My friend works for BBC Radio Sheffield following Barnsley around and doing the updates and has done full match commentary on a few occasions for Barnsley, Donny and Sheffield United. I think he gets paid now (not very well), very much still a 2nd job/hobby, but when he started it was work experience and they covered costs. Could be worth asking around local papers/radio stations etc.
As others have said - get some qualifications and prepare to start at the bottom of the pile in local newspapers etc covering local league football and a lot of sports in which you might not have much interest but which you have to cover as it's part of your brief.
Then with experience and good connections you can work your way up the ladder.
Firstly, I must admit that seeing "Sports Journalism" and the category "Not Sports Related" made me chuckle. There is more truth to that, particularly today, than you'd know.
I'm not as well versed in the sports media industry in the UK, as in the States, but it is getting harder, not easier, with the demise of the newspaper industry. Yes, people can start blogs and call attention to themselves. Getting hired, and making money off of it, are an entirely different proposition.
I began writing for my school newspaper, and at the age of 14 got hired by my local weekly newspaper, which printed the school paper. When I was 16, then made me sports editor. I wrote for the weekly for 9 years, through high school and college, and earned a journalism degree from Boston University. I still ended up teaching school for two years before getting hired by a statewide newspaper, where I remained for 19 years and got to cover four World Cups, 13 Wimbledons, 11 years of the National Hockey League, and wrote three columns per week. That newspaper doesn't staff any of those events any more. I went to Major League Soccer, wrote columns and did radio and TV commentary for a few years, before taking an administrative position in another sport.
As has been mentioned, it is a very competitive business because so many people want to do it because they believe they will enjoy it. You most likely need a degree, find a way to get your foot in the door, do a lot of grunt work and make the most of the opportunities that you can carve out for yourself. Don't expect it to be easy. But if it is what you want, and you have talent, then go for it.
If you fancy a taster rather than jumping into a degree, you might be able to get on a short or part-time course, at an FE or uni. A fair few such courses in London, but might be more difficult in deepest Kent. Try hotcourses.com. January part-time courses just starting so be quick unless you want to wait til April.
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Then with experience and good connections you can work your way up the ladder.
that a side, good luck with everything mate and im sure if you get the chance probably a very enjoyable job
LOL yea that is quite a contradiction in terms really.
I'm not as well versed in the sports media industry in the UK, as in the States, but it is getting harder, not easier, with the demise of the newspaper industry.
Yes, people can start blogs and call attention to themselves. Getting hired, and making money off of it, are an entirely different proposition.
I began writing for my school newspaper, and at the age of 14 got hired by my local weekly newspaper, which printed the school paper. When I was 16, then made me sports editor.
I wrote for the weekly for 9 years, through high school and college, and earned a journalism degree from Boston University. I still ended up teaching school for two years before getting hired by a statewide newspaper, where I remained for 19 years and got to cover four World Cups, 13 Wimbledons, 11 years of the National Hockey League, and wrote three columns per week.
That newspaper doesn't staff any of those events any more.
I went to Major League Soccer, wrote columns and did radio and TV commentary for a few years, before taking an administrative position in another sport.
As has been mentioned, it is a very competitive business because so many people want to do it because they believe they will enjoy it.
You most likely need a degree, find a way to get your foot in the door, do a lot of grunt work and make the most of the opportunities that you can carve out for yourself.
Don't expect it to be easy. But if it is what you want, and you have talent, then go for it.