Joe Mitch

Annual sportswriting seminar expanding to Women's Final Four

By JOE MITCH / Executive Director
mitch@usbwa.com

Beginning this year, the USBWA will co-sponsor two sports-writing seminars annually for high school and college students. Through a partnership with the NCAA, the USBWA will conduct separate Full Court Press seminars each year at the NCAA men's and women's Final Fours.

The first seminar, scheduled in conjunction with the men's Final Four in Atlanta, will be held on the University of Georgia campus in Athens on Thursday, March 29.

A second seminar will be at Cleveland State University, host for this year's Women's Final Four on March 30.

The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia and the Georgia Scholastic Press Association are co-hosting the seminar in Athens. The School of Communications at Cleveland State is hosting the Women's Final Four seminar. Both seminars are expected to attract over 100 students.

This is the first time the USBWA has conducted a seminar in conjunction with the women's Final Four.

Previously, the USBWA had held similar seminars at four of the last five men's Final Four sites.

Due to the success of the men's Final Four seminars, the USBWA worked an arrangement with the NCAA to expand the program to include the women's national championship tournament.

NCAA media coordinators David Worlock and Rick Nixon are working with the USBWA to coordinate the men's and women's Final Four seminars, respectively.

Both seminars are geared toward students looking to pursue a career in sports journalism. Students are given the opportunity to ask questions and mingle with panel members following the seminar.

The USBWA provides member sportswriters for each seminar. USBWA President Tom Shatel and Dick “Hoops” Weiss of the New York Daily News are among writers who will participate in panel discussions in Athens while Mel Greenberg of the Philadelphia Inquirer is heading up the women's Final Four panel in Cleveland.

Malcolm Moran, a past USBWA president and member of our Hall of Fame who is now the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society in the College of Communication at Penn State, is also assisting with each seminar. Malcolm is providing moderators at the women's seminar and will serve as a co-moderator in Athens.

Upon completion of each seminar, students will receive press credentials to cover various events during Final Four weekend. They include:

• Open practices and press conferences for the four competing teams the day before the semifinals.

• NCAA “Yes” Clinics at various sites in Atlanta and Cleveland.

• NCAA “Hoops City” interactive fan festivals.

• Press conference of NCAA President Myles Brand in Atlanta.

• NABC College All-State game in Atlanta, featuring the Harlem Globetrotters vs. a college all-star team.

• USBWA Player and Coach of the Year Awards breakfast in Atlanta and Cleveland.

Students will also be chosen at random to cover the NCAA Final Four championship for the men and both the championship and semifinal games for the women.

Students can also submit a story about the events they cover in a writing contest for a chance to win a $1,000 scholarship provided by the USBWA for each seminar.