How to Write a Strong Sports Reporter Resume in 7 Steps

Updated 22 February 2023

Sports reporters gather information about current sporting events and communicate it through writing in publications or broadcasting on the radio or television. They aim to keep their audience up to date on the latest sporting news and behind-the-scenes information about current sports people. Knowing how to write an effective resume may help you get an interview for the reporting job you want. In this article, we discuss what a sports reporter is, suggest steps to follow for compiling a sports reporter resume and include a template and an example to help you write yours.

What is a sports reporter?

A sports reporter is a journalist who focuses on covering a range of sporting events and the teams, coaches and athletes involved in the events. Part of their job may be to create related content regarding game statistics, sports clothing trends, fan behaviour or other aspects of sporting culture. Sports reporters can work for newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV channels or online news sites.

Two types of journalism are written reporting, which involves writing columns, articles and press releases, and broadcast reporting, which typically happens via video or audio feed for radio or TV stations. Sports reporters may specialise in one type only or do both as the job requires.

Related: How to Become a Journalist

How to write a sports reporter resume

Consider following these steps to create a sports reporter resume:

1. Evaluate the job post

You can prepare for writing your resume by analysing the job post. Note any education and experience requirements, then identify hard skills such as broadcast journalism or video editing. Analysing the job listing in this way can help you decide what information of yours to include in your resume to align yourself with the job opening.

2. Research sports reporting keywords

Researching keywords that relate to the sports reporting profession can help you tailor your resume to each job application. Identify the keywords used in each job advert and create your resume around your skills, abilities and experience that match those keywords. Personalising your resume in this way can increase your chances of recognition as a suitable candidate.

Using keywords also helps applicant tracking systems (ATS) identify your resume as suitable for the post. Once you have a list of commonly used keywords, you can select those most relevant to you and use them on your resume. Ideal places to use keywords include your professional summary, work experience duty lists and the skill section of your resume. Some keywords a sports reporter hiring manager may look for include:

Sports writing
Journalism
Sports
Broadcast journalism
Writing
Newspapers
Video editing
Reporting

3. Insert your contact details

Your name and contact details can go at the top of your resume to make it easier for the hiring manager to find. Including your name in a bold, larger font size can help make it more memorable to the hiring team. Including both a contact number and a professional email address gives the HR department options for contacting you regarding your application. Consider adding the organisation's email address to your safe senders list to ensure that you receive any emails they send.

4. Write a sports reporter professional summary

A professional summary shows the employer who you are as a professional reporter and how your skills and experience can benefit their organisation. Typically, a professional summary is only two or three-lines long. Choose your top achievements or successes to include and mention your professional goals that align with the company's goals. As far as possible, use examples with measurable results as actual figures, data or percentages to provide more helpful information on how you may benefit the organisation.

5. Include your working experience as a sports reporter

Listing your work experience allows a hiring manager to assess what duties and responsibilities you have experience in managing. For each position you list, you can include a bullet-pointed list of the primary duties you fulfilled. This is another opportunity to include some actual results or the outcome of your work. For a current position, write in the present tense and for previous positions, use past tense to differentiate between the positions.

If you've been working in the industry, consider listing your work in reverse-chronological order. This means starting with your current or most recent sports reporter job and listing each job previous to that. By using this format, you naturally highlight your most recent skills and experiences, which are often your most advanced. This format also allows a hiring manager to see your career trajectory and track your progress and growth as a reporter. If you don't have working experience as a reporter, you can use a skills-based resume format. This layout focuses attention on your skills and education.

6. List your sports reporting skills

As you write your skills list, let the information from the job post help you decide which skills to focus on. Including a combination of hard and soft skills can add to your resume's appeal as a hiring manager often looks for the right combination of both. Hard skills include any skills directly related to being a sports reporter, while soft skills are the personality skills that make you well-suited to the position.

Hard skills a hiring team may expect to see on your resume can include:

Social media skills
Podcasting
Game coverage
Sports knowledge
Sports writing
Broadcast journalism
Sports coverage and analysis
Photography

Soft skills that apply to a sports reporting position may include:

Critical thinking
Attention to detail
Written and verbal communication skills
Observation skills
storytelling ability

7. Include your educational qualifications

List your education in the next session and ensure you meet the minimum required by the job listing. The education a hiring manager may look for can include a degree in journalism or communications with coursework in writing, ethics, media law, sports journalism or broadcast journalism. You may receive training through an internship during which you shadow a more experienced reporter to cover events. If you've completed an internship, you can list it under this section.

Sports reporter resume template

Consider using this template to help you create an effective sports journalist resume:

[First name] [Last name], [Degree or certification if applicable]
[Phone number] | [Email address] | [City], [State]

Professional Summary
[Two to three sentences that highlight your years of experience, relevant skills, education or certifications and achievements as a professional].

Experience
[Job Title] | [Employment dates]
[Company Name] | [City], [State]

(Strong verb) + what you did (more detail) + reason, outcome or quantified results.
[Job duty]
[Job duty]
[Job duty]
[Job duty]

[Job Title] | [Employment dates]
[Company Name] | [City], [State]

(Strong verb) + what you did (more detail) + reason, outcome or quantified results.
[Job duty]
[Job duty]

Education
[Degree and major], [Name of school or university]

Sports reporter resume example

Consider using this example to guide you as you create yours:

Stan Whacker, BA (Journalism) +61 491 570 156 | swhacker@email.com | Perth, Western Australia

Professional Summary
Passionate sports journalist with eight years of experience covering professional and collegiate team sports, including football, rugby and swimming. Hard-working and dedicated, covering up to six events per week and providing the human interest angle for potential stories linked to each match. Keen interest in highlighting the positive impact of sports on communities and individuals.

Experience
Sports Reporter| January 2016–Current
Mosh House Sporting Channel | Perth, Western Australia

Reporting on breaking sports stories, including player trades and agent signings for a daily show with an audience of 40K+
Attending games, team practices and press conferences to report on team activities
Planning sporting event coverage by creating a story pitch before each game, including how the game fits into the overall calendar for the season
Writing and editing articles for print publications, social media channels and the channel website
Editing junior reporter articles before online publication

Sports Reporter Intern | January 2014–December 2015
Crumb Springs Sports News | Derby, Western Australia

Researched and wrote articles on assigned sports topics for the Crumb Springs e-magazine
Interviewed players and wrote online player profiles for local teams, leading to a 30% increase in website traffic
Covered live sports matches, analysed them and wrote post-game articles

Education
Bachelor of Arts (Journalism), Red Hills University

Please note that none of the companies, institutions or organisations mentioned in this article are affiliated with Indeed.