Story by Brian Horton
Braving a steady downpour, 26 middle school and high school students from several West Orange schools learned today that a sportswriter’s life sometimes means getting to a sports stadium early, getting some interviews done, then sitting and waiting for a rain-delayed game that was eventually called because of the weather.
The students, attending the fifth annual two-week Write on Sports camp at Montclair State University, are learning to enjoy writing by having the subject matter be sports of all kinds. The concept is to use sports as a theme and hook to inspire them to write.
Today’s session took them to Yoga Berra Stadium on the MSU campus to cover a New Jersey Jackals game. While waiting out the delay, the students interviewed Jackals manager Joe Calfapietra and two members of his coaching staff, Eddie Gerald and Ani Ramos. The students’ questions covered a wide range from what it is like to lose good players as they move up to other minor league teams, to how do you overcome adversity when the teams loses to how the manager and coaches try to build on the chemistry of 22 unique players, a diverse group from several countries and several age groups.
“While we never anticipate something like a rainout, the students were able to go with the flow and refocus their attention to the rain, passing the time and overcoming adverse conditions. That’s what real reports do, go with the story that was there.” said Erik Jacobson, Program Coordinator, Write on Sports and an assistant professor at MSU.
The Jackals excursion was the second outside activity of the camp. Last week, the students attended a New Jersey Red Bulls soccer team practice on the MSU campus and interviews players and a coach. The students have also had a chance to interview former players and working sportswriters.
The camp wraps up Friday when the students turn in the stories and show the videos they’ve been creating during the camp.