There is more to sports journalism

The training on accurate football writing organized by FIFA in conjunction with AFP, took place in Nairobi, Kenya from May 24 to June 5. Twenty participants from the region attended the training organised in two shifts in preparation for the 2010 World, in South Africa. A handful or more were experienced sports editors, and only a few reporters. Trainees were taught about several aspects involved in accurate football writing. These included introducing the story body and the conclusion. Making the story colourful, lively and effectively portraying action while remaining easy to understand. Participants also were reminded on making the story precise, factual and to avoid single sourced stories. In the world of games and sports, football has been ranked among others with the biggest fan base. Being the world’s favourite sport, people are obsessed and pay lots of cash to sponsor the game, as footballers and their coaches take huge sums of money on their banks accounts. Football, despite its controversies, it has attracted billions of enthusiast fans who now consider it as life and death. The game is spreading like cancer in the flesh, and unfortunately some of these fans have taken it to another level by committing suicide, or creating enemies through discourteous arguments. Mike Mugisha, a fanatic of Manchester United, believes that his team is the best in the world, and he is always at loggerheads with his rivals, the likes of Arsenal. People join this field with different reasons. For some it to create a large cycle of good friends whom they share with the same social interests. However, it’s true that much as seas of people claim to be diehards of the game, only a few are well informed about its specifics. And this has qualified them as true fanatics, while others are just on the bandwagon. Tracing its origin from England, football is now every in the world, from the smallest groups to national teams. Only at 10, Jean Marie Songa has already embraced the football culture. With his tactics of balancing the ball, he was nicknamed Messi by his team-mates at school. Songa is not alone, today, there are very many young children who are crazy and have showed great talent and interest in the game. The experience I gained from the training is vital. It’s imperative, therefore to know that if one is not well trained about the format on writing about football, will either become frustrated and quit the field, or end up becoming a commentator in the story. It’s totally important to maintain the ‘KISS’ rule: Keep it Short and Simple. And to also make sure in action reports, that winner and loser are both clearly defined in the intro. Due to the fact that this was my first time attending to such a, I was expected to be more attentive and bank as many catchier words as possible. A good rule, maybe for those who have been in the field for quite long, is to never take facts for granted. It’s required to always attempt to corroborate what one source tells you by checking with a second and preferably with a third independent source. Remember that just because somebody tells you something, you do not have to report it. Check, and re-check where needed. Barry Parker, who was our trainer, said that the skills required for writing a sports story are the same as those used for news or business articles. “The secret to good sports writing is supplying colourful, lively copy that effectively portrays the action while remaining easy to understand and uncluttered,” said Parker. Among the specifics grasped from the training, was that as a female journalist aspiring to become a professional football writer was never to be intimidated or discouraged. The use of simple and short words, rather than long ones was something to give attention to. I also learnt that writing vividly but avoiding slang, journalese, stale metaphors and jargon was equally important when writing a football story. Ends