During this pandemic, college athletes just like high school and every other level of sports are not sure if they will have a season this year. However, being a college athlete is different from being a high school athlete. College athletes have better resources such as training, nutrition, trainers, and doctors, but this coronavirus as paused every level of sports. Spring sports such as baseball, golf, beach volleyball, softball, tennis, and track and field are a long ways away, but are still affecting these sports preseason and does not give them an opportunity to prepare themselves for an upcoming season. This hurts a college athlete’s chance of moving on to play professionally.
Jace Armstrong plays baseball for our university Fort Hays. He is a redshirt junior from Hays, Kansas. Jace has been playing baseball since he was 3 years old. “I have been playing ever since I could pick up a bat and it is something that I have loved ever since.” Jace claims that since his father is a big baseball fan and was a big part of him falling in love with the game. He is a starter and plays as an outfielder. His biggest motivation is his parents. “They sacrificed a lot of time for my baseball and academic career and really inspired me to do well.” It also states that they showed him what it takes to be dedicated and do things the right way. He is very thankful for that.
Jace’s favorite college is the University of Nebraska, and he was accepted to attend before he was offered to play baseball somewhere else. His favorite baseball team is the Kansas City Royals and his favorite player is Tim Anderson who plays for the Chicago White Sox. Jace likes him because he plays with a lot of confidence and is an entertaining player to watch. Although Tim Anderson is his favorite player, he believes his game models after Lorenzo Cain. Jace is not sure if his team will have a season this come January. “I hope we will be able to because our guys are putting in a lot of work in order to be ready. He believes that if they can have a season that they would have to travel with more than one bus due to social distancing. Jace also does not believe he will play professionally, nor does he have the desires to. His has a tremendous amount of love for the game, but dealing with all of his injures he has battled from he is looking forward to his retirement from baseball and cannot wait to see what else is in store for him.
Story Record: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gceoWpVHBKiGgLO5LC0hG41BeTm42mOJCUC-p_bunjk/edit?usp=sharing
You’ve got some great content here! I think the quotes you shared show this can be a really impactful article. However, it needs a stronger thread running throughout it.
That opening paragraph has a lot of weight. Can you summarize your story in one sentence? That’s what the lede should do. Then, have the nut graf (or second paragraph) expand upon the lede just a little bit. Remember the tips on a lede and nut graf from Kevin Devine: https://mediaadvisersnotebook.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/the-lede-and-the-nut-graf-an-introduction/
Looking over the full story, I think the lede is more of an outline of what the article should be. What elements of the article support your statements in the lede? Try starting with that one summary paragraph, add more detail in the second paragraph, and then use the original lede to direct your full story.
With that in mind, the 3rd paragraph should be Jace discussing the differences between playing at the collegiate and high school levels. Paragraph 4: How is COVID affecting Jace’s preseason? P5: Does he think he’ll be ready for next season? P6 What does he expect this will do for his opportunity to play professionally?
Of course, you may not really have the quotes from Jace to discuss each of those ideas, but something like that would ensure a more cohesive story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. It’s possible to simply introduce Jace as an FHSU baseball player or starting outfielder and provide details on his love of the sport further down. In fact, that interest despite the difficulties of COVID could be a very good close.
A few more technical things are to make your story record visible to everyone @mail.fhsu.edu or at least visible to my @mail address: gmloggins@mail.fhsu.edu I never use that address for email, but I do use it for Google Drive.
And, I removed your intro. “For my second beat story I decided to choose a collegiate athlete.” We don’t need you to introduce the article to us, just to the TMN website readers.
We can talk further during the one-on-one midterm meeting. Just let me know if my office hours do not suit your schedule. https://calendly.com/gmloggins