Youth Sports Reporter
About this role
NJ.com is seeking a self-motivated Youth Sports Reporter to build a first-of-its-kind coverage area for our high school sports team: New Jersey youth and travel sports.
In this newly created role, you will expand our reporting beyond high school athletes and into the world of youth sports — covering athletes as young as 6 and up to high school age - across every sport and every corner of the state. This is a chance to help make NJ.com one of the only major media organizations in the country with a dedicated youth sports beat, reaching an entirely new audience of parents, coaches and young athletes.
We're looking for someone who thrives on building something from the ground up: someone who can develop a wide network of contacts across travel programs and tournaments, turn that network into a steady stream of recaps, rankings and roundups, and spot the bigger stories — injury trends, scandals, tech innovations — shaping youth sports today. Live-streaming opportunities are also a major part of this beat, giving parents access to games they can't find anywhere else online.
The base salary range for this role is $65,000-$75,000 annually.
This role will require reliable transportation to attend games, tournaments and events across the state, and will include night and weekend hours.
What you'll be doing:
- Cover youth and travel sports athletes (ages 6 to 14) across every sport statewide.
- Recap major tournaments, highlight top performers, and compile rankings on a regular basis.
- Report on the broader youth sports landscape, including injury trends, scandals and tech innovations.
- Build and maintain a network of contacts across travel programs and tournaments who supply game and tournament roundups.
- Help drive subscriptions by publishing the names and performances of hundreds of youth athletes across the state.
- Identify and pursue live-streaming opportunities for youth sporting events not currently available anywhere else online.
- Work collaboratively with the high school sports team to build out this coverage area from scratch.
- Engage with our audiences, as needed, on social media platforms.
Our ideal candidate will have the following:
- Bachelor's degree in journalism, communications, or an equivalent combination of education and work experience
- A minimum of 3 years of relevant experience
- A self-starter excited to build a brand-new beat from the ground up.
- Strong reporting and writing skills, with the ability to produce both quick-hit recaps and longer features.
- An ability to develop sources and relationships with travel program organizers, coaches and tournament directors.
- Familiarity with the New Jersey youth and travel sports landscape, or the ability to learn it quickly.
- An ability to work independently under tight deadlines while juggling a wide range of sports and age groups.
- Comfort with live-streaming tools and technology, or a willingness to learn.
Company at a glance
Advance Local is a leading digital journalism, data, and insights company, delivering high-impact journalism to 50 million people every month. Combining trusted reporting with cutting-edge technology and innovative data solutions, Advance Local helps strengthen and empower the communities it serves.
As home to some of the nation’s top local media groups, software and data platforms, and marketing agencies, Advance Local strives to make a positive and lasting impact in the communities we serve. Our media groups include Advance Ohio, Alabama Media Group, Advance Media New York, MassLive Media, MLive Media Group, NJ Advance Media, Oregonian Media Group, PA Media Group, and Staten Island Media Group.
We believe in our brands, our values, and each other and are united by our shared goals, culture of creative innovation and commitment to our communities we’ve been serving for more than a century.
We're part of Advance, a private, family-owned business that owns, operates and invests in companies spanning media, entertainment, technology, communications, education and other promising growth sectors. Their mission is to build the value of the company over the long-term by fostering growth and innovation across their diversified portfolio. Advance’s portfolio of exceptional companies includes Condé Nast, Advance Local, Stage Entertainment, The IRONMAN Group, American City Business Journals, Leaders Group, Turnitin, and POP. Advance is also among the largest shareholders in Charter Communications, Warner Bros. Discovery and Reddit.
For more details, please visit AdvanceLocal.com.
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