Writing a sports report for news is just as important as writing general news; you can always see sports report in newspapers and TV news reports and hear them on the radio. However, what’s great about writing sports is that not only it’s fun to write, you have also the freedom to use a bit more creative words compared to business news writing or police beat stories. And you get to go and see game matches while simultaneously writing about the game, the players, the atmosphere, and other exciting happenings of a sporting event. If you happen to love sports and love writing news, then this job is for you. Read the article to find out how to write a sports report.
10+ Sports Report Samples
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Types of Sports Stories
The following are the five most common types of sports stories:
- Straight-Lead Game Story: This story is the easiest and most basic type of all sportswriting. It’s very similar to writing a straight news article. Straight-lead game stories are usually written in high school and college sports because it summarizes the main points of a game; which team won or lost, the final score, and what the star player did.
- Profiles Story: A profiles story focuses more on a certain athlete or coach that made some notable work or stood out from among their peers.
- Season Preview and Wrap-up Stories: In sportswriting, season previews and wrap-up stories will never be absent. This type of news discusses in great detail how they view the upcoming season/season that wrapped up. Sportswriters can share the expectations of the athletes or teams for a season preview and give their own two cents about their performance during the end of the season.
- Feature Game Story: Feature stories tend to be more creative since sportswriters can focus on a different angle or perspective of the game or tournament compared to the straight news they read or watch. A feature story can focus on a player’s or coach’s background or an insider behind the scenes about the tournament or game. The sportswriter will then veer the discussion on the scores near the end of the article.
How to Write a Sports Report
Sports writing usually covers the following basic information:
- highlights of the game
- the names of the teams involved
- the type of sport being played
- the final score
- when and where the game was played
Below is the format of writing a sports report:
1. Lead
The first sentence of any news report (yes, including a sports report) is the most important part. The lead (or lede) is where you, the journalist write the news aspect of a sports game. Usually, in sports games, the lead is where the score is announced. It will show who (or which team) won the game or match. The lead will be followed with a brief explanation of how did the champion won and how this victory could advance them.
2. Quote
This is the part of the report where you can provide a quote from the coach or a key player (if the athletes were in teams). Make sure the quote you put in your report is relevant to your lead.
3. The body
Once you’ve written down the most important information and key quotes, you can now write the rest of the report by describing the game. You can also add more quotes to make the report seem more engaging to read. To end your report, you can include a short discussion of how the results of the game will affect the athletes or teams and whether they will stay or will be kicked out of the series/tournament.
FAQs
How long should a sports article be?
A sports article varies its length on the relevance of the being covered. It can be as short as 500 words to as long as 2,000 words.
What are the three types of sports?
There are different types of sports around the world but they have been categorized by the number of players. The three main categories are individual sport, dual-sport, and team sport.
What are the skills required to be a sports news writer?
To be a sports news writer, one thing you should have is a great interest in playing or watching sports. You also need to develop the skills of observation, communication, and resourcefulness.
A pro-tip when it comes to writing a sports report is you can never go wrong with focusing on what an athlete does. Since sports revolve around the competition stakes, highlighting a person gives your story a human side that your readers can relate to. Indeed, sports writing is a great field to write about if you’re truly passionate about sports. It gives you the opportunity to do what you love and to be able to show off your talent. To guide you on writing your sports report, refer to our sample templates above. They are all free so you can download any of the templates above.
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