Arlington Students: Fancy Yourself a Sports Writer?

Do you love writing about sports? Do you want to put your skills to the test?

Well you now have an opportunity to do so. The Sports Museum, located at the TD Garden, is now accepting applications for the 2016 Will McDonough Writing Contest. Students in grades 4-12 can enter the contest which hopes to celebrate Boston Sports.

Submissions are due Mar. 15. Essays will be judged on how they express and support ideas, opinons and claims as well as creativity, writing style and how they hold readers attentions. Student are allowed to use secondary and primary sources in their essays, with appropriate bibliography/documentation.

Below are the contest guidelines:

Students can create a fiction or non-fiction essay on sports in general or choose from one of the following

topics:

1. Great Moments in Sports

Write a narrative essay (fiction or non-fiction) about watching or playing in a great Boston sports moment.

2. Boston’s Greatest Sports Hero

The Sports Museum is creating an exhibit on Boston’s Greatest Sports Hero. They will be accepting nominations from students across Massachusetts. Write a persuasive letter to Associate Curator Brian Codagnone about the athlete you feel should be featured in the exhibit. Include evidence as to why you feel this athlete is Boston’s Greatest Sports Hero.

3. Good Sports/Bad Sports

Write a narrative essay (either fiction or non-fiction) about an individual or a team who has displayed exceptionally good or exceptionally poor sportsmanship.

4. Title IX

In 1972, Title IX of the Civil Rights Act was signed into law: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Write an essay examining the effect of Title IX on sports in the United States and whether or not this legislation is necessary today.

To enter the contest, visit The Sports Museum’s website www.sportsmuseum.org. Essays can be submitted by mail as well as uploaded and submitted directly to this site. Teachers and parents are encouraged to let their students and children know about this contest and to assist them in the application process. Winners will be announced on The Sports Museum’s website, www.sportsmuseum.org on April 1, 2016.

Click here for more information.