How to Write the Sports Essay
Image by Keith Johnston from Pixabay
by Sarah M.
Students are often advised to stay away from essay topics that might be too generic, and one common example of that is athletics. Since so many high school students play sports, it can seem like it might be too difficult to write a unique essay.
But there’s no reason to throw out an entire genre, especially one so potentially rich and interesting. Athletics can provide excellent experience with hard work, discipline, leadership, and emotional intelligence. And, with a little bit of creative thinking, the natural drama of sports can also make for a unique and riveting story. Some of the most compelling essays I’ve read have been based on sports, or on similarly common extracurriculars like music or theater. There’s no need to avoid these topics for fear of blending in, when you can use the power of your personal essay to show how much you stand out.
So, how do you do write a distinctive, individualized sports essay? The key is to use your athletic experience as a backdrop while you make a larger point. You’re not writing an essay about sports, at the end of the day—you’re writing an essay about you.
Stay away from the most cliché narratives, like an unlikely victory, an agonizing defeat, or the bonds forged between teammates. Instead, think of more unusual or offbeat themes to explore. Aside from most common topics of winning, losing, self-improvement, and teamwork, what draws you to sports? What do you learn from them? What broader theme about you or your life could you illustrate by using your athletic experience? Think about the impact sports might have on the rest of your life, at school or at home or with your friends. Consider some of the values that athletics might illuminate in your life more generally, like vulnerability, curiosity, craft, or independence. Maybe being the slowest runner on your team has helped you grapple with a broader fear of failure. Or, perhaps the obsessive care you bring to certain drills at practice can be seen even more clearly in your drive to master certain baking techniques at home.
Once you have an idea for a narrative that highlights you over sports, you then need to capture the details. Do not rely on well-worn tropes, but mine your experience for small but unique observations, images, and feelings that will illustrate your essay and help to make it immediate and exciting. Again, be sure to stay away from cliché images: describing the sweat dripping off your brow is most likely too generic, for example.
Stick to details that are specifically your own. What about that special knot you always tie in your shoelaces? Your favorite flavor of Gatorade? The embarrassing way your parents always cheer for you? Use personal details to invite your reader into your unique world.
Here are some brainstorming questions to help you get started with your sports essay:
- Have sports changed the way you go about something else in your life? Have they helped you overcome any specific fears, challenges, or roadblocks?
- Did sports help you bond with anyone in your life, like grandparents or siblings?
- Is there anything in your sport that you’re just bad at, no matter how hard you try? Anything you really dislike? How do you handle that?
- Do you play with a team only, or have you played in other settings, and with different people? Have sports helped you to have an impact on your community in any way?
- Did you ever quit a team? Why?
As you conclude your essay, look back to make sure that you have told a story about yourself—a story that no other athlete could have told, and one that will resonate even with readers who have never played a sport themselves.
