Advice for teen sports writer

Here's a little advice: Let him seek his own advice. If he's old enough to run a Web site and to ask athletes questions, he's old enough to ask the grizzled vets here (and elsewhere0 his own questions. Daddy or Mommy should be doing as little as possible. I speak as a father of 2 who occasionally didn't follow this advice and now, looking back, wish I had.

Otherwise, I wish him the best of luck. Our business bites but some people do make money. Here's hoping your son will be one of them - and then he can hire a bunch of the rest of us to work for him.

 

I'm pretty sure in middle school I was too wrapped up in the whole puberty experience to do anything as productive as this young man.

Lots of good advice so far, but I agree with others who have said "just enjoy it." Have some fun. Not many 13- and 14-year-olds are adding the likes of Chipper Jones to their contact list.

Good luck.

 

I am just against this. I am sure the kid is bright, but this is more about becoming a celebrity than being a young journalist. If he wants to write and he is good enough go to a local outlet and pitch the idea. But, this seems like a vanity project.

No offense, but if the kid wants to be a great writer and journalist the best place to start is covering local stories, and more importantly, gaining life experience. The kid should do work for the local weekly, or if it's good, a small daily.

 

Looks like decent site, but there are some hard rules of journalism that he should know.

If you use a photo that you didn't personally take, it's imperative to credit the source. Also, if you haven't been granted permission to use it, you may have violated copyright laws.

Also, be cautious about the autograph section. Don't interview anyone you have autographs posted for. It's a professional no-no. So far, I don't think there's any overlap. But just be aware.

Good luck

 

I love the concept. Like women's tennis, by the time you're 20, you're washed up.

 

More like, by the time you're making a decent amount of money, you're about to have your job eliminated.

 

I agree. I was 16, and looked younger, when I started working for newspapers. My parents drove me to assignments because I was too young to have a driver's license, but that was it. One of the things I loved about the paper is the people there didn't treat me like I was 16. I was being paid to write, which made me, technically, a professional. If I wasn't able to work like a professional, I could go write for the school paper like any other kid.

I wanted to be taken seriously and mostly people did me that favor--but then, I didn't expect people to talk to me because I was a kid, I expected them to talk to me because I was a reporter, a real one (sort of). That meant no "gimme an interview, I'm just a kid." And no asking for autographs, which is unprofessional.

I think the kid ought to play down his age rather than play it up with "teensonsports." Let the content speak for itself. I might look at teensonsports or blind_lesbian_on_sports or one-legged_booger-picking_geezers_on_sports once, out of curiousity. But then it either has something to say or it doesn't and I couldn't care less how old the kid is--nothing's going to make me read it unless it interests me.

 

Maybe I'm missing something but there doesn't seem to be that much journalism going on, just asking some questions and typing the replies.

Is there a plan to actually start writing feature stories from these interviews?

 

It's great to see a kid with so much ambition.

I'd encourage him to read everything he can get his hands on and pay attention in class. Other than that, let him do his thing.

If he wants to make it a career, he will. If he wants to do something none of us have thought up, it won't come from any advice from us. If he wants to let it peter out so he can listen to rock 'n' roll and chase girls, ain't noting wrong with that, either.

Tell the kid I said kudos and I can't wait for him to be my boss someday.

 

Grant was helped by having an uncle who has been a prominent radio host in Pittsburgh.
Even for teens, it's all about who you know.

 

Find popular message boards dedicated to the teams the players play for and start threads with links. Message boards like relevant, original content. Rivals and Scout sites are starting points but sometimes they're delete-happy. Independent boards are best.