How Bridgend Ravens developed me as a journalist

I started working with Bridgend Ravens in the November of 2019, writing a couple of match reports for their website as I was learning how to write reports to the correct structure. Three years later I have just finished my third season of working for the club. I’m a completely different sports journalist now to the one I was when I started, I remember being very shy and nervous when first starting, I didn’t do anything other than match reports. Over the lockdown I started to write news pieces and ‘Where are they now’ pieces on the club.

However, over the course of my third-year placement with the club, it’s helped me develop my all-round skills as a sports journalist. I’ve had the opportunity to run the club’s social media channels on match day, providing live score updates from the games. This is something that most semi-professional clubs have started to develop, therefore, it was only right that I helped the Ravens develop this too. I’ve also produced several video content/packages for the club’s social media, which is something that they haven’t been able to do before due to personnel and resources. However, I was able to do video interviews with coaches and players and share them across Bridgend’s social media channels. The club gave me the freedom of posting whatever content I wanted on their social media channels, so I decided to do some video interviews to get some more interaction with fans, the feedback we received from these were brilliant. I gained plenty of confidence from the club allowing me the freedom and the pressure of handling the social media accounts, the tireless work I’ve put in for the club this year has been worthwhile, with the messages and feedback we’ve received from supporters. My time at the club has also given me the opportunity to improve my writing skills as well as my interviewing skills. By producing regular content for the website, it’s given me tight deadlines to work too, while still producing content of the highest quality. If it wasn’t for the club giving me the opportunity over the three years, my student sports journalism career could’ve turned out differently. However, I feel hat I’ve made the most out of all the experiences I’ve been offered this year and developed my traits to help me become successful in this industry.

25th April, 2022