What follows is a newswriting exercise. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
You're a sportswriter for the Centerville Gazette. You’re covering a soccer game between the Centerville Community College Eagles and the Ipswich Community College Spartans. The game is for the state collegiate conference title. It takes place at the Ipswich campus in Wardleysburg. The game is deadlocked until Centerville’s Tamba Kamara, a freshman who played soccer at Centerville High School, scores the first goal with 21:18 remaining. Ipswich’s Jason Beardsley scores for the Spartans to tie things up with 11:08 remaining but then with just 2:23 remaining Kamara scores again. Final score: 2-1. It is the only loss of the season for the Spartans. Centerville finishes the regular season 14-2. It’s the team’s first state soccer title in six years.
After the game you interview Centerville coach Jack Majors. He says the team was confident leading up to the game, even though their two regular-season losses were to the Spartans. “These guys just played with a lot of confidence and a lot of heart the entire season,” Majors says. He says that Kamara, a 19-year-old Liberian native who came to the U.S. three years ago, was the team’s top scorer of the season with 22 goals. But he adds that “this was a team effort. Everyone contributed this year.”
You interview Kamara, who speaks in heavily accented English. “I’m so grateful for this victory,” he says. “The whole team came together to win. This is a great day.” You also interview Spartans coach Mike Ellsburg. “It’s a tough loss for our guys, but they played great all year,” he says. “They have every reason to be proud of this season.”
Write the story in 45 minutes or less.
Find more great newswriting exercises here.
