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COMPETITION

YOUNG SPORTS JOURNALIST COMPETITION 2024

The competition is now open. Find your voice in our award-winning magazine. 


The Young Sports Journalist Competition, 2024, seeks well-argued articles from aspiring journalists aged 14-21. Winning entries will be published online and printed in the Summer Issue of Pitch. Critiqued by our panel of accomplished judges, winners will also receive a £50 cash prize and offered work experience here at HQ. The competition runs from 7 February 2024 to 12 April 2024. And winners will be announced in May.

Competition Questions

14-15
Which sport produces the best athletes?
16-17
Is sport (really) good for us?
18-19
Should sports betting be allowed?
20-21
Is it worth hosting the Olympic games?

Panel of Judges

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Sam Pilger has reported on sport for the past 23 years. He has written for Forbes, FourFourTwo, Optus Sport, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, The Times Magazine to name but a few. The Red Devil authors Manchester United's Best XI, a book that reminisces Saturdays gone by.

...

Huw Turbevill has been writing about cricket for the Sunday Telegraph since 2000 and the Daily Telegraph since 2007. He has also made appearances in the Wisden Cricketer, the Evening Standard, the Daily Mail, the Express, and the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

...

Jade Craddock works as a freelance book reviewer, copy editor and writer. She was a featured writer in the anthology, Football She Wrote and writes regularly for Pitch.


How To Enter

Research your article based on the question in your age category (above). Prepare to submit your entry using the form below by April 12, 2024.

Write between 400 and 600 words with a strong title and sell. Keep it new, interesting and true. Points will be awarded for original ideas.

Fill out all the boxes on the form to the best of your ability, including your name, age, region and contact details.

Kick back and relax, enjoy your work, and spread the word to family members who might enjoy reading it in our next issue!

Top Tips

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Submissions should have a clear narrative, which answer the question being tackled.

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Form an engaging and ‘journalistic’ style using a range of sentence lengths. And short paragraphs.

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Form original ideas with evidence of research and further reading.

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Showcase perfect spelling and grammar. Check. Check. And check again.



Young Sports Journalist Entry Form

Please complete your details in the boxes below and attach your 400–600-word entry before 5pm on Friday 12th April 2024.

Name is required.
Age is required.
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COMPETITION RULES

  1.  The competition is open to young people aged between 14-21, attending school or college in the UK. 
  2. Entries must be a minimum of 300 words and no more than 500 words, excluding headings and entrant information. You must answer the question relating to your age group.
  3. Entries must be made via our website www.pitch-mag.co.uk by close of business (17:00) on Friday 12th April 2024, using the entry form provided. 
  4. Using the form provided, please make sure you include your name, age, gender, school, UK region and name of teacher.
  5. Entries should be submitted in a word document format (MSWord or similar word processing package). 
  6. Entries will be disqualified if they:
    •    Don’t comply with the entry requirements, including minimum or maximum word count.
    •    Contain excessive spelling, punctuation or grammatical mistakes, judged at our discretion.
    •    Save their entry in a format that can’t be opened with standard packages such as MS Word.
  7. Articles will be checked for plagiarism. 
  8. Late entries will not be accepted. 

SMALL PRINT

Any information you provide will only be used to process your entry and won’t be used for any other purpose. By entering this competition, you agree to our use of your entry and processing of your personal data. Further details on how we protect your personal data and your individual rights can be found by clicking here.

By entering this competition, you agree to our use of your entry and processing of your personal data. We may also publish the surname and region as part of the winning entry. If you do not want us to publish your surname, please contact editor@pitch-mag.co.uk

“Pitch is such an excellent title, and I think it's a great addition to the sports press. What I like about it is that it covers all sport, which is great, there was a gap in the market for that, for an all-round title. Excellent design too, the cover is beautiful. ”

Fernando Augusto Pacheco - Presenter ‘The Stack’ by Monocle

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