Catalina, it was that passion that kicked off his eventual sportswriter career, and opened the door for so many other opportunities down the line.
“It all started off by being in love with a sport, in this case football. I saw an opportunity to join a site that blogged for the Dallas Cowboys and it started off as an opportunity to not only talk about the team I rooted for, but a chance to scratch that itch of writing about sports as well.”
You won’t have any guarantees in the early goings, so your passion has to be strong. Find a topic you’re passionate about and follow it. That way, you’ll always feel validated in your efforts, and your passion will help expand your audience early on.
Lesson 2: Be Open to Opportunities and On-the-Job Education
Some people seek out schooling for sportswriter careers, but the truth is, you don’t necessarily need related schooling to break into the space. Schooling can help just as much for sports team connections, but Catalina says on-the-job learning is just as, if not more important.
“My route was untraditional. I didn’t go to school and study journalism, but I always knew that being a sportswriter was something I wanted to pursue. I tried to learn on the job, so to speak, writing every chance I could, and taking the constructive criticism along the way.”
There are entry-level, part-time, and unpaid opportunities out there for those who are just looking to compile stories and build a resume. FanSided is one such site that allows fans to apply to write and create content without pre-existing experience. Be open to those opportunities, and once you get there, absorb all that you can.
“It’s all about absorption,” Catalina reaffirms. “I’ve had the privilege to be around a lot of great and talented people in this field and I’ve tried to act like a sponge around them. Finding good people who do things for the right reasons and trying to take all of the wisdom in and make yourself even 1% better.”
Lesson 3: Give Maximum Effort and Put in the Reps
Being passionate and being a constant learner are two of the most important qualities of a sportswriter. A third quality that Catalina emphasizes? Being high-effort. The content space is always heavily saturated nowadays, and it can be very tough to find open real estate.
“Just like the sports you cover, it’s competitive,” Catalina says. “From finding reliable sources that helps you break a news story, to thinking three steps ahead to be ready for something that may be on the horizon, the competition is fierce and you may be best served to approach the job like you’re trying to win the day. Even if there is no real opponent in your way.”
Understanding how competitive it is, you’ll then be freed up to understand the amount of effort you need to put in. The grind is constant, and while it can be grueling at times, that unyielding consistency and intensity of effort is what can separate sportswriters. Catalina himself is proof.
“The effort was paramount. Being available and willing to work hard. The extra mile and trying to separate amongst a field of supremely qualified people. It was the effort in my case that I believe stood out.”
Lesson 4: Be Future-Minded With Networking and Adaptability
An open mind, high effort, and passion can combine to set you on the right path. But as a sportswriter, you should also make an effort to understand the industry you’re in.
“It’s a relationships business,” Catalina notes first and foremost. “Those interactions with people you built even five years ago can help you with something today, and it’s that positive interaction, that extra introduction or text that could put you over the top in any given scenario.”
Outwardly, you should network to make connections, and use your connections to learn and enrich your work. Inwardly, you also have to be aware of your surroundings, and the market conditions in which you operate. The sports media industry is constantly changing. Catalina says the best way to hedge for that is to be adaptable.
“Stay multiple in your approach and don’t be afraid to evolve with the times. The way people consume news now is not how our parents did, and that’s okay, you just have to acknowledge it and if you can, take advantage of it.”
Amidst all the uncertainty, there’s one common thread that ties together the messaging: Effort. You have to work hard and work smart. But if you can do that and channel your passion through, you can carve out a career as a sportswriter.
“You can’t control everything, but you can control your effort. Take it from a man who didn’t take a single college journalism class and is now covering an SEC sports program for a living. If I didn’t go as hard as I did, I don’t think I would be here right now, and I never let myself forget it.”
