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GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
Game summary reports will be published each week in the Billerica Minuteman and The Lowell Sun (depending on space allowance). Summaries for each team will need to be submitted to Kathy Coffey, our Public Relations Coordinator. Email your team’s report to bkcoffey@comcast.net. Your report needs to be submitted to Kathy no later than 9:00am on the Tuesday following game day.
Doug Hastings, Sports Writer for the Billerica Minuteman, has some helpful tips on writing your team report. This article was first published in the Billerica Minuteman in September of 2003.
Some tips on writing youth sports stories…
"So you were probably just standing there minding your own business when it happened.
Someone volunteered you, or in a moment of weakness you volunteered, to be the writer for your son or daughter’s hockey or soccer or basketball or football team.
YIKES!!
I wanted to offer some guidance, and some tips, to help make writing about youth sports easier.
Here we go...
The idea? To get as many names as possible into the smallest amount of space. People are interested in who scored goals and who had assists and maybe some other highlights like who played well defensively, but the other stuff, what the team had for its pre-game breakfast or the temperature outside, doesn’t really have to be included.
Near misses? Don’t bother with them. If Joe Wilson misses a break-away, it really doesn’t matter.
The fact that the coach feels his team worked hard? Leave it out.
Everybody tried their hardest? Save it.
That stuff is important, of course, but in this case it just doesn’t make the cut.
This is the best way to describe your team’s 5-1 victory in soccer or hockey. (The names below are not real; they are members of my bowling league.)
'Rob Ragusa scored two goals as the Mite B's topped Lowell, 6-2, to improve their record to 6-3-1 on the season. Other goal scorers were Chris D'Antonio, Scott Olszewski, Rich Buttaro and Jim Rigoli. Defensively, Jim Gangi, Skip Bowley, Filipe Barreto and Kevin Wilson had fine games. Jim Haines did the job in goal, making several outstanding saves including a penalty shot.'
You don't have to mention every player in every story, but above is the best way to do it if you really must. Personally, I think it takes away from the whole experience when a kid doesn't earn his or her way into the paper, but it's your call.
I feel that making the newspaper should be a privilege. Not in this week? Play your hardest and maybe your name will appear next week. It's a long season.
Here is an example of a football game.
‘The Pop Warner A Team defeated Melrose last Sunday, 17-7, behind two touchdowns by Mike Laflamme and a field goal from the leg of Rich Beverage. Melrose scored first and led 7-0 after the first quarter before the locals started their comeback. Laflamme's first touchdown was a 35-yard run in the second quarter and Ray Dearville's extra point tied the game. Laflamme scored his second touchdown in the third quarter on a 2-yard run. Skip Bowley and Mo Barreto blocked well throughout the day while several important tackles were made by Dave Aberlee, John Matte and Brian Rigoli.’
Some smaller things...
It's first period, not 1st period.
The player on your team that scored a goal did not look like Wayne Gretsky when he did it.
Any number less than 10 is written out, numbers like three, four and five... unless it is in a score (10-5 or 8-3) or a win/loss record (8-3-1, 6-2).
Describe things in the present tense. "Rigoli passed to Buttaro who scored the first goal." not... "Rigoli passes to Buttaro who scores the first goal."
Nicknames like Rob "Killer" Ragusa or Chris "Big Cheese" D'Antonio will never, ever, ever be printed in the paper.
The winning score of a game always goes first, even when your team loses... "The Mite B's lost 5-2."
"&" does not mean "and". "And" means "and".
Only use "us" and "we" if you actually skated or ran for the particular team you are writing about. Call your team by it's name, "The Mite B's" or by the name of the town.
Don't abbreviate. Don't refer to points as "pts" or yards as "yds". A touchdown is not a "td" and "qb" isn't a quarterback.
There it is.
As youth sports writers, you are doing a job that not many people are willing to do. Thanks and here's hoping the above tips make the experience a little easier."
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