How Do I Become A Sports Broadcaster?

My youngest daughter has had an ambition in life for about seven years. She wants to interview Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees in the clubhouse at Yankee Stadium. All through high school, that is what she wanted to do. Now she is enrolled in a broadcast journalism class, and is trying to make her dream come true. If you or anyone else you know wants to become a broadcaster, here are a few steps.

Sports fans dream of seeing their image on television or hearing their voice on the radio, giving a running commentary on the game at hand while lending an intelligent opinion to the attentive sports community. The road to walk is one of hard work.

1. Study journalism in school, with an emphasis on broadcasting.
2. Take classes that teach good writing. “Writing is such a critical part of what occurs on television,” says veteran ESPN color analyst Larry Conley. “It can enhance your position.”
3. Have a true passion for sports. “I say that in the absolute strongest terms,” Conley says. “If what you’re trying to do is simply go on air and become someone who is just doing a job, it shows through.”
4. Read a great deal, aside from sports books. “I very seldom read a sports book,” says Conley, who reads more than a dozen books in the off-season. Read good fiction and nonfiction literature, he says. “There are times you bring the reading into a broadcast.”
5. Understand the history of sports. You can speak more intelligently about the present and future if you know the past. This should be mandatory in your reading.
6. Consult with people in the business to gain an understanding of it.
7. Approach the job with a healthy ego. “But also understand that you are only as good as the people you work with because they control your work on air,” Conley says.

Sports broadcasting can be very time consuming. “If you’re going to be successful, it will take time away from your family,” Conley warns. “Don’t take that lightly.” We are starting to realize that, because our daughter is wanting to move from home to a smaller market where it is easier to break into the field. Hope she remembers where she lives.

Do you have a question that you want answered? So do we! But we’re at a loss for the answer to our question. So why don’t you just ask us your question at How Do I? and see if either we can or one of our many viewers can answer it? Maybe…

[tags]journalism training, journalism,sports broadcast,sports broadcasting,journalism jobs,journalism careers[/tags]