This Is What the Whole Course Has Been Building Toward.
Nine chapters.
You learned what sports writing is. You watched games like a journalist. You asked the 5Ws and 1H. You got the quote. You wrote five types of leads. You built every body paragraph. You wrote play-by-play quarter by quarter. You crafted powerful headlines. You learned how to be fair, accurate, and original.
Now you use all of it.
Not one skill. Not two. Every single one. Together. In one complete sports article.
Let's go.
The Full Sports Article — One Glance
| Part | What It Does | Fixed or Flexible |
|---|---|---|
| Headline | Grabs attention — present tense, under 8 words | Always on top |
| Lead | Winner + significance + score + when + key detail | Always First |
| Support | Player performance + stat + attribution | Always Second |
| Quote | Exact words + attribution | You Choose |
| Play-by-Play Q1 | How the game opened | You Choose |
| Play-by-Play Q2 | How it developed | You Choose |
| Play-by-Play Q3 | The turning point | You Choose |
| Play-by-Play Q4 | How it was sealed | You Choose |
| Balance | Fair coverage of the losing team | You Choose |
| Historical Background | Past fact that explains the win | You Choose |
| Tail | What's next for the winning team | Always Last |
Writing Under Time Pressure
In competitions like the NSPC — you have a deadline. Four steps every time.
A Complete Sample Article
Read it carefully. Find every skill you've learned.
James drained 28 points to power Mabini Elementary to their first basketball title in 12 years, defeating San Pedro Central, 67–63, on Saturday.
James led Mabini with 28 points — the highest of the game, according to the official scoresheet.
"We never stopped believing, even when we were down," said James after the win.
At the start, San Pedro Central raced to an 18–12 lead after the first quarter.
San Pedro Central extended the advantage to 34–28 at halftime.
James sparked the comeback in the third quarter, however — scoring 11 straight points to pull Mabini level at 44–44.
In the end, Oliver stole the ball with 40 seconds left to seal the win.
Henry finished with 24 points for San Pedro Central, but Mabini's defense proved too strong in the closing minutes.
Mabini Elementary had not won the basketball championship in 12 years before Saturday's victory.
Mabini Elementary advances to the regional finals next month.
Now check every skill.
| Headline — present tense, under 8 words, winner named | ✅ |
| Lead — winner + significance + score + key player | ✅ |
| Support — stat with attribution | ✅ |
| Quote — exact words, speaker attributed | ✅ |
| Play-by-Play — Q1 to Q4, one sentence each | ✅ |
| Balance — losing team covered fairly | ✅ |
| Historical Background — specific past fact | ✅ |
| Tail — what's next, not a summary | ✅ |
| Strong verbs throughout | ✅ |
| Past tense in body | ✅ |
| One sentence per paragraph | ✅ |
✏️ Practice Time
Apply everything you've learned. Work through both activities below step by step.
Fix the Sports Story! Find and fix five errors in a flawed sports article.
📄 The Flawed Article
🔍 Find the Five Errors
Write a Complete Sports Article Use every skill from this course to write one full article from scratch.
⚽ The Game
🔍 Self-Check and Editing Guide
| What to Check | Done ✅ | Try Again 🔄 |
|---|---|---|
| Team names spelled consistently | ☐ | ☐ |
| Score is the same in every mention | ☐ | ☐ |
| Player names spelled correctly throughout | ☐ | ☐ |
| What to Check | Done ✅ | Try Again 🔄 |
|---|---|---|
| Headline matches what the article says | ☐ | ☐ |
| Lead gives result in the first sentence | ☐ | ☐ |
| Support is Paragraph 2 | ☐ | ☐ |
| Play-by-Play goes Q1 → Q2 → Q3 → Q4 | ☐ | ☐ |
| Tail tells what's next — not the score | ☐ | ☐ |
| What to Check | Done ✅ | Try Again 🔄 |
|---|---|---|
| All body verbs are in past tense | ☐ | ☐ |
| No player name repeated three times in a row | ☐ | ☐ |
| Sports lingo used correctly | ☐ | ☐ |
| At least one figure of speech included | ☐ | ☐ |
| Every quote attributed to its speaker | ☐ | ☐ |
| Every statistic has a source | ☐ | ☐ |
| Losing team covered fairly | ☐ | ☐ |
| All words are my own | ☐ | ☐ |
📊 Simple Rubric
Answers for writing activities will be different for each student. Use the rubric to check your work or ask your teacher for help.
🧠 The Final Challenge
Ten questions. One for every major skill from the entire course.
You Made It.
Ten chapters. Think about what you can do now.
You can walk into any game — pen in hand — and know exactly what to look for. You can take notes that matter. Ask the 5Ws and 1H. Spot the significance. Get the quote after the final whistle.
You can write a lead that hooks a reader in one sentence. You can build a body that tells the full story — support, quote, play-by-play, balance, historical background — all in the right order. You can write a headline that stops someone mid-scroll. You can edit your own work before anyone else reads it.
And you can do all of it with honesty, fairness, and integrity. That's not one skill. That's ten.
Most people watch sports without ever thinking about what goes into writing about them. But you do. You see the game differently now.
Watch it. Note it. Ask the right questions. Get the quote. Write the headline. Write the lead. Build the body. Close it with the tail. Edit until it's right. Then share it with everyone who wasn't there.
That's sports writing. And it's yours now. 🏆
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