Is there a negative stigma to covering high school sports?

Whenever I tell my friends that I'm a sports reporter, they always tell me that it must be so cool and how jealous they are I get to cover a lot of cool stuff.

But then I clarify and tell them I cover high school athletics, to which they start looking at me like I'm completely wasting my time doing so. They think covering high school sports is for scrubs and always ask me when I'll make it to the "big leagues." I never have a good answer.

It truly discourages me and it's made me ponder just quitting the business so I won't have to live up to the pressure of landing on a major pro sports beat to satisfy them.

Are you really considered a loser for covering high school sports?

 

I'd think almost every sports reporter covered preps at some point. It's what you do when starting out. And some do it by choice, long after that.

 

Oh hell no, I cover the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees and Manchester United on the same beat. I'm a bad ass.

 

Do you enjoy it? Is it a good job? If the answer to those questions is "Yes" then to hell what people think.

Some of the best reporters I've known prefer to cover preps. And depending on where you are, prep coverage has a huge audience.

 

I take it your friends aren't journalists themselves. Why do you put so much weight on their opinion of what you do for a living? The more pertinent question is whether you think you're a loser for covering high school sports. If not, then their opinion is irrelevant (and you likely wouldn't have posted this thread). If yes, then I suggest you quickly adjust your outlook or find a new line of work. Much like the athletes themselves, only a vanishingly small percentage of sports reporters make it to the "big leagues" and land major pro beats, and considering yourself a failure unless you land one such beat is a sure-fire recipe for burnout and disaster.

There are good journalists working prep beats across the country. Some are just starting out, some do it because they have a passion for youth sports, and some stay where they are because they have an attachment to their community. Some might want that pro beat like you do, while others might be happy to stay put, build a life, and be an authority on prep sports in their area -- everyone has different needs and desires. What they have in common is they do not let the fact their subjects rarely (if ever) end up on SportsCenter keep them from doing their job to the best of their ability, and neither should you.

There are precious few major pro beats, and that number seemingly grows smaller by the day. If you have your heart set on the big time, then bust your ass, get good clips, develop a broad base of skills beyond just writing and reporting, and be ready and able to network. You'd also be well-advised in your pursuit to shoot for the moon but be prepared to land among the stars (to put it almost certainly too floridly). Would you still consider yourself a loser if you were covering preps for a large metro paper? How about a mid-size to major college beat? Be open to other avenues as your reach for your goal. Limiting your definition of success to whether or not you land a major pro beat is like being single and limiting your dating pool to women with Hollywood-tier good looks -- it might happen, but it almost certainly won't and you'll pass up many potentially rewarding opportunities while holding out for perfection. If you're going to quit, quit because you can't do the job anymore and/or have better opportunities elsewhere, not because your friends deem your beat insufficiently "cool".

 

What does your photo editor think?

 

Here's some insight from someone who's done this for 25+ years now and I totally understand where you're coming from.

When I first started out, I covered preps exclusively my first four years in the business. After about two years, I loathed preps and all I could think of doing was covering colleges or pros. I even almost made a career change, came very very close to going into teaching. But just as that time approached, I was promoted to a full-time college beat. At first, it was like I was in Heaven. The audience was so much bigger, the games were so much bigger and all my stuff was so much more read. It was an ego trip that so many people were paying attention to all the things I wrote. But ....

As time went on, I began to see the dirty side of college athletics, the politics that go on behind the scenes. The fans began to grate on my last nerve. Their unrealistic expectations, their lack of knowledge or just complete ignorance, their arrogance even when they were wrong made me want to strangle them. I saw coaches rail-roaded out of town and administrators sell their souls for big booster donations. It all became so discouraging that I nearly quit again but only because the people I once loved I had become disgusted with.

So I made a request a few years ago. I asked if I could cover some preps every now and then, just to step away from the college beat all the time and all the bullshit that goes with it. You know what I found? I found that preps was still the reason why I loved my job and I loved writing. The kids were great, the coaches and fans would bend over backward to help me. It was like I had come full circle.

Now I do both, I cover high school and I still have a college beat. If I had to give up one, I'd say to hell with the college beat without blinking. The only glory you get out of the job is what you make of it. Covering Alabama and Nick Saban is no bigger than covering Brett Burnett and the Pelham High School Panthers. It's all what you make of it. It's not what your friends make of it.

So here's my advice to you: If you like what you do, if you like the job and the people you cover then who cares what your friends think? Do what makes you happy man.

There's nothing worse than doing a job you hate, and there's few things better than working in a career that you love. Only you know what that answer is. I'm sure you'll make the right decision.

 

If you're making enough money to live comfortably and you enjoy what you do you shouldn't give a shit about
what your friends think.

 

Sounds like you have some maturing to do. You don’t need to “satisfy” your friends. You need to satisfy yourself.

I loved covering preps in a couple spots during my career, and now, when I drive by a high school on Friday nights, hear the bands, and see the players on the field, I genuinely miss those moments.

I covered some fantastic, compelling, heart-wrenching, and relevant stories during my time covering preps.

There are certainly advantages being in a professional sphere compared to amateur athletics, but with preps you really have the opportunity to find unique, untold stories at that level, which is not as abundant in college/pro beats.

When I was managing some people at a few spots I’ve been at, and writers would complain about not finding good stories, I’d tell them to go to community colleges. There are more great stories walking around those fields than in any “big leagues.”

 

Some great insight, Doc. Thanks for sharing.

I'll add, though, that if you're around the same high school programs long enough and in the right areas of the country, some of the same issues crop up there that you mentioned in college athletics. Irrational fanbases, coaches railroaded out of town, corrupt administrators, and athletically gifted teens with egos the size of Texas.

 

No, you’re not a loser. Far from it.

That said, we live in a data and celebrity driven society where people couldn’t give a shit about their local communities but absolutely do want debate the value of the Hawks Trae Young trade as if they’re going to spend two seconds watching the Hawks next year. So your friends are liable to keep caring about the same things either way.

If you want to move up to a bigger, “more prestigious” beat in your own shop or some other shop, I’d find some big, chunky features - preferably one about some kid’s dying parent or a car accident that left a buddy dead or even one of those 8-year-old fans with a life threatening illness - and write the heck out of those. I’m not being facetious. It’s what hiring editors want to see, features. Now, mind you, you gotta do all the grunt work, too, on any beat. But you won’t get hired up for a well-done gamer. There’s some kid at a local college writing about the baseball player’s incarcerated dad - a story that gets workshopped and reworked three times by a J school prof - that’ll beat you out.

So attack human interest features. They’re the currency in this business.

 

Ask Buzz Bissinger about 'Friday Night Lights.'