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How to Write a Non-Cliche College Essay About Sports + Examples

What’s covered:, what makes a sports essay cliche.

How To Make Your Sports Essay Unique

Great Examples of College Essays About Sports

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You’ve been brainstorming essay topics for your college applications, and you think you’ve finally found the right one: an extended metaphor likening your experience on the field with overcoming personal struggles. The problem: many other students have this same thought.

The purpose of a college essay is to make yourself stand out as a unique individual, but when students write about sports, they often blend in. Because of that, students are usually advised to pick a different topic.

That being said, it is possible to write a non-cliche college essay about sports if you put in a little extra effort. Read along to learn how to make your sports essay different from all the other sports essays.

Sports essays are cliche when they follow a standard trajectory. Some of these trajectories include writing a story about:

An agonizing defeat
Forging bonds with teammates
Overcoming adversity
Overcoming an injury
Refusing to quit
Victory during a big game

Because sports essays have very similar themes and “lessons learned,” it can be difficult to make your story stand out. These trajectories also often focus too much on the sport or storyline, and not enough on the writer’s reflections and personality.

As you write your essay, try to think about what your experience says about you rather than what you learned from your experience. You are more than just one lesson you learned!

(Keep in mind that the sports essay is not the only college essay cliche. Learn about other essay cliches and how to fix them in our complete guide).

How to Make Your Sports Essay Unique

1. focus on a specific moment or reflection..

The college essay is a way for students to humanize themselves to admissions officers. You do not feel human if you are describing yourself as just another player on the field!

One important way to make your essay about you (not just about sports) is by focusing on a specific moment in time and inviting the reader to join you in that moment. Explain to the reader what it would be like to be sitting in that locker room as you questioned the values of the other players on your team. Ask your reader to sit with you on the cot in the trainer’s room as your identity was stripped away from you when they said “your body can’t take this anymore.” Bring your reader to the dinner table and involve them in your family’s conversation about how sports were affecting your mental health and your treatment of those around you.

Intense descriptions of a specific experience will evoke emotions in your reader and allow them to connect with you and feel for you.

When in doubt, avoid anything that can be covered by ESPN. On ESPN, we see the games, we see the benches, we even see the locker rooms and training rooms. Take your reader somewhere different and show them something unique.

2. Use sports to point out broader themes in your life.

The main risk when writing about sports is neglecting to write about yourself. Before you get started, think about the main values that you want to express in your sports essay. Sports are simply your avenue for telling the reader what makes you unique.

As a test, imagine if you were a pianist. Would you be able to talk about these same values? What if you were a writer? Or a chemist? Articulating your values is the end, and sports should simply be your means.

Some values that you might want to focus on:

Autonomy (you want to be able to set your mind to anything and achieve it on your own)
Growth (you seek improvement constantly)
Curiosity (you are willing to try anything once)
Vulnerability (you aren’t afraid to fail, as long as you give it your all)
Community (you value the feedback of others and need camaraderie to succeed)
Craft (you think that with deliberate care, anything can be perfected)
Responsibility (you believe that you owe something to those around you and perhaps they also owe something to you)

You can use the ESPN check again to make sure that you are using sports as an avenue to show your depth.

Things ESPN covers: how a player reacts to defeat, how injuries affect a player’s gameplay/attitude, how players who don’t normally work well together are working together on their new team.

Things ESPN doesn’t cover: the conversation that a player had with their mother about fear of death before going into a big surgery (value: family and connection), the ways that the intense pressure to succeed consumed a player to the point they couldn’t be there for the people in their life (value: supporting others and community), the body image issues that weigh on a player’s mind when playing their sport and how they overcame those (value: health and growth).

3. Turn a cliche storyline on its head.

There’s no getting around the fact that sports essays are often cliche. But there is a way to confront the cliche head-on. For example, lots of people write essays about the lessons they learned from an injury, victory, and so on, but fewer students explain how they are embracing those lessons.

Perhaps you learned that competition is overwhelming for you and you prefer teamwork, so you switched from playing basketball to playing Dungeons & Dragons. Maybe, when your softball career ended abruptly, you had to find a new identity and that’s when you became obsessed with your flower garden and decided to pursue botany. Or maybe, you have stuck with football through it all, but your junior-year mental health struggle showed you that football should be fun and you have since started a nonprofit for local children to healthily engage with sports.

If your story itself is more cliche, try bringing readers to the present moment with you and show why the cliche matters and what it did for you. This requires a fair amount of creativity. Ensure you’re not parroting a frequently used topic by really thinking deeply to find your own unique spin.

Night had robbed the academy of its daytime colors, yet there was comfort in the dim lights that cast shadows of our advances against the bare studio walls. Silhouettes of roundhouse kicks, spin crescent kicks, uppercuts and the occasional butterfly kick danced while we sparred. She approached me, eyes narrowed with the trace of a smirk challenging me. “Ready spar!” Her arm began an upward trajectory targeting my shoulder, a common first move. I sidestepped — only to almost collide with another flying fist. Pivoting my right foot, I snapped my left leg, aiming my heel at her midsection. The center judge raised one finger.

There was no time to celebrate, not in the traditional sense at least. Master Pollard gave a brief command greeted with a unanimous “Yes, sir” and the thud of 20 hands dropping-down-and-giving-him-30, while the “winners” celebrated their victory with laps as usual.

Three years ago, seven-thirty in the evening meant I was a warrior. It meant standing up straighter, pushing a little harder, “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am”, celebrating birthdays by breaking boards, never pointing your toes, and familiarity. Three years later, seven-thirty in the morning meant I was nervous.

The room is uncomfortably large. The sprung floor soaks up the checkerboard of sunlight piercing through the colonial windows. The mirrored walls further illuminate the studio and I feel the light scrutinizing my sorry attempts at a pas de bourrée, while capturing the organic fluidity of the dancers around me. “Chassé en croix, grand battement, pique, pirouette.” I follow the graceful limbs of the woman in front of me, her legs floating ribbons, as she executes what seems to be a perfect ronds de jambes. Each movement remains a negotiation. With admirable patience, Ms. Tan casts me a sympathetic glance.

There is no time to wallow in the misery that is my right foot. Taekwondo calls for dorsiflexion; pointed toes are synonymous with broken toes. My thoughts drag me into a flashback of the usual response to this painful mistake: “You might as well grab a tutu and head to the ballet studio next door.” Well, here I am Master Pollard, unfortunately still following your orders to never point my toes, but no longer feeling the satisfaction that comes with being a third degree black belt with 5 years of experience quite literally under her belt. It’s like being a white belt again — just in a leotard and ballet slippers.

But the appetite for new beginnings that brought me here doesn’t falter. It is only reinforced by the classical rendition of “Dancing Queen” that floods the room and the ghost of familiarity that reassures me that this new beginning does not and will not erase the past. After years spent at the top, it’s hard to start over. But surrendering what you are only leads you to what you may become. In Taekwondo, we started each class reciting the tenets: honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, humility, and knowledge, and I have never felt that I embodied those traits more so than when I started ballet.

The thing about change is that it eventually stops making things so different. After nine different schools, four different countries, three different continents, fluency in Tamil, Norwegian, and English, there are more blurred lines than there are clear fragments. My life has not been a tactfully executed, gold medal-worthy Taekwondo form with each movement defined, nor has it been a series of frappés performed by a prima ballerina with each extension identical and precise, but thankfully it has been like the dynamics of a spinning back kick, fluid, and like my chances of landing a pirouette, unpredictable.

Why it works:

What’s especially powerful about this essay is that the author uses detailed imagery to convey a picture of what they’re experiencing, so much so that the reader is along for the ride. This works as a sports essay not only because of the language and sensory details, but also because the writer focuses on a specific moment in time, while at the same time exploring why Taekwondo is such an important part of their life.

After the emotional image is created, the student finishes their essay with valuable reflection. With the reflection, they show admissions officers that they are mature and self-aware. Self-awareness comes through with statements like “surrendering what you are only leads you to what you may become” and maturity can be seen through the student’s discussion of values “honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, humility, and knowledge, and I have never felt that I embodied those traits more so than when I started ballet.” These are the kinds of comments that should find their way into a sports essay!

“Advanced females ages 13 to 14 please proceed to staging with your coaches at this time.” Skittering around the room, eyes wide and pleading, I frantically explained my situation to nearby coaches. The seconds ticked away in my head; every polite refusal increased my desperation.

Despair weighed me down. I sank to my knees as a stream of competitors, coaches, and officials flowed around me. My dojang had no coach, and the tournament rules prohibited me from competing without one.

Although I wanted to remain strong, doubts began to cloud my mind. I could not help wondering: what was the point of perfecting my skills if I would never even compete? The other members of my team, who had found coaches minutes earlier, attempted to comfort me, but I barely heard their words. They couldn’t understand my despair at being left on the outside, and I never wanted them to understand.

Since my first lesson 12 years ago, the members of my dojang have become family. I have watched them grow up, finding my own happiness in theirs. Together, we have honed our kicks, blocks, and strikes. We have pushed one another to aim higher and become better martial artists. Although my dojang had searched for a reliable coach for years, we had not found one. When we attended competitions in the past, my teammates and I had always gotten lucky and found a sympathetic coach. Now, I knew this practice was unsustainable. It would devastate me to see the other members of my dojang in my situation, unable to compete and losing hope as a result. My dojang needed a coach, and I decided it was up to me to find one.

I first approached the adults in the dojang – both instructors and members’ parents. However, these attempts only reacquainted me with polite refusals. Everyone I asked told me they couldn’t devote multiple weekends per year to competitions. I soon realized that I would have become the coach myself.

At first, the inner workings of tournaments were a mystery to me. To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side. I learned everything from motivational strategies to technical, behind-the-scenes components of Taekwondo competitions. Though I emerged with new knowledge and confidence in my capabilities, others did not share this faith.

Parents threw me disbelieving looks when they learned that their children’s coach was only a child herself. My self-confidence was my armor, deflecting their surly glances. Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

Despite the attack, I refused to give up. When I saw the shining eyes of the youngest students preparing for their first competition, I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was. The knowledge that I could solve my dojang’s longtime problem motivated me to overcome my apprehension.

Now that my dojang flourishes at competitions, the attacks on me have weakened, but not ended. I may never win the approval of every parent; at times, I am still tormented by doubts, but I find solace in the fact that members of my dojang now only worry about competing to the best of their abilities.

Now, as I arrive at a tournament with my students, I close my eyes and remember the past. I visualize the frantic search for a coach and the chaos amongst my teammates as we compete with one another to find coaches before the staging calls for our respective divisions. I open my eyes to the exact opposite scene. Lacking a coach hurt my ability to compete, but I am proud to know that no member of my dojang will have to face that problem again.

In the beginning, you might think this is another cliche sports essay about overcoming adversity. But instead, it becomes a unique statement and coming-of-age tale that reads as a suspenseful narrative.

The author connects their experience with martial arts to larger themes in their life but manages to do so without riffing off of tried-and-true themes. Through statements like “I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was” we learn about the students values and their desire to be there for those who depend on them.

The student also brings it full circle, demonstrating their true transformation. By using the “Same, but Different” ending technique , the student places themself in the same environment that we saw in the intro, but experiences it differently due to their actions throughout the narrative. This is very compelling!

“1…2…3…4 pirouettes! New record!” My friends cheered as I landed my turns. Pleased with my progress, I gazed down at my worn-out pointe shoes. The sweltering blisters, numbing ice-baths, and draining late-night practices did not seem so bad after all. Next goal: five turns.

For as long as I can remember, ballet, in all its finesse and glamor, had kept me driven day to day. As a child, the lithe ballerinas, donning ethereal costumes as they floated across the stage, were my motivation. While others admired Messi and Adele, I idolized Carlos Acosta, principal dancer of the Royal Ballet.

As I devoted more time and energy towards my craft, I became obsessed with improving my technique. I would stretch for hours after class, forcing my leg one inch higher in an effort to mirror the Dance Magazine cover girls. I injured my feet and ruined pair after pair of pointe shoes, turning on wood, cement, and even grass to improve my balance as I spun. At competitions, the dancers with the 180-degree leg extensions, endless turns, and soaring leaps—the ones who received “Bravos!” from the roaring audience—further pushed me to refine my skills and perfect my form. I believed that, with enough determination, I would one day attain their level of perfection. Reaching the quadruple-pirouette milestone only intensified my desire to accomplish even more.

My efforts seemed to have come to fruition two summers ago when I was accepted to dance with Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet at their renowned New York City summer intensive. I walked into my first session eager to learn from distinguished ballet masters and worldly dancers, already anticipating my improvement. Yet, as I danced alongside the accomplished ballerinas, I felt out of place. Despite their clean technique and professional training, they did not aim for glorious leg extensions or prodigious leaps. When they performed their turn combinations, most of them only executed two turns as I attempted four.

“Dancers, double-pirouettes only.”

Taken aback and confused, I wondered why our teacher expected so little from us. The other ballerinas seemed content, gracing the studio with their simple movements.

As I grew closer with my Moscow roommates, I gradually learned that their training emphasized the history of the art form instead of stylistic tricks. Rather than show off their physical ability, their performances aimed to convey a story, one that embodied the rich culture of ballet and captured both the legacy of the dancers before them and their own artistry. As I observed my friends more intently in repertoire class, I felt the pain of the grief-stricken white swan from Swan Lake, the sass of the flirtatious Kitri from Don Quijote, and I gradually saw what I had overlooked before. My definition of talent had been molded by crowd-pleasing elements—whirring pirouettes, gravity-defying leaps, and mind-blowing leg extensions. This mindset slowly stripped me from the roots of my passion and my personal connection with ballet.

With the Bolshoi, I learned to step back and explore the meaning behind each step and the people behind the scenes. Ballet carries history in its movements, from the societal values of the era to each choreographer’s unique flair. As I uncovered the messages behind each pirouette, kick, and jump, my appreciation for ballet grew beyond my obsession with raw athleticism and developed into a love for the art form’s emotive abilities in bridging the dancers with the audience. My journey as an artist has allowed me to see how technical execution is only the means to a greater understanding between dancer and spectator, between storyteller and listener. The elegance and complexity of ballet does not revolve around astonishing stunts but rather the evocative strength and artistry manifested in the dancer, in me. It is the combination of sentiments, history, tradition, and passion that has allowed ballet and its lessons of human connection to become my lifestyle both on and off stage.

This essay is about lessons. While the author is a dancer, this narrative isn’t really about ballet, per se — it’s about the author’s personal growth. It is purposefully reflective as the student shows a nice character arc that begins with an eager young ballerina and ends with a reflection on their past. The primary strength of this essay is the honesty and authenticity that the student approaches it with.

In the end, the student turns a cliche on its head as they embrace the idea of overcoming adversity and demonstrate how the adversity, in this case, was their own stereotypes about their art. It’s beautiful!

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite.

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin.

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

This essay uses the idea of sports to explore a more profound topic—growing through relationships. They really embrace using sports as an avenue to tell the reader about a specific experience that changed the way they approach the world.

The emphasis on relationships is why this essay works well and doesn’t fall into a cliche. The narrator grows not because of their experience with track but because of their relationship with their coach, who inspired them to evolve and become a leader.

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Essay on Baseball

500+ words essay on baseball.

Baseball is a bat-and-ball game that two opposing teams play. To put it into simpler words, it is one of the most loved games of America. It is as big as cricket in India. Americans are crazy about this game. Therefore, one might wonder what makes this game such a big hit amongst Americans? This essay will aim to clear that by describing the game.

All About Baseball

There are nine periods of play in a baseball game. Each of these periods is known as an inning. Similarly, when an inning ends, the team with the highest runs becomes the winner. In this game, the pitcher will throw a ball towards the batter who will be playing from the opposing team.

The batter will attempt to hit the ball into the field. When they hit the ball and run around a series of bases, they will score runs. However, this must be done before a field player puts them out.

So, you see that it might look like just any other ball game. It has a ball, bat as well as players. But, the people of America don’t consider it just that. They do not wish to bring this game down to simply as a ‘hit and run’ game.

While a five-year-old child will easily understand the meaning of this game, there also lies a subtlety. This very same subtlety is what attracts older people as well. While some may find it to be slow, Americans believe that the slow pace is what makes it interesting.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Baseball- Not Just a Sport but a Passion

Baseball is not simply a sport for people, especially Americans. It is much more than that, it’s their passion. If people are not watching it live, they’re watching it in pubs or at their homes. The sound of the cracking gloves and ball hitting the bat is like a melody to the fans of the sport .

The game which entertains most people is that has a low score or no score until late in the game. Moreover, the homerun is one of the most anticipated events of the match. The home run is not simply about the great hit but also the speedy running and sacrifice.

In other words, this game gives an adrenalin rush to Americans. You can view it as an opera. The buildup is quite systematic that will occupy you till the very end. The climax is the ultimate reward which is incomplete without a slow buildup.

Alternatively, it is also about strategy. For a lot of Americans, it is a tradition. People spend time with their loved ones at baseball games. Kids look forward to going to the games with their fathers .

Moreover, it also has the ability to bring an end to long-time rivalries. All in all, it’s about the great feeling it brings for one and all. Baseball got its community status from Americans only. Thus, it went on to achieve a national identity.

Everything ranging from baseball caps to tee shirts is a common sighting in America. In New York, there is a Baseball Hall of Fame that is known for immortalizing the great players of the game from the past to the present.

Thus, the game is all about passion. It can make a passerby standstill on their feet to watch the homerun. Similarly, it can diminish rivalries and bring people together. It is a passionate game with passionate fans.

FAQ on Essay on Baseball

Question 1: Where is Baseball most popular?

Answer 1: Baseball has the most popularity in the United States. The people are ardent lovers of the game in America and have made it a popular game.

Question 2: Baseball is the national game of which country?

Answer 2: It is the national game of the Dominican Republic.

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137 Baseball Essay Topics & Examples

Want to write an essay on baseball? Described as a national religion of the US, this sport is definitely worth exploring!

⚾ Baseball Research Topics

🏆 top baseball essay examples, 🧢 best baseball essay topics, 🥎 interesting baseball topics to write about, 🏏 baseball research paper topics, 👟 baseball argumentative essay topics, 🎓 simple & easy baseball essay titles, ❓ baseball research questions.

Developed from folk games in early Britain, baseball has become the most popular bat-and-ball game in the world. About half of Americans claim to be its fans. In your paper about baseball, you might want to focus on its history. Another interesting idea is to talk about cultural impact of baseball. Whether you have to write an argumentative, descriptive, or informative essay, our article will be helpful. It contains baseball topics to research and write about. You can use them for a paper, presentation, or any other assignment. Best baseball essay examples are added to inspire you even more.

The evolution of baseball form older bat-and-ball games
History of baseball in the US
The Massachusetts game and modern baseball: compare & contrast
Baseball at the age of steroids
Baseball in the US culture
British and Finnish baseball: compare and contrast
Baseball in the world literature
Women in baseball
Comparison of baseball and cricket
The role of individual players in baseball
Koprince’s “Baseball as History and Myth in August Wilson’s Fences” Although the connection between baseball and the thematic development of the play might seem tangential at first, a closer analysis of the manner in which the game I mentioned in the novel will show that […]
Fraud Within the Tallahassee Beancounters Baseball Team An additional impetus for the audit of the company’s accounts was the granting of a mortgage to the company for the construction of a new training facility.
Fences: On Stubbornness and Baseball Even the play’s title, Fences, is a reference to “swinging for the fences” in addition to the literal and metaphorical fences Troy builds that keep the other characters out or in.
Which Is More Profitable, Baseball or Football? There are other sports which are more profitable than the two but the argument here boils to which sport between the two is more profitable. In regard to the ticket price, baseball becomes more profitable […]
History of Baseball and Its Impact on American History It is possible to hypothesize that the regional roots of baseball emphasize the special place of the rural culture in the construction of the contemporary American identity and promote the traits that the rural population […]
The Role of Ezol’s Journal in Miko Kings: An Indian Baseball Story Outwardly the journal features the history of Ezol’s life, Ada’s citizens, and the Twin Territories; however, in truth, it goes beyond that and has a much deeper symbolic meaning. Ezol’s journal serves as a portrayal […]
Factors that influence Major League and Minor League Baseball This perhaps leads to the appreciation of the significance of considering the team’s quality in determining the attendance of major and minor Baseball league.
Baseball and Urbanization For instance, at the very beginning of the nineteenth century, the urban population in the United States was 5% of the total population.
Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Team’s Sport Marketing The team competes in Major League Baseball and represents the American League East division, and it is the only club in MLB that is not from the United States.
Baseball Career Personal Experiences Though I was nowhere near the standards of the so called best players, my interest and willingness to give my best, pleased the coach and I was mostly in the starting team.
Social Injustice in Negro League Baseball The lack of equal pay for African American players in the Negro Leagues during the 1920s and 1930s was a significant social injustice that exposed and sought to improve the inequality within the baseball industry.
Linear Regression Applied to Major League Baseball Applying regression techniques by drawing a scatter plot of real-world data of MLB payroll amounts and win totals copied to the Excel spreadsheet, it is practical to establish the nature of the relationship between the […]
Jackie Robinson, an American Baseball Player Robinson reached significant heights in baseball, becoming the first recipient of the MLB Rookie of the Year Award, becoming the National League’s Most Valuable Player, and being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Promotional Campaign Plan for Sault Ste. Marie Baseball It will be a moment to harness the youthful talents of Sault Ste. The youths of Sault Ste.
Geometry Web Quest for Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Bowling, Golf, Volleyball and Pool Field for golf is the biggest and made of grass, sand and water and is the biggest and it has no fixed shape. Soccer field is made of grass or synthetic material and is the […]
Benefits of Baseball League However this research is perhaps better placed in capturing the impact of baseball league because it is not subject to the different errors that are said to be experienced in the assessment of economic development […]
Mechanics of the Baseball Swing During the game, the ball is to be hit hard by the batting team and the “hitter” to stop at a base before proceeding to other bases.
Baseball Game Rules and Age Limit In the game of baseball or any other form of the game, the play of a boy corresponds to the work of an over-aged player.
The Use of Steroids in Baseball The use of steroids may be used to improve the performance of the baseball teams but this comes at a great cost to the individual’s health and the integrity of the game.
“Life in Baseball’s Negro Leagues” by Donn Rogosin This is the particular phase of racism that has made the dominance so very concrete that the title in itself declares the actual picturesque about the foregrounding towards this dominance.
Negro Baseball League and Professional Players The work clearly tells the reader the saga of the tribulations and humiliations that a black player has to undergo because of the color difference, and the author points out how the game of baseball […]
Professional Baseball Operation Strategy in Taiwan But when it comes to the professional market, the low attendance rate shows the dilemma of the league operation. To review the development and history of the free agency system in MLB.
William Ellsworth Hoy, a Deaf Baseball Player In the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century, the overall social environment and a widespread hostile public attitude toward disability provided many obstacles to a successful career for any person with a disability.
The 1994 Major League Baseball Strike and Conflict Although the strike was sometimes claimed to be the one that had the most significant impact on Major League Baseball, the result of the negotiations was not satisfactory to both parties. The conflict between the […]
Steroid Impact on Baseball Game and Players Furthermore, the creation of the team sport contributed to the significant improvement of its visual appeal and attracted the new audience.
Oakland Athletics: Successful Baseball Team It is necessary to understand that this measure is crucial, and it can be combined with a slugging average to determine the capabilities of a particular player.
Baseball in Sociological Research and Its Features This is followed by a careful determination of the research design to use while conducting a research. It also makes sure that the sociologist is in line with ethical standards of conducting a research in […]
Media and Negative Ethnicity in Baseball The stakeholders in the game of baseball have made concerted effort to promote integration of major league baseball in the United States.
Baseball Players’ Salaries Analysis This meant that the salaries of LA Dodgers players were evenly distributed relative to average salary with above-average distribution in NY Yankees and a weak distribution in NY Mets.
The Financial Problems of Major League Baseball Meanwhile, as the players faced the problem of losing their salary for the last weeks of the season, the owners encountered a big problem since the World Series were wiped out for the second period.
Data Collection of Major League Baseball The fact that the total population of the players in the Major League Baseball is relatively large made the researcher choose the sampling method to determine the salary that a player should earn.
Major League Baseball’s Data Set General overview: after choosing the topic, the research team decided to review the available information to ensure that the base of the problem was wide and comprehensive; at this stage, the researchers were concerned with […]
Major League Baseball Players Association The association also has a role in the modern world of negotiating the salaries of its players. The major league baseball association is a union that is of great help to the baseball players.
Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. The main reason for the contentious issues is the profitability disbursement to between the club operations and players. The owners want to maximize their interest through reduction of taxes yet the players want to get […]
Steroids in Baseball The rejuvenated use can be traced back to the role of the media in promoting sports as a form of entertainment.
Technologically Advanced Baseball Bats Research The purpose of this research study is to investigate the advantages of using technologically advanced, or high priced, baseball bats in the Little League Baseball.
Unions and Compensation in Major League Baseball This paper will discuss concepts of the unionization of professional baseball, impacts of the unionization of the game to players, managers and the game in general.
1919 World Series: How It Changed Baseball Forever?
2011 Major League Baseball National League Most Valuable Player Individual or Team Award?
Comparison Between the Games of Baseball and Fastpitch Softball
Comparison of American Pastime in Baseball and Football
How Baseball Helped Me Coup Up with the Struggles of My Life?
African Americans in Baseball
Analysis of David Brook’s Baseball or Soccer
Analysis of the Official Website of Major League Baseball
Analysis of Baseball: An Important Part of American Pop Culture
Analysis of Baseball Stadiums
Analysis of the Economic Structure of the Major League Baseball
Analysis of the Minor League Baseball
New York Yankees, the Most Successful Franchise in Baseball History
Baseball Hats Boost Employee Motivation And Job Performance
Compare And Contrast Baseball And Basketball
Differences And Similarities Between Baseball And Softball
How African Americans Helped Shape The Major League Baseball
How Baseball Has Changed My Life?
How Baseball Survived the Great Depression?
How Did Baseball Affect Cuba In The Mid Twentieth Century?
How Television Has Changed The Game Of Baseball?
How The Civil War Helped Formed Baseball Into The Great Game?
How to be a Healthy Baseball Player?
How To Play Fantasy Baseball?
Salaries In Major League Baseball
Stopping on Nine: Evidence of Heuristic Managerial Decision‐Making in Major League Baseball Pitcher Substitutions
What Is The Status Of Steroids In Baseball?
Why Baseball Is The Most Amazing Sport?
Who Integrated Major League Baseball Faster Winning Teams or Losing Teams?
Why Is Baseball My Favorite Game to Watch?
A Bad Day in My Baseball Career
A Background of America’s Favorite Pastime Baseball
Biography and Life Work of Jack Roosevelt Robinson, a Professional Baseball Player
Biography and Life Work of Joseph Jefferson Jackson, an American Baseball Player
Life and Work of Roberto Clemente Walker, a Puerto Rican Baseball Player
Biography of Babe Ruth
Achievements of Baseball Legend Ted Williams
Advertising in Baseball Stadiums
History of African Americans in Major League Baseball
History of Baseball in the American Civil War
History of Steroid Use in the Major League Baseball
History of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League in America
Anabolic Steroids are Ruining Major League Baseball
Evaluation of Customer Satisfaction for Fans Attending Baseball Games at Yankee Stadium
Baseball and the Civil War of the United States
Attendance and the Uncertainty-of-Outcome Hypothesis in Baseball
Baseball, Football, and Basketball: Models for Business
Baseball Revenue Sharing
Cheating in the Game of Baseball
Impact of the Globalization of Baseball
Myth in Baseball
National Pastime to Dismal Science: Using Baseball to Illustrate Economic Principles
Pay and Performance in Major League Baseball: The Case of the First Family of Free Agents
Physics Of Baseball
Professional Baseball Stadiums ‘Old’ New Construction Trends
Risk Management for the Use of a City Baseball Stadium
Economic Impact on the Dominican Republic of Baseball Player Exports to the USA
Twenty First Century Baseball and Economics
Women’s Baseball Leagues in Historical Context
Work Incentives And Salary Distributions In Major League Baseball
How Did Racism Impact the Game of Baseball?
Are Baseball Players Paid Too Much?
How Did Babe Ruth Change Baseball?
Does the Baseball Labor Market Contradict the Human Capital Model of Investment?
How Has Baseball Changed Their Rules?
Did Abner Doubleday Invent the Game of Baseball?
How Did Baseball Survive the Great Depression?
Can Women Really Play Baseball?
How Was Baseball Changed by Jackie Robinson?
Does the Baseball Labor Market Properly Value Pitchers?
How Did Baseball Affect Cuba in the Mid-Twentieth Century?
Are Major League Baseball Players Overpaid?
Why Has Baseball Benefited From the New York Yankees?
How Did Baseball Influence America?
Does Option Theory Hold for Major League Baseball Contracts?
How Has the Game of Baseball Been Affected by the Increase in Technology Over the Past Decades?
Should Baseball Ban the DH?
How Did Steroids and HGH Destroy Baseball?
Should Baseball Players Who Used Steroids Be Allowed in the Hall of Fame?
How Did Television Has Change the Game of Baseball?
Were Major League Baseball Doubleheaders a Mistake?
Why Are Americans Addicted to Baseball?
How Do Baseball Players’ Mental States Influence Their Career?
Should Baseball Expand the Use of Instant Replay to Review Close Plays on the Bases?
Does Baseball Lose to Soccer in Some Us States?
Should Baseball Be Financed by Is Citizens’ Taxes?
Can Baseball Alleviate Mental Illness Symptoms?
Should the Pricing Policy for Baseball Tournaments Be Reviewed?
What Countries Can Complete With the USA in Baseball Ratings?
NFL Research Topics
Career Ideas
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Success Ideas
College Education Essay Ideas
Goals Questions
Hard Work Research Topics
Personal Growth Research Ideas
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Using Baseball to Get Into College: The College Application Essay

Outline of baseball player with words inside representing using baseball for your college application essay

Now many students have been told to stay away from writing about their sports accomplishments for their college application. Don’t write about leading the team to the championship or what it meant to be team captain. Or even about not being team captain or losing the championship. In such cases, that’s probably good advice. I can imagine it gets pretty boring for admission officers after the first 100 or so essays.

That’s not what I’m talking about.

If you are actually applying to a school that requires you to submit an essay as part of your college application then you better be able to do a little thinking about your activities to come up with something to write about.

Baseball is part of our culture

Fortunately for you, you play baseball and there are baseball movies, baseball books, baseball food, and baseball music. Lots of people have been thinking about baseball for over 100 years. Just pay a little attention to the media and you’ll start hearing all sorts of baseball analogies. Don’t know what an analogy is? Time to go look it up.

And the quotes. Just google baseball quotes and see how much has been said about the game.

“In baseball, you can’t kill the clock. You’ve got to give the other man his chance. That’s why this is the greatest game.” ~Earl Weaver

“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” ~Babe Ruth

“Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.” ~Ted Williams

“Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand.” ~Leo Durocher

Everybody has something to say about baseball. How hard can it be for a player to think about all of these observations and relate it to his experience? Is it true? Does it really matter? Does it affect your game? These are possible college applications about sports that have nothing to do with winning or losing.

Then there are the people. Everyone has heard the Yogi Berra jokes . Most players have encountered their share of unique individuals playing the game. What have you seen on the field? What have you realized about certain players, positions, or plays that other people around you haven’t? Or maybe they just wouldn’t agree with you. There’s probably a good topic for a college application essay in there somewhere.

There’s more to talk about in sports than just winning and losing

Writing a college application essay about baseball doesn’t require having some profound experience while playing the game. The last thing my son wanted to do was to write an essay about how great of a baseball player he was (he wasn’t). He ended up writing about the commonly used analogy about judges not making the rules by defining the strike zone, that is creating laws, but rather acting like umpires and just calling balls and strikes, just interpreting the laws.

My son was a catcher. He has always found this statement very amusing. His normal reaction is that the people who make such a statement have obviously never been to a baseball game. Surely you can see where this is going. His college application essay covered his experiences with a variety of umpires and coaches and the effect on the strike zone.

I doubt his essay would show up in books on how to write a college essay or an example of a college application essay that got someone into Harvard. But it showed that he was able to think about baseball in terms other than just winning or losing and that he understood that even with rules, life isn’t always fair. It definitely put a different spin on judges comparing themselves to umpires.

But more importantly, it told the admissions people something about him. He was a homeschool kid and as catcher he spent a lot of time socializing with umpires and batters. See, he could socialize! And then there was the alligators in the sewer conversation that seemed to strike a memorable note.

In any case, think about the possibilities:

a good batting average versus success in life; stealing bases; stealing signs; pants’ legs up or down; concession food; appealing to umpires; unspoken rules; how and when coaches decide to change pitchers; little league parents; the shift; uniform colors; 7th inning stretch; all-star selections; paying to play; the value of keeping a book; selecting team names; moneyball; pre-game rituals; pinch hitters; favorite ballparks:

and much more. All you need to do is take a little time to consider the perception of baseball in general and how it intersects with your experience. There’s at least one good college application essay in that intersection that has nothing to do with playing, or not playing, in the championship.

#CollegeEssay #CollegeApplication #Baseball

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Using Baseball to Get Into College: The College Application Essay

Interesting Baseball Essays: How to Write a Perfect One?

Table of Contents

Baseball is one of the most popular sports in all fifty states of America. You will not meet even a single person who knows nothing about baseball. This game became a visit card of the US and it’s also so deeply rooted in the cultural code of Americans that literally everyone plays this game.

Kids start playing this game in elementary school and continue until the elderly. And of course, like any other cultural phenomenon, a baseball essay may become your assignment for a class at your college. That’s why in this article you will find out everything about writing baseball essays and will learn how to enjoy this process.

Baseball Essay Topics : How to Choose the Right One?

Baseball essays can be much more complex than you think. This game has a long and interesting history, so you can rest assured that there will be a varied choice of topics from which you will be able to choose your one. That’s why in this section we have decided to collect some of the main tips that will greatly help in your topic choice for your baseball essay .

Tell the origin. Baseball is a sport with a long history. That’s why once you will be writing a paper on it, the history of this kind of sport is an excellent choice for the topic.
Tell about variations. Did you know that there are a lot of different variations of baseball? We can name a few: t-ball, rig ball, softball. Choose one and describe it in full.
Explain the influence of this game. You can also decide to explain your vision regarding the popularity of this game, do a little research and tell why baseball received such popularity all over the world and especially in the U.S.

Baseball Essay Structure: Main Components

Like any other paper, your baseball essay will have a strict structure. But do not worry as the article’s structure will not differ too much from papers on some other subjects. To write a successful baseball essay , you shouldn’t even be a super expert in this sport, you just need to follow a simple structure that we’ll provide below.

Thesis statement. Every essay should start with a thesis, even when it comes to baseball. Create a short and logical thesis describing the essence of your baseball essay . For example, if your topic is the influence of baseball on the U.S, try to write your position in one sentence and that will be your thesis.
Body of essay. You should add the main information regarding your topic in the body. Divide the body into several sections and descriptions explain the topic with separate arguments.
Conclusion. The summary should contain general information about the topic and repeat your thesis. Make sure to avoid adding new facts to your baseball essay conclusion, and focus on the written material.

Cause and Effect Essays on Baseball

If you want to create a great baseball essay you need to draw your attention to the type of essay that is called cause and effect. This type of academic paper is a great solution for you to write about such an important and influential sport as baseball. By using this type of academic writing you will be able to provide as many details as you need to disclose the topic of the discussion. To make things easier for you we’ve collected five ideas that you might use in your cause-and-effect essay on baseball.

The extreme popularity of baseball in the U.S
Influence of baseball on the younger generation
Baseball as a cultural part of American society
Role of baseball as a key sport in the United States
Why will baseball never be replaced in America?

Baseball Research Topics

Finally, we are approaching the most interesting and intriguing part of our article, namely the best research topics for your baseball essay . Before writing this section we’ve checked hundreds of different baseball topics, just to highlight those that will be most interesting to you. So let’s not waste time and present the 15 best research topics on baseball.

The evolution of the baseball game through history
Comparing baseball in different countries
What is the best team in the history of baseball and why?
Usage of steroids in baseball
Explain the difference between batting and pitching
How, when, and by whom were the rules of baseball invented?
Explain the main differences between cricket and baseball
Why was baseball invented as a team sport?
What is the greatest match in the history of baseball?
Who is the greatest player in the history of baseball?
The features of the baseball stadium
History of baseball during the civil war in the U.S.
The invention and importance of women’s baseball
Why was baseball not added to the Olympic Games?
Differences in baseball rules in the U.S and other countries.

So write your baseball essay with our tips and you will definitely get an A+ grade.

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Essay Samples on Baseball

Why baseball is the best sport for me.

When it comes to sports, there are countless options that capture the hearts and minds of enthusiasts around the world. However, for me, baseball stands out as the ultimate sport that offers a unique blend of skill, strategy, tradition, and excitement. In this essay, I...

Favorite Sport

Never Had It Made: Jackie Robinson

From all the options my brain collected, I chose to read and write about Jackie Robinson, who is most famously known for being the first African American to play in major league baseball. Robinson was born in 1919 and died in 1972 of a heart...

Jackie Robinson

The Comparison of Professional and College Football Versus Baseball

Most football fans see baseball as this sluggish, laid back and easy sport… On the other hand, they view football as the toughest sport to play. Football fans need to look at the big picture. Football and baseball are alike in many ways, they both...

American Football
College Football

Re-Evaluating the Influence of Baseball on 'The Old Man and the Sea'

The spirit of a sport represents the force, identity and nationality of a nation. The sport is capable of representing competition as well as vitality and recreational power of a sportsman. Thus the sports have been arguably important ingredients in the broader U.S culture. James...

The Old Man and The Sea

The Story of the First African American Professional Baseball Player - Jackie Robinson

For a long time, America has been known for breaking barriers in history. Breaking barriers in history is natural, physical, or ideological that has a positive or negative created by people or societies. For example, figures like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman. Jackie Robinson a professional...

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Biography of Jackie Robinson - National Hero

“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” (Jackie Robinson). In the United States in the 1940s, segregation was the way of life. You probably know Jackie Robinson as number 42; the first black man to play major league...

Someone Who Inspires Me

The Path of Colored Baseball Players to the United States

As we wrapped up the end of Major League Baseball’s regular season a month ago, the highest paid pitcher in the league, Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals, will earn $42 million for his efforts. Additionally, 27% of MLB players are foreign-born (Anderson). In 1908,...

African American

The Skill of Baseball Batting: Exploring Ball Projection Machines Effects on Baseball Batting

Abstract Baseball batting is one of the most difficult skills to acquire in all of sports. Hitting a baseball under a dynamic and variable spatial time constraint poses a significant coordination challenge. As a result, the use of ball projection machines has become ubiquitous in...

Why The Major League Baseball Should Implement a Salary Cap

Today’s MLB is nothing like what it used to be. There was a time when baseball was “America’s Pastime”; fans would flock to ballparks to watch their favorite teams while Americans all over the country tuned in on their radios and televisions. Much of this...

An Analysis of Jules Tygiel's Baseball's Great Experiment

Baseball’s Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and his Legacy Jules Tygiel’s Baseball’s Great Experiment details the history and aftereffects of Jackie Robinson’s reintegration of the sport. Tygiel was a prominent baseball historian who taught at San Francisco State University. The author’s research and passion for baseball...

Adventure Sports
Jesse Owens

Baseball And Religion In Ray Kinsella's Shoeless Joe

Whether or not we pray or attend church every Sunday, religion has a big role in each of our life even if some of us don’t particularly believe in such things. We initially associate religion with churches or temples, but there are many more meanings...

Literature Review

Best topics on Baseball

1. Why Baseball is the Best Sport for Me

2. Never Had It Made: Jackie Robinson

3. The Comparison of Professional and College Football Versus Baseball

4. Re-Evaluating the Influence of Baseball on ‘The Old Man and the Sea’

5. The Story of the First African American Professional Baseball Player – Jackie Robinson

6. Biography of Jackie Robinson – National Hero

7. The Path of Colored Baseball Players to the United States

8. The Skill of Baseball Batting: Exploring Ball Projection Machines Effects on Baseball Batting

9. Why The Major League Baseball Should Implement a Salary Cap

10. An Analysis of Jules Tygiel’s Baseball’s Great Experiment

11. Baseball And Religion In Ray Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe

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How to Write an Amazing Essay on Baseball

We’ve all heard the stereotype about dumb jocks, but the truth is that sports wouldn’t be the same without academics. Physiology of movement, player psychology, the effects of weather on a game: these are only a few of the more technical aspects of the world of sports. Baseball is a particularly diverse topic to write about, especially considering the ever-changing rules and regulations of the game. Take a look at the following advice to learn how to write an amazing essay for baseball. Who knows, it could be the difference between a home run or a swing and a miss.

Choose your topic carefully

Baseball has been America’s favorite pastime for over 200 years, so there’s a lot to write about. The best way to start is by deciding what facet of the sport you’re going to cover, then narrow down from there. Some of the broad areas are:

The history of the sport,
rules and regulations,
game mechanics,
place within American culture
and umpires.

It’s best to pick something more specific within the broad topic for the focus of your essay. Unless you’re writing a thesis, it’s probably not a good idea to try to cover the entire history of baseball regulations in a single essay. A better method would be to pick one specific umpire and discuss how their contributions changed the sport; or you could compare and contrast player performance and world records between decades. Continue narrowing down until you have a topic that provides enough information for your essay, but not so much that it can’t be feasibly expressed within the expected word count.

Make sure you use the proper format and style

A baseball essay should follow the standard essay format of introduction, body, and conclusion. However, the type of essay and style of writing will depend on what topic you choose and what your goal is with writing. Are you trying to present old information to say something new about the game, comparing player performance, arguing for a change to the rules, or something else entirely? Decide your focus before you begin writing to ensure you stay on track, then keep the following advice in mind as you write each portion of your essay.

Introduction

This is where you’re going to let everyone know what you’re writing about. You should have a clearly defined thesis statement, offering just enough background information to inform the reader of the topic’s relevance. In addition, you will also want to address the flow of information in the body of your essay. This will help the reader know what to expect. Just make sure you stick the format laid out in your introduction!

The body is the real meat of the essay. This is where you will provide in-depth background information and research to support the relevance of your thesis. Then you will combine this information with your interpretation and analysis to help the reader understand your point of view and further lend credence to your thesis statement.

The body should follow the format outlined in your introduction, and the information should be presented logically and with consistency to avoid confusion. Use transitional phrases to let the reader know when you’re shifting your focus in the essay. Provide analysis and the conclusions you have drawn from them here.

This comprises the final paragraph of your essay and should never contain new information or analysis. It should sum up the essentials while also revisiting the primary conclusions drawn in the body of the essay.

If you keep this information in mind while you’re writing, you’re sure to knock one out of the park with your essay.

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Descriptive Essay: Baseball Essay

Baseball has been called America’s pastime. It’s a game that epitomizes summertime in the United States. People in every major city flock to the baseball diamond, eat hot dogs and caramel corn and cheer for their home team. Most of us today take baseball for granted without thinking about how it all started. If you’re a true baseball fan, learning as much about it as you can is something you owe yourself and the entire baseball community.

Baseball originates from similar bat and ball games that date back to the 1300s. In the United States, the game evolved into what was called town ball. The mid 1850s saw a huge increase in the game across America and it began being called a “national pastime.” In 1858, the first baseball games where admission was charged to watch were played in Corona, Queens New York. The baseball league was formally started in 1876 and became what is known today as Major League Baseball.

By 1903, there were two leagues and professional baseball was becoming increasingly popular all over the country. 1903 also saw the very first World Series, an event that would take over the hearts of people all over America for years to come. Professional players from all the teams began to get famous and become household names. Perhaps you’ve heard of some them.

Such greats as Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson changed the face of baseball. Their abilities on the diamond turned them into national icons who would have their moment of fame and create a legacy that continued long after each of them retired.

America isn’t the only country that plays baseball, however. Though it is considered “America’s pastime,” there are teams and players with incredible talent in other parts of the world as well. For example, Canada has a pretty famed baseball scene too. There are a number of European countries that have baseball teams as well. Baseball is also an Olympic sport and many greats have played for the country in addition to their hometown team.

The rules of the game haven’t changed too much. Each team has nine players in the field at one time. They stand at each of the bases, between second and third base and in the outfield. The object of the game is to score the most home runs in each inning and prevent the other team from scoring by getting outs. An out occurs when a player is tagged running between the bases, when an opposing team member touches the base first or when a player catches the ball when it is thrown or hit with the bat. The score of a baseball game is usually not high scoring with the number of runs typically being 10 or under.

The biggest cultural impact that baseball has had on American life is the baseball card craze. For many decades, baseball players have their own card, which fans can collect. Some cards are worth a lot of money, while others are not. The fun is in collecting an entire set for a certain team from a certain year, or getting a rookie card for a big name. Kids have been trading baseball cards for years and years and they will likely continue to do so for years to come.

Baseball is a sport that has had a huge impact on American culture and life and has played a part in the life of many people. Baseball isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and if you’ve never experienced a baseball game under the lights on a summer evening, you are missing out. Change that by getting a ticket today.

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Baseball Essays

Many students are faced with the problem of finding ideas for writing their essays. This website contains a database with more than 50 000 essay examples, using which you can easily find inspiration for creating your own essay on Baseball.

Here you will find many different essay topics on Baseball. You will be able to confidently write your own paper on the influence of Baseball on various aspects of life, reflect on the importance of Baseball, and much more. Keep on reading!

Despite the potential health risks and legal consequences, some athletes resort to using drugs in pursuit of achieving greatness. Concerns about the widespread use of steroids in sports are shared by both government and society. This issue stems from a cultural emphasis on winning and being superior, which causes steroid users to underestimate potential health […]

Cricket is not a game that most Americans know about, however, it is a popular sport in Australia and in other British parts of the world. This sport is not unlike any other sport in the area that it involves a great deal of physics. However, this paper will focus on the aspect of bowling […]

In the world of sports today there is a constant theme in every sport aggression and violence. Aggression can be shown in a lot of different ways in sports. In baseball aggression can be throwing a pitch inside to a player or sliding into second base and taking the second baseman or short stop out. […]

Baseball is cleaning up its image with a new drug testing policy implemented for the 2005 season. The new agreement between the players, the owners, and Major League Baseball to test for performance enhancing drugs is a vast improvement over the previous deal. There is still plenty of room for those who want to cheat. […]

Introduction A. I’m here to demonstrate to all of you that during you family softball game or recreational game, how to properly field a ground ball. B. As you know I’m a baseball player at KC and have been playing the Infield position and learn to field ground balls from professional Instructors as well as […]

The economists utilized the hat algorithm to analyze player statistics in basketball and baseball. They discovered that Iverson, initially deemed a top player, was actually ranked only 116th throughout his career due to spectators solely focusing on his point production. The case highlighted the challenge of determining which statistics are most significant. The algorithm also […]

Sports and media, like ESPN, have a symbiotic relationship that is crucial to their mutual success. Media outlets showcase sports from different angles and viewpoints, while the presence of sports events and organizations serves as a foundation for news coverage. Even if a sports corporation produces captivating content, without public awareness and continuous media attention, […]

For a large portion of the twentieth century, baseball has been seen as both a professional sport and an important aspect of childhood customs. It symbolizes American individualism and the promotion of fair play. The text examines the origins and expansion of baseball, specifically its connection to urbanization and the Progressive Era. Its goal is […]

All the decisions related to the plays are made by the umpires of the game who monitor and control the game of softball. The role of these umpires in most of the circumstances is similar to that of the referees in case of American Football. The range of the umpires that are allowed to participate […]

The first eyewitness has come forward at the federal trial of the all-time home run champ. Former personal shopper to Barry Bonds, Kathy Hoskins admitted, with heavy tears, that she saw Bonds’ trainer injecting him with something in the bellybutton. She reported not knowing what the injections were, and that it happened at the baseball […]

A Brief History of Baseball and the Dominican Republic Long earlier David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez were shattering batting and pitching records, or baseball greats like the Alou brothers and Manny Mota were going iconic baseball figures, the Dominican Republic was already presenting a typical trade name of baseball to the universe. The Dominican Republic […]

Steroids have drastically changed the game of baseball by allowing more and more participants hit more homeruns. “Steroids are any of a big group of fat-soluble organic compounds, as the steroid alcohols, bile acids, and sex endocrines, most of which have specific physiological action.” “Steroids” . There are several participants who have used steroids who […]

Undertaking 1 Question # 1: Obtain a set of 100 natural informations refering to some concern units. Answer 1: The information I selected for this undertaking is the wages of 100 participants. This natural information including name of participants, their salary, their place and the last column is for ciphering the frequence distribution in the […]

Joe DiMaggio, born on November 25, 1914, is celebrated as one of the greatest baseball players ever. He holds various records, such as the longest winning streak in Major League Baseball history lasting 56 games. Despite being raised by impoverished Italian immigrants, DiMaggio became an iconic figure in America. His parents were Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio […]

There is an ongoing debate in the baseball world regarding the use of wood bats versus metal bats. Both sides present valid arguments, including Joe Torre, coach of the New York Yankees, who openly supports a return to wood bats. This sentiment is shared by other coaches in the major leagues. Both Tony Larussa of […]

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Striking Out: Sample Common Application Essay

Richard's Essay on His Losing Baseball Game and a Full Critique

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The following sample essay responds to the 2019-20 Common Application Prompt #2: "The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?" Read a critique of this essay to learn strategies and tips for writing your own .

Richard's Common Application Essay on Failure

Striking Out

I've played baseball ever since I could remember, but somehow, at fourteen, I still wasn't very good at it. You'd think that ten years of summer leagues and two older brothers who'd been the stars of their teams would have rubbed off on me, but you'd be wrong. I mean, I wasn't completely hopeless. I was pretty fast, and I could hit my oldest brother's fastball maybe three or four times out of ten, but I wasn't about to be scouted for college teams.

My team that summer, the Bengals, wasn't anything special, either. We had one or two pretty talented guys, but most, like me, were just barely what you could call decent. But somehow we'd almost scraped through the first round of playoffs, with only one game standing between us and semifinals. Predictably, the game had come down to the last inning, the Bengals had two outs and players on second and third base, and it was my turn at bat. It was like one of those moments you see in movies. The scrawny kid who no one really believed in hits a miraculous home run, winning the big game for his underdog team and becoming a local legend. Except my life wasn't The Sandlot , and any hopes my teammates or coach might've had for a last-minute rally to victory were crushed with my third swing-and-miss when the umpire sent me back to the dugout with a "strike three - you're out!"

I was inconsolably angry with myself. I spent the entire car ride home tuning out my parents' words of consolation, replaying my strike-out over and over in my head. For the next few days I was miserable thinking about how, if it hadn't been for me, the Bengals might have been on their way to a league victory, and nothing anyone said could convince me that the loss wasn't on my shoulders.

About a week later, some of my friends from the team got together at the park to hang out. When I arrived, I was a little surprised that no one seemed to be mad at me - after all, I'd lost us the game, and they had to be disappointed about not making it to the semifinals. It wasn't until we split into teams for an impromptu pickup game that I started to realize why no one was upset. Maybe it was the excitement of reaching the playoffs or the pressure of living up to my brothers' examples, but sometime during that game, I'd lost sight of why most of us played summer league baseball. It wasn't to win the championship, as cool as that would have been. It was because we all loved to play. I didn't need a trophy or a Hollywood come-from-behind win to have fun playing baseball with my friends, but maybe I needed to strike out to remember that.

A Critique of Richard's Essay

A lot can be learned from Richard's writing by looking at all of its pieces. By thinking objectively about another person's essay, you will be better off when it comes time to write your own because you will understand what admissions officers are looking for.

"Striking Out" isn't an overly clever title, but it gets the job done. It tells you that you are about to read an essay about failure and baseball. A good title summarizes an essay and intrigues its readers but focus more on an appropriate title than on an interesting one.

Language and Tone

Richard leans into informal language such as "I mean" and "you'd think" to make his essay conversational and friendly. He introduces himself as an unimpressive athlete who doesn't quite measure up to his brothers, this humility making him more relatable to his readers. While this level of informality is not preferred by all colleges, most are looking to learn as much about your personality as possible. Richard's easy tone accomplishes this.

The language of the essay is also tight and engaging. Each sentence gets a point across and Richard is economical with his use of words to clearly convey the setting and situation. College admissions officers are likely to appreciate the overall clarity and meticulousness of Richard's essay.

Richard establishes and maintains a self-deprecating and humble voice throughout his writing His willingness to be honest about his shortcomings shows that he is sure of himself and also tells colleges that he has a healthy self-concept and isn't afraid of failing. By not boasting about athletic prowess, Richard demonstrates a valuable quality of self-assuredness that colleges admire.

College admissions officers read many essays about sports, especially from applicants that are more interested in playing sports at college than getting an education. In fact, one of the top 10 bad essay topics is the hero essay in which an applicant brags about making a goal that won their team the championship. Self-congratulatory essays have the effect of distancing you from the authentic qualities of successful college students and are therefore never a good idea.

Richard's essay has nothing to do with heroism. He is not claiming to be a star or over-inflating his abilities and his honesty is refreshing. His essay perfectly satisfies every aspect of the prompt by presenting a clear moment of failure and a significant lesson learned without blowing his accomplishments out of proportion. He managed to take the cliché topic of sports and turn it on its head, which admissions officers are much more likely to respect.

Richard's essay would be appropriate in most but not all situations. If he were hoping to play a sport competitively for a college, this would be the wrong essay. It would not impress NCAA scouts or make him likely to be recruited. This essay would be best for universities more interested in his personality than his baseball skills. Any college looking for mature, self-aware applicants with affable personalities would be drawn to Richard's story of failure.

A Final Word

Always keep in mind that the purpose of the Common Application essay is for colleges to learn who you are. While grades and test scores will be considered, admissions offices will also be using more subjective and holistic information about what you are like as a person. Richard succeeds in making a good impression by being a strong and engaging writer with a positive sense of self. Most would agree that he seems like the type of student who would be a useful addition to the campus community.

While the essay is successful, keep in mind that your own essay needs to have nothing in common with this sample and you should not use it as a model. There are innumerable ways to approach the idea of a challenge, setback, or failure and your essay needs to be true to your own experiences and personality.

Common Application Essay Option 2 Tips: Learning from Failure
The 2021-22 Common Application Essay Prompts
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A Sample Essay for Common Application Option #7: Topic of Your Choice
"Grandpa's Rubik's Cube"—Sample Common Application Essay, Option #4
"Gym Class Hero" - a Common Application Essay Sample for Option #3
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College Reality Check

How to Close a College Essay (With 10 Examples)

Writing a conclusion can be quite difficult because, often, it can be challenging to look for something useful or interesting to say at the end of the piece.

And even though there are easy formulas for writing conclusions, which, the school adds, can be tempting to use, it’s usually best to refrain from relying on them as they do not allow you to end your composition with a bang.

As someone who is about to write a college essay, it’s definitely a good idea to steer clear of any of those!

What you will submit together with your college application can spell the difference between going to your top-choice school and attending a second- or third-choice school.

Needless to say, it’s just as vital to carefully think about how you will jump-start your college essay as how you will wrap it up with a strong and winning conclusion .

Terrified that the conclusion you have in mind might bring your entire college application essay down and flush any admission chances to your dream school down the drain?

Below, I will give you some strategies on how to close your written submission successfully.

But first, let’s talk about this very important matter every college-bound teen, especially one whose goal is to get admitted to a selective institution of higher education, needs to know before writing a college essay…

Three Worst Options to Close a College Essay

There are numerous ways to wrap up a college essay in a way that could make those hard-to-please admissions officers reckon that you would make for a wonderful addition to the campus.

But then on the other hand, there are also things you may mistakenly commit that can weaken your application and even cause a rejection letter to be sent your way.

Needless to say, you should avoid them at all costs if getting denied is not an option!

A terrible concluding paragraph can wreak havoc on your essay no matter how flawlessly and impressively written the introduction and main body are — a single problematic part is all it takes to ruin everything.

Therefore, other than having a clear idea of how any college application essay is best closed in exchange for good news when college admissions decision time comes, it’s also a must for you to be acquainted with conclusions that are absolute no-nos.

And, of course, other than being familiar with them, you should make sure that none of them will mar your college essay.

Here are some endings to dodge whatever happens:

1. Giving a summary

When it comes to writing either an academic essay or a research paper, there’s a rule that everyone should abide by without any hesitation or doubt: the conclusion should briefly talk about the key points or arguments.

So, in other words, the written piece should end with a summarization, which is why it’s referred to as a concluding summary.

The addition of any new information or idea is considered unthinkable, although a synthesis of some of the most important matters included in the composition is welcome and, in most instances, expected.

However, it’s a completely different story if what’s being written is a college essay.

If the goal is to make sure that your college essay won’t take away from the strength of your application, refrain from restating just about everything you talked about briefly in the concluding paragraph.

Not only is it redundant and, therefore, completely unnecessary but also makes it appear as though you ran out of ideas before bringing the piece to a full stop.

A college application essay can be as short as 250 words to as long as 600 words — ending yours with a brief summary might look like you just want to meet the word count requirement, which is not the only thing that admissions officers want.

And speaking of whom, giving a summary at the end of your college essay could come across as you saying:

The admissions committee member who will read my essay might fail to completely get the point of my composition because of its complexity and innovativeness, so I should summarize it to make sure that he or she will understand everything.

Again, here’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all this time, which means that I am totally banking on my ability to correctly solve practically any mathematical problem there is to have a successful career as an aerospace engineer one day.

2. Using cliché transitions

First things first: no cliché should make it to your college essay or any other written piece you will write from hereon. The use of a cliché immediately extends the fact that you lack originality and, worse, sincerity as a writer.

Definitely, you don’t want your college essay to be interchangeable with someone else’s.

And that is why ending yours with something that starts with a trite transition, most especially as a way to restate everything you have talked about, is prohibited.

College admissions officers have laid their eyes on some of the most original personal compositions of junior and senior high schoolers, and it’s effortless for them to catch clichés.

In conclusion or in essence — needless to say, using such a hackneyed phrase is a disaster as it’s both resorting to the use of a cliché as well as committing one of the mortal sins of concluding a college essay, which is summarizing.

The following are some examples of cliché transitions that lead to a summary to steer clear of:

All things considered
As has been demonstrated
In a nutshell
In summation
On a final note
To conclude
To make a long story short/long story short
To put it briefly
To wrap things up
When all is said and done

It’s important to note that a good essay, including a college essay, uses transitions between paragraphs to maintain a logical and smooth flow of the written piece.

Without them, your submission may make it hard for the reader to get from one point to the other.

It’s not that college admissions officers are dense — it’s just that your college essay’s paragraphs are disjointed.

Found yourself in a rut and feel that starting your conclusion with a cliché transition is the way to go?

Proceed with drafting the concluding paragraph. Once you’re through, scrap the trite word or phrase you opened your conclusion with as well as the rest of the sentence and see how that works.

3. Stating hopes of acceptance

It’s no secret that you submitted a college application essay because it’s one of the various admissions requirements. And it’s no secret, too, that you completed all admissions requirements because you wanted to get accepted.

Therefore, expressing your hopes of receiving an offer to enroll is stating the obvious.

As mentioned earlier, high school teens gearing up for their postsecondary education careers are usually limited to 250 to 600 words when writing a college essay.

Needless to say, ending your composition with an entire paragraph devoted to how much you want to attend the institution is a complete waste of precious space.

Because you can submit a college essay containing only as many words, it’s of utmost importance to make the most out of the opportunity to be able to flex your thoughts, creativity, originality and superb writing skills.

There is no point squandering the word limit by your college essay’s conclusion coming across as saying:

I would really appreciate it if you could add my college application to the pile of accepted applications because I have been dreaming of earning an undergraduate degree from University X since time immemorial.

There’s nothing wrong with associating the college career you have envisioned for yourself with what you talked about in your college essay. However, there is no need to explicitly mention it or, worse, beg to be admitted to the institution.

But it’s not just the obvious fact that you want to get accepted that you should avoid mentioning.

Instead of ending with a high note, your college application might exit with a whimper if, for example, you highlighted a number of your personal skills and strengths and unique experiences and then concluding everything with something like:

Clearly, I am a hardworking individual.

It’s apparent that I would make for a great engineer because of my math skills.

5 Winning Ways to Wrap Up a College Essay

There are many different ways to ruin a perfectly remarkable college application essay with a mediocre or appalling conclusion.

It’s a good thing that there are also numerous ways to turn your written composition from one good essay into a one-of-a-kind essay with the right concluding paragraph — all you have to do is choose from some recommended ones.

You are not going to have a shortage of options when it comes to closing a college essay the right way.

Because some are simply better than the rest, which, it goes without saying, could help you ace the admissions review process, it’s important that you decide on something that suits your writing style and personality, too.

See which of these strategies in ending a college essay can give you that a-ha moment:

1. Going back to where you began

Some people call it full circling. Others refer to it as bookending.

No matter the name, one thing remains true: this particular style of closing a college application essay involves seamlessly tying the conclusion to the introduction by reintroducing a word, phrase, individual or the point of the opening paragraph.

What’s really nice about opting for this approach is that it allows you to hem your composition.

Of course, to be effective, the main body of your college essay should veer away from the introduction, to the point of making sure that the readers almost forget what you just talked about at the onset, only to suddenly remind it of them in the end.

When executed correctly, this style can give your written submission a satisfying and self-contained appeal to it.

Suppose that you opened your college essay talking about how a large rock fell on and fractured your leg in 3rd grade. A great ending to it using this particular approach would look something like this:

A rock may once have crushed my legs, causing me to spend a fraction of my childhood donning a leg cast, but, in high school, I established a rock band — and we crushed every gig on and off campus!

2. Peeking into the future

Any essay ending on a positive or hopeful note can always put a smile on the reader’s face.

Needless to say, a concluding paragraph that talks about a bright future ahead allows you to highlight your academic and career goals, giving the audience a much better idea of what sort of college student and professional you could be.

While you should refrain from ending your college application essay by talking about how much it would mean the world to you to get accepted to your dream school, you can make college admissions officers realize you’d make for a wonderful addition to the campus without blatantly doing so by mentioning your hopes and dreams.

Just take a look at this conclusion to an essay of a student applying to a college specializing in engineering:

I can’t wait to see the very first rocket ship I helped design blast off from earth, exposing the crew to the lowest G forces possible for I, as a terrible roller coaster rider, cannot stand high accelerations on the body myself.

3. Ending things with an action

As far as concluding your college application essay with an action goes, the sweeter and shorter, as a general rule of thumb, the better. But it’s also important to wrap things up at the critical moment: right after your piece’s high point.

Making admissions officers wish it hadn’t ended so soon is the main goal.

With them wanting more, they won’t be able to stop thinking about you.

And if you’re still in their mind long after they have taken a look at your application and the rest of the supporting documents, it’s not unlikely for them to want to see you on the campus instead of allow another institution to welcome you.

Here’s an example of ending your college essay with an action that can cause the reader to want more:

After taking a deep breath, I approached the lectern to the thundering applause of the audience.

4. Leaving with a dialogue

Talking about things you have personally experienced and lessons you have arduously learned in your college application essay is always nice.

After all, your piece is something that gives admissions officers a different perspective of you, as a teener who is preparing to work on an undergraduate degree, beyond your GPA, standardized test scores and extracurricular activities.

Just like what was mentioned earlier, summarizing is off-limits when it comes to concluding a college essay .

But there’s a nifty way to reiterate the main point of your composition without simply giving a recap of everything you have cited from the very beginning. And it’s by ending your college application essay with a dialogue.

In most instances, the shorter and crisper the dialogue, the better the effect. It’s like abruptly ending your submission, too.

However, closing yours with words spoken to someone keeps the reader from having to do the guesswork since your point is implied, anyway, which is a textbook connect-the-dots scenario.

Planning on highlighting in your college application essay the fact that you developed a sense of social responsibility? Here’s how you can close it without merely giving a summary:

“I will talk to you later,” I said to my best friend on the phone. “I’m currently on my way to help feed the hungry.”

5. Revealing the central idea

It’s true that the introduction is meant to give the reader an idea of the topic of the essay as well as the various points that will be made about it.

But because a college application is no ordinary essay, there are instances when your composition can make a bigger impact if you save your main point until the very end.

Execute it correctly and you can keep admissions officers gluttonously devouring the intro and main body of your personal essay until they get to the concluding paragraph, which, hopefully, would end in you getting an acceptance letter.

Needless to say, you will have to hold back what you are trying to say long enough.

But the biggest challenge that comes with disclosing the central idea last is keeping the readers engaged and interested adequately for them to keep reading until they reach the end and learn what you have been trying to say all this time.

Failure to do so may leave admissions officers eagerly wanting to reach for another application essay that would make more sense.

Giving snapshots of how you shopped for your first bicycle with your dad in 2nd grade, how you first cannonballed in the water at Bandemer Park in Ann Arbor, Michigan and how you founded a running club in your high school could end in this:

By the time I earn a bachelor’s degree in sports science, hopefully, I have also run my very first Ironman Triathlon, which would serve as an homage to some of the most important and memorable moments of my life thus far.

Read Next: How to Start a Compelling Essay About Yourself

Independent Education Consultant, Editor-in-chief. I have a graduate degree in Electrical Engineering and training in College Counseling. Member of American School Counselor Association (ASCA).

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College Scholarships for Lesser-Known Sports

Students can compete for money by excelling in less-common sports like archery, curling, esports, pickleball and surfing.

Scholarships for Lesser-Known Sports

Some sports – such as football , soccer, basketball and baseball – tend to garner significant attention and college funding . But scholarship money is often still available for less-common athletic abilities.

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At the institutional level, there are financial restrictions for non- NCAA sports . However, students can search for scholarships from third-party sources, such as nonprofits or local organizations.

"There are some colleges that will have some scholarships for non-NCAA sports that are at the club level that maybe an alum has donated money to," says Kelly Herrington, director of college counseling and student services at UPrep Seattle, a private school for grades 6-12 in Washington.

At NCAA schools, he adds, "you have regulations around who you can give scholarships to. You can only provide scholarships at the Division I level. The athletic scholarships out there are going to have to come at the club level. They can't be anything where the students are competing in the intercollegiate athletic association."

Here are examples of outside or college -associated scholarships for unique sports that may be offered as a club or intramural activity on campuses.

Examples of Scholarships for Less-Common Sports

Archery enthusiasts can compete for both medals and college scholarships at the Junior Olympic Archery Development National Target Championships. These scholarships are reserved for top finishers.

However, students don't need to be the star player to win a sports scholarship, experts say.

"It's really about showing your interest in the sport" and your leadership abilities, says Christopher Gray, founder and CEO of Scholly, a scholarship app recently acquired by Sallie Mae.

For instance, members of the Minnesota State Archery Association who are graduating high school students with a demonstrated interest in archery may qualify for a $500 college scholarship.

While there are national curling scholarships, students can also look to see if a local curling club provides any college funding.

The Schenectady Curling Club in New York offers a Charlie Brown Memorial Scholarship – established in the 2023-2024 season – that provides a one-time scholarship of $500. There's no grade or transcript requirement, but applicants must be a high school senior and current or past member of the club's Juniors program. Funding can be used for any postsecondary education-related expenses.

Video game lovers can take their passion to a competitive level in college. Many institutions have started to build their own gaming arenas in an effort to recruit students for their esports teams.

Every year, for example, more than 15 esports players at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Pennsylvania receive academic scholarships that cover the full cost of tuition, as well as housing support.

"Esports scholarships are everywhere," Herrington says. "My message to middle school families or families just starting high school is: Who knows, that niche thing that you are doing may actually become more mainstream and there may be more scholarships in it."

Pickleball has been growing in popularity across the U.S., including on college campuses.

At Utah Tech University , students can apply for the Pickleball Club Scholarship, which covers up to six credit hours of tuition costs. Selected candidates become part of the team as either a player or officer. Applicants must have at least a 3.0 GPA and commit to volunteering a minimum of 20 hours per semester for club-related projects.

Compared to other sports on this list, surfing is more geographically limited. However, there are still scholarships out there for surfers.

The International Surfing Association distributes up to $20,000 in award money each year, ranging between $100 and $1,000 per recipient. The amount is determined case by case.

To qualify, students must be 18 years or younger, demonstrate financial need, be outstanding role models in their community and be recommended by their country's National Surfing Federation. Funding can be used for tuition, books, transportation, training, coaching, contest fees, surfboards and other equipment.

How to Stand Out on Scholarship Applications

In the application, it's important for students to discuss why they became interested in that particular sport. Additionally, they can mention "how they've grown as a result of their participation, how they'll contribute to their collegiate community in that particular sport and how they've applied the lessons from that sport to other areas of their life," Herrington says.

Essays should be used to tell a story rather than paraphrase a resume, Gray says. He recommends keeping responses brief – around 500 words – if there is no word count.

However, students shouldn't spend all their time applying for these scholarships.

"I always tell students to focus most of your attention on doing well in school and your grades and taking a strong curriculum," Herrington says. "The vast majority of money that's given to students for outside scholarships is going to come as a result of your academic work."

But, he adds, "there is a really impressive narrative when you stick with something that maybe not (many) other people are involved in because you are seen as doing it out of genuine passion and interest, not because of public glory. Colleges love that. ... So even if they don't get a scholarship, they are still going to get rewarded in the college process because of that interest that they have."

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Tom Brady: the Making of a Football Legend

This essay about Tom Brady traces the formative years and illustrious career of one of the most celebrated figures in American football. Born on August 3, 1977, in San Mateo, California, Brady’s upbringing in a sports-centric family fostered his early love for football. He admired stars like Joe Montana at San Francisco 49ers games, which his father frequently took him to. Despite not being a standout initially, Brady’s persistent efforts during his time at Junípero Serra High School and later at the University of Michigan shaped his resilience and skill set. His draft into the NFL at 199th overall did not deter his spirit; instead, it fueled his legendary rise with the New England Patriots, leading them to multiple Super Bowl victories. The essay highlights Brady’s relentless work ethic, his strategic acumen on the field, and his ability to defy age, emphasizing that his legacy extends beyond his athletic achievements to include significant entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors.

How it works

On August 3, 1977, in the small city of San Mateo, California, a baby boy named Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. was born into a sports-loving family. Little did anyone know at the time, this child would grow up to become one of the most celebrated and influential athletes in the history of American football. This story isn’t just about the birth of a sports star; it’s about how environment, upbringing, and early life experiences shape a future legend.

Tom was the only son and fourth child of Galynn and Thomas Brady.

He grew up in a family where sports were not just leisure but a significant part of life. His father often took him to San Francisco 49ers games, where he idolized players like Joe Montana, a quarterback he would one day be mentioned alongside as one of the greats. At home, competitiveness was a regular theme, with his three older sisters, all accomplished athletes in their own rights, pushing Tom to test his limits and develop his skills.

Brady attended Junípero Serra High School, where he played football and baseball. While his natural talent was evident, he wasn’t initially the star quarterback; he had to work diligently and persistently to improve his game. His high school career set a solid foundation, but it wasn’t until college that his potential began to crystalize visibly. Brady decided to stay relatively close to home for college, choosing the University of Michigan over offers from other schools. It was at Michigan that Brady’s resilience and work ethic truly began to shine. Despite not being a starting quarterback until his junior year and facing competition from other talented quarterbacks, Brady’s determination never wavered. His senior year performance, where he led his team to an Orange Bowl victory, was a testament to his growing command and maturity on the field.

However, the journey from college to the NFL was not straightforward. Brady was picked 199th overall in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft—a placement that many would consider a setback. Yet, this only fueled his determination. Joining the New England Patriots, Brady was initially a backup to Drew Bledsoe. Fate intervened in the 2001 season when Bledsoe suffered an injury, and Brady stepped in as the starter. What followed was nothing short of a fairy tale; Brady led the Patriots to their first Super Bowl victory that season, setting the stage for a dynasty.

Over two decades, Tom Brady’s career has been a series of record-breaking seasons, with numerous Super Bowl victories that cemented his place as a football icon. His ability to maintain peak physical condition and his mental toughness have defied the typical constraints of age, making his long career particularly noteworthy. Off the field, Brady’s impact continues through his entrepreneurial ventures and philanthropic efforts, which are as integral to his legacy as his athletic achievements.

In essence, Tom Brady’s birth in San Mateo was the start of a journey marked by perseverance, excellence, and an undying love for football. His story is a reminder that greatness is not merely about talent but is also crafted through hard work, resilience, and an unrelenting will to succeed. As he transitioned from a sports-obsessed California kid to an NFL legend, Brady’s life reflects the epitome of American sports culture and the spirit of determination that drives it.

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Their financial aid was in limbo. What did these students decide about college?

By Liz Willen, Gail Cornwall, Matt Krupnick, Kavitha Cardoza, Ariel Gilreath The Hechinger Report

May 22, 2024 | San Francisco; Chicago; Baltimore; and Greenville, S.C.

For many high school seniors and others hoping to attend college next year, the last few months have become a stress-filled struggle to complete the trouble-prone, much-maligned FAFSA , or Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

The rollout of this updated and supposedly simplified form was so delayed, error-ridden, and confusing that it has derailed or severely complicated college decisions for millions of students throughout the United States, especially those from low-income, first-generation, and unauthorized immigrant families.

The bureaucratic mess is also holding up decisions by private scholarship programs and adding to public skepticism about the value of higher education – threatening progress in efforts to get more Americans to and through college.

Why We Wrote This

Problems with a federal financial aid application have impacted college decisions. Faced with uncertainty around costs, how are members of the class of 2024 deciding what to do next?

To see the impact in person, The Hechinger Report sent reporters to schools in four cities – San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore, and Greenville, South Carolina – to hear students’ stories. Because we found them through schools, most of those we interviewed had counselors helping them. For the millions of students who don’t, it’s an even more daunting task.

“It was stressing me every day,” said one San Francisco senior who was accepted to 16 colleges but could not attend without substantial financial aid. Some became so frustrated they gave up, at least for now. Others said they will turn to trade schools or the military.

Students whose parents are unauthorized immigrants had special worries, including concern that naming their parents would bring immigration penalties (although the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act forbids FAFSA officials from sharing family information).

To give students more time to weigh options, more than 200 colleges and universities pushed back their traditional May 1 commitment deadlines, some until June 1, according to the American Council on Education, which keeps an updated list .

Despite heroic efforts by counselors and a slew of public FAFSA-signing events, just 40.2% of high school seniors had completed the FAFSA as of May 10, in contrast to 49.6% of last year’s seniors at the same time, according to the National College Attainment Network. The numbers do not bode well for college enrollment, nor for the many high school graduates who will not get the benefits of higher education.

National College Attainment Network

San Francisco: “College is my first choice”

No one in Damiana Beltran’s family went to college, so she didn’t picture it in her future. But at the end of her junior year, “everybody” at Mission High School in San Francisco started talking about applying, so she did. San José State University admitted her, along with a few other schools. Excited, Beltran entertained visions of becoming a psychologist and showing her younger brother that “you don’t have to be from the wealthiest family” to go to college.

But the online FAFSA form wouldn’t let Beltran, who is a U.S. citizen, submit her application because her mother, who isn’t, doesn’t have a Social Security number. They tried using her individual taxpayer identification number but got an error message. Leaving the field blank didn’t work either. Beltran’s mother skipped work to get help at the school’s Future Center, but still, no dice. Eventually, they mailed in a paper version.

When May 1 passed with no offer of aid — or even an indication that her FAFSA had been received — Beltran decided to give up on attending the schools that would require her to pay for housing and a meal plan. If she went to nearby San Francisco State University, living at home would mean not asking her mother to take on debt. “I want to go to San José, but I don’t want to do that to her,” a teary Beltran said in April. “I think about it a lot during classes. During the whole school day, it’s in the back of my head.” She’s had trouble sleeping.

Her classmate Josue Hernandez also lost sleep over the FAFSA. It took him about a month and two submission attempts to upload his undocumented parents’ IDs to verify their identity, he said. Once he did, it took about three weeks to process. The senior, who had been accepted into 16 schools, thought, “It was 12 years of hard work, and I finally got in, but I might not even be able to go.”

Hernandez’s other hope was scholarships. He cut back his hours at an after-school job to work on the applications and then stayed up late to do the homework he’d pushed aside. Most of his free periods, including lunches, went to figuring out how to pay for college. “It was stressing me every day,” Hernandez said.

Finally, the University of California, Berkeley, told him that his FAFSA had gone through, and financial aid would pay for almost everything; the SEED Scholars Honors Program would likely take care of the rest. “It’s finally over,” he said.

That’s not quite how Alessandro Mejia’s story went. As a senior in the challenging Game Design Academy at Balboa High School, he has the coding skills to major in computer science at one of the four-year colleges he got into. “College is my first choice,” Mejia said, but making it work financially “would just be much harder on our family.” He was eyeing trade school, saying “being an electrician or a car mechanic doesn’t seem too bad.” Of abandoning a tech career, he said, “I’m a little frustrated, but I feel like I developed a good work ethic in school so … it’s not completely a waste.”

School counselor Katherine Valle listened to Mejia and shook her head. The Game Design Academy, she said, “is our hardest pathway, and we don’t have a lot of Latino males in it. To know he did that and is going to end up being a mechanic is just …” She couldn’t find words.

But with less than a week to spare, Mejia learned his FAFSA had finally been processed, and he committed to San Francisco State. For Beltran, though, as the May 15 deadline passed, she was “still waiting for my FAFSA to come in,” and hadn’t submitted an intent to register.

Chicago: “It really put me on edge”

Samaya Acker stayed on top of her college plans all year. She applied for early action admission at 17 colleges, submitted her FAFSA application two days after the window opened, and came up with a backup plan to join the military, just in case.

Acker, a senior at Air Force Academy High School on Chicago’s South Side who has “Power” tattooed in script on her arm, was accepted by 16 colleges (her top choice, the University of Chicago, was the only one to turn her down) and planned to spend a few months in the Air National Guard to help pay for college. But as scholarship and deposit deadlines approached, her FAFSA application was still classified as “pending” three months after she submitted it.

“It really put me on edge,” said Acker, whose high school years were interrupted first by Covid and then by the birth of her son halfway through her sophomore year, but who still is graduating with a weighted grade-point average over 4.0.

Just before the college commitment deadlines, Acker was awarded a Gates Scholarship, which pays the full cost of college for high-achieving students from underrepresented groups. Acker, who is Black, accepted her offer of admission from Chicago’s Loyola University, where tuition alone is more than $52,000 per year . She plans to become an anesthesiologist. (The Gates Foundation is among the many funders of The Hechinger Report.)

A few miles away, a group of students at Hubbard High School in southwest Chicago were not as fortunate.

The FAFSA delays created unique challenges for students with unauthorized immigrant parents , including many at Hubbard. Four seniors whose parents are unauthorized immigrants said they had spent months waiting for the federal government to fix a glitch that prevented parents without Social Security numbers from submitting financial information.

The glitch was finally fixed, but all four were still waiting, in early May, to find out how much financial aid they might receive.

“There’s really not much I can do,” said Javier Magana, who was still trying to figure out whether he could afford any of the colleges that had accepted him. “It’s definitely been frustrating because I’ve been trying my best.”

Ixchel Ortiz, plans to go to a Chicago community college, but said that if she didn’t receive financial aid, even that would have to wait.

Isaac Raygoza and Octavio Rodriguez said they had a few four-year college options but likely wouldn’t be able to pursue any of them without a FAFSA answer.

Rodriguez said he had been repeatedly frustrated by the FAFSA. “I would go home and wait 20 to 30 minutes on hold, and we didn’t get anywhere,” he said. In late April he was notified that he had misspelled his own name on the application; in mid-May, he was still waiting to hear whether he needed to re-apply from scratch.

“I’m slightly stressed,” he said.

Raygoza said he had submitted his application on time but had failed to notice an error message that prevented it from being processed. He resubmitted it in late April.

“I was just shocked it was never processed,” he said. “I had to do it all again.”

All four said they would likely take a year off to work if they didn’t get aid.

Baltimore: “Money was a big factor”

At the Academy for College and Career Exploration in Baltimore, juniors and seniors have weekly class, run by the nonprofit organization iMentor, to help them understand and pursue postsecondary options, including colleges and various types of financial aid. Counselor LaToia Lyle worries about the long delays with FAFSA, because most of her students are low-income and will be first-generation college students, so they don’t always have someone to help them at home, and the delays could mean decisions had to be made quickly.

She helps them compare tuition costs and reminds them that housing deposits are not refundable and book fees add up. “Even gaps as small as $500 can make a difference,” she said.

For Zion Wilson and Camryn Carter, both seniors, the delays and the need to constantly try to log into FAFSA accounts that froze were frustrating, but both students said they were relieved when glitches with the forms meant their college admission deadlines got pushed back.

“The last thing I wanted to do was make a fast-paced decision,” said Wilson. “I kept bouncing between different things. I felt the FAFSA delay gave me more of a chance to decide what I actually wanted to do.”

She had applied for computer science programs at several colleges but was nervous about taking out loans. Even though Baltimore City Community College would be tuition-free for her, she worried she wouldn’t have enough money to spend if she wasn’t working. But her family wanted her to go to college, especially because her elder sister had enrolled but dropped out after the first year.

Wilson was admitted to her top three choices — BCCC, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Coppin State University — but even with scholarships, she decided not to go. Instead, Wilson plans to go straight into the workforce through a program called Grads2Careers, where she will get training in information technology.

“It kind of sounded like I can just do the exact same thing that I would be doing if I went to college, but I can just start now versus waiting two years to start,” Wilson said. After a two-week training period, she will be paid between $15 and $17 an hour, she said.

In the end, she filled out her portion of the FAFSA, but told her parents not to do theirs. “Why make my parents do this long thing and put in their tax information, if I’m not going anywhere that requires it?”

Wilson is relieved not to have to think about college anymore. “I think I made the right choice, and having some money in my pocket will also be a good push for me to continue to advance up.”

Her classmate Carter is a serious student who is also on the baseball, wrestling, and track teams. He has never wavered from his childhood decision to study biology. It began, he said, when he was about four years old, and his grandmother tuned to the National Geographic channel on TV.

“I was like, ‘stop, stop, stop,’ ” he said, recalling the video of a lion attacking a zebra. Carter was hooked. He started watching the channel every day. “I fell in love with ants, ecosystems, that just sparked my interest in biology.”

Carter applied to 14 colleges. He said filling out all the forms was challenging because the delayed release of the FAFSA meant he was doing it at the same time as he was taking a demanding course load, including AP Literature and AP Calculus. “It was really time-consuming and really work-heavy with a lot of essays, a lot of homework,” he said. “It’s pretty tough to do that at the same time while I’m doing college supplemental essays and my personal statement.”

But the FAFSA delay also meant that his mother had more time to finish the form, something she had been putting off for months. Because he is the oldest of four children, his mom hadn’t had to complete a form like this before that asks for a lot of personal information, including tax data, he said.

“My mom was just brushing over it,” he said. “But I was like, ‘No, you really have to do this because this is for my future. Like, you don’t do this, I’ll have so much debt.’ So I was just telling her to please do this and please get on it.”

She did, but Carter said it likely wouldn’t have happened without the delay.

Carter got into his dream school, the University of Maryland, College Park, with a full scholarship, including tuition, meals, and accommodation. His second choice, McDaniel College, also offered him a generous scholarship, but he says he still would have ended up paying $6,000 a year, which he didn’t want to do. “Definitely money was a big factor,” he said. He said he’s excited about starting a new chapter in September: “I feel like UMD is the perfect fit for me.”

Greenville: “We’re just playing the waiting game”

Chylicia and Chy’Kyla Henderson worked hard to graduate early from Eastside High School in Greenville, South Carolina. The sisters filled their schedules and took virtual classes as well, so that Chylicia could be done with school a semester early and Chy’Kyla could graduate after her junior year. Both want to attend college but need financial aid to afford it.

Their mom, Nichole Henderson, said the stress of trying to fill out both their FAFSA forms led her to take her daughters and two other graduating seniors she knew to a FAFSA workshop at a local college in April. Even with help from someone there, she found the forms confusing – Chylicia’s asked for Nichole’s tax information, she said, but Chy’Kyla’s did not.

“As a parent, it’s stressful,” Nichole said.

Chylicia is thinking about pursuing a degree in nursing or social work, and leaning toward starting at Greenville Technical College, a community college. But the school emailed her saying they needed more information on her financial aid application; but it wasn’t clear if the issue stemmed from the FAFSA form or something else, she said.

Then, on May 8, she got an email from South Carolina Tuition Grants, a program that provides up to $4,800 in need-based scholarships, saying she was tentatively approved for the full amount. She still hasn’t resolved the paperwork at Greenville Technical College, though, and so isn’t sure yet whether she can enroll there.

And if Chylicia’s application is missing information, the family worries that Chy’Kyla’s will have the same issue. Like her sister, she’s considering starting at a community college, but by May 8, she hadn’t received word about financial aid from any schools or from any need-based scholarship programs.

“We’re just playing the waiting game,” their mother said.

At J.L. Mann High School, also in Greenville County, students normally start filling out FAFSA forms with their parents sometime in the fall, but this year, they couldn’t access the form until January.

The delay created some challenging decisions for students like Braden Freeman, who is the student body president at J.L. Mann. He submitted his FAFSA in January, right after it opened. In March, he was told he got a full scholarship to attend Southern Methodist University in Texas – but by May 1, he still hadn’t heard back from his other top choices, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia, on how much aid he would get. Those colleges had pushed back their decision deadlines because of the FAFSA delays.

Instead of waiting to hear back from UNC and UVA, Freeman decided to put a deposit down at Southern Methodist, whose deadline was May 1. The full scholarship from SMU was a big factor in his decision.

Both the UNC and UVA eventually sent Freeman his financial aid packages a week before their deadline to enroll, which was May 15. Freeman said he still planned to attend Southern Methodist.

This story about FAFSA applications was produced by The Hechinger Report , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Try the Offer Letter Decoder .

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How tennis inequality lets women down: Prize money, scheduling and Saudi Arabia

This article is part of the launch of extended tennis coverage on The Athletic , which will go beyond the baseline to bring you the biggest stories on and off the court. To follow the tennis vertical, click here .

Last month at the Madrid Open, Coco Gauff was warming up on the least desirable practice courts when she saw some male players — without small numbers next to their names — on the much better courts.

Gauff is familiar with the misogynist history of the tournament. She partnered with compatriot Jessica Pegula against Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia in the women’s doubles final in 2023, after Azarenka and other players commented on unfair scheduling and the size disparity of birthday cakes for Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka.

Officials refused to let the foursome speak after the match.

Gauff said she had seen progress this year. But she couldn’t help but notice the weirdness: she, a Grand Slam champion and the world No 3, was warming up at an event just one rung below the U.S. Open on “really bad” courts.

“When you look out on the practice court and you see guys who are ranked 30 or 40 spots lower than you on the court, you’re like ‘OK, what happened?’” she said a few days later.

Maybe that doesn’t sound like a big deal. She played her match on the top court, in a desirable time slot. There are plenty of benefits that Gauff and a handful of other women at the top of tennis enjoy, including prize money and endorsements that can reach into the tens of millions of dollars.

Still, to exist as a female tennis player in 2024 is to endure what can feel like endless slights: the micro-aggressions baked in; the structural inequality foundational to a sport run mostly by men; stark set-piece examples of inequality that can be hard to comprehend and harder to endure, for their magnitude, their reasoning, or more commonly both.

“I get a little bit frustrated here because I feel some tournaments in Europe can fancy men more than women,” Ons Jabeur, the two-time Wimbledon finalist from Tunisia, told The Athletic in Madrid.

“I see that especially on social media, more posts about the men, more this more that and for me it’s really frustrating because we play really well. And it’s such, you know, an amazing sport for women. So I wish we can be more seen,” she said.

“I think we deserve better.”

It’s not just Europe.

Jabeur, 29, just finished playing the Italian Open, where the women competed for a prize pool of $5.5 million. The men’s equivalent was $8.5 million.

In August, the men and women arrive at the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio. The men play for $7.9 million; the women for $6.8 million, even though the tournament owner, Ben Navarro, has a daughter, Emma, who plays on the WTA Tour.

A tournament spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Consider that m ore generally, the WTA Tour’s most lucrative route to additional funding centers on being in lockstep with the ATP Tour men, over letting Saudi Arabia, a country where women do not have equal rights, pump money into tennis.

H ow else do elite women get the short end of the racket handle in the sport to which they dedicate their lives?

Let us count — just some of — the ways.

Tennis’ top women say the sport is broken. This is why

Ever the bridesmaid

It’s the final weekend of a Grand Slam tournament . The women’s singles final takes place on the Saturday. The climax arrives 24 hours later, with the men’s final.

It’s been that way basically forever. There’s an implicit message that everyone in tennis, from the little girl who just started taking lessons to the world No 1, receives.

Tournament officials often say it has to be this way. The men play best-of-five sets in the Grand Slams; the women play best-of-three . (We’ll get to that. We have thoughts.)

Whoever plays the final on Saturday has to have one day during the tournament where two players compete on consecutive days, between the second day of quarter-finals and the semi-finals. Since the men play longer matches, it wouldn’t be fair for their semi-finalists to have to play on consecutive days, would it?

Perhaps not. The French and Australian Opens now stretch their first round over three days, and the other Grand Slams could follow suit. Surely there is a permutation that allows the men and women who have reached the late stages of the peak of their sport equal rest?

Of course, there are also television contracts that exist — television contracts that get renegotiated all the time. If there is a will, perhaps there is a way.

If there is a will.

Darren Pearce, chief spokesperson for Tennis Australia, said they have looked at a swap and will continue to do so. They moved the women’s final to Saturday night in 2009 to maximize domestic exposure, but they have to consider time zones and international exposure as well. Pearce cited Australian Ash Barty ’s win in 2022 as an example of the Saturday offering “so much more coverage and exposure in Australia.”

The U.S. Open has looked at swapping the two finals “in an effort to optimize viewership and interest,” said Brendan McIntire, a USTA spokesperson.

Last week (Wednesday May 15), ESPN announced that its free-to-air broadcaster, ABC, will show the U.S. Open men’s final , though the women’s final the day before will remain on the pay channel, ESPN, because ABC has contractual commitments to college football that Saturday.

The U.S. women’s final has outperformed the men’s final four of the past five years in television viewership, and the men’s final competes with the opening weekend of the NFL. In this case, the second-class spot may be a blessing.

What about the big mixed events where both the women and the men play best-of-three sets?

Indian Wells has a finals Sunday on which both the women and the men play — guess who plays first? Cincinnati will hold the finals on the same day this year, and we’ll see who goes first. Miami, Madrid and Rome have the women play Saturday, the men Sunday.

“ I don’t really think that it’s just a question of money, but also respect,” Jabeur said. “ It’s small details that make the difference.”

It happens in a macro way, too. The WTA Tour Finals take place the week before the ATP Tour Finals . The Billie Jean King Cup wraps up before the Davis Cup, although there will be overlap from this year.

Next year, Great Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association will host a women’s WTA 500 at the Queen’s Club in London . It will begin immediately after the French Open, the week before the men take the stage at Queen’s, and in the build-up the focus has been not on the benefits of a women’s tournament at such a prestigious event, but whether or not the ATP is happy that the grass will be pristine enough for male feet after a week of tennis.

There will not be equal prize money.

What's the one thing you would change about tennis?

Games, sets, and matches

Jessica Pegula, the world No 5 and a member of the WTA Player Council made it very clear at the French Open in 2022.

“I don’t want to play three out of five,” Pegula said.

She’s hardly the only one. It’s a slog, with matches that can stretch beyond five hours, and then you have to do it all over again two days later. There is not a throng of women’s players clamoring for best-of-five tennis at the Grand Slams.

It’s still t he third rail of equality in tennis.

Best-of-five sets only exists at the Grand Slams, where women and men compete for the same prize money — and a lot of folks complain that it’s equal pay for less work every time it comes up. It’s a prime example of another uneven dynamic, where women have to account for every possible bad-faith accusation that could emerge before opening their mouths on the biggest issues in their sport.

Duration isn’t the only element of work. Best-of-three requires immediate competitiveness, with little time for recovery. It’s not Swiatek’s fault that she is so good at plowing through the competition, and it’s no player’s fault that the best players in the men’s game might drop two sets to lesser opponents and have to claw back three.

It’s also not any WTA player’s fault that tennis audiences sometimes dismiss the variety of styles in the women’s game as “boring” — though they’re probably talking without watching. Anyone who has watched a WTA match this year, especially between Swiatek, Sabalenka, Gauff, and Rybakina would have to agree with the Pole’s comments after her Madrid final against Sabalenka.

“ Who’s gonna say now that women ‘s tennis is boring? ”

Men's grand-slam matches are 25% longer than in 1999. Does something need to change?

Stardom also fluctuates. When Wimbledon, and the French, U.S. and Australian Opens sell tickets, sponsorships and media rights, they mostly don’t sell separately for the men’s tournament and the women’s tournament. There were plenty of days and nights when Serena Williams was the featured match in New York and elsewhere, and a couple of guys were the undercard or the afterthought. In Rome this month, where men and women play best-of-three, the WTA semi-finals featured the top three players on tour and the best form player of 2024 in Danielle Collins , with the final again between world No 1 Swiatek and world No 2 Sabalenka.

The men’s semi-finalists had an average ranking of 19, with one of the finalists, Alexander Zverev, about to defend himself in a domestic abuse hearing while continuing to play . Some of that is to do with the caprices of injury and form — but they are intrinsic parts of tennis, and they don’t change the fact that the WTA Tour appears to be locking in to a generational rivalry while the ATP Tour is in relative flux.

If a similar dynamic emerges at Roland Garros, is the men’s event still qualitatively better because of two more sets?

Billie Jean King, the trailblazing Grand Slam champion and founding figurehead of the WTA Tour, is adamant: as long as there are different formats, there will be inequality.

Hang around with her even a little bit, and three phrases keep coming up.

“Same format.” “Equal content.” “Equal exposure.”

To King, if a women’s match only lasts 60 percent as long as a men’s match, then they will receive 60 percent of the television exposure as the men, and spend 60 percent of the time on the biggest courts in the biggest tournaments.

That math practically guarantees that women are less well-known and attract less money. There are exceptions — Williams, Maria Sharapova, Naomi Osaka , Emma Raducanu, Coco Gauff — but the numbers are hard to overcome. World No 1 Swiatek has recently bagged the huge sponsorships her status deserves, but it’s taken time.

Iga Swiatek's 100 weeks as world No 1: The streak, the slams, the bagels

Tournament directors say having men and women play best-of-five is impossible from a scheduling perspective. Too many too-long matches. Too few courts. And the players don’t want it.

King and others have offered a solution — best-of-three for everyone the first week; best-of-five the second. There’s precedent — 50 years ago at the French Open, the men played best-of-three for the first two rounds. Bjorn Borg and Chris Evert won their first Grand Slam titles, and you might remember that they did pretty well after that. The sun also continued to rise in the east.

The knock-on effects of the current system on scheduling also virtually guarantee more conflict and inequality — sometimes in the name of equality.

As night follows day

Tennis players of a certain age who spent time around private clubs remember times not very long ago when men got first dibs on high-demand slots. Elina Svitolina said that the men (regular players, not tour stars) still get the prime slots at the club near her home in Monte Carlo. Svitolina, top 20 in her sport, formerly a world No 3, had to practice early morning or at dusk.

Three years ago, the French Open started holding a night session with a featured singles match, which now starts at at 8:15 p.m. in the main stadium, Court Philippe Chatrier. The tournament markets it as the match of the day. The U.S. and Australian Open schedule two matches in their night sessions, until the late rounds.

During the first three years, Roland Garros organizers scheduled a total of four women’s matches at night. Amelie Mauresmo, the former women’s world No 1 and tournament director, initially justified the disparity by explaining that men’s tennis is more appealing.

She tried to walk that back but also explained that charging a premium for a session that might finish in an hour is problematic — a knock-on effect of those unequal formats that deprives top women of a primetime audience. Moving a doubles match onto Chatrier after Iga Swiatek blows through an opponent 6-0, 6-1 isn’t seen as viable.

Swiatek made it clear last year that she doesn’t care for playing at night.

“There are players who like the hype and the energy, and maybe the conditions, but for me it’s more comfortable to just have the normal day/night rhythm,” Swiatek said. “I think it’s more healthy for me to play day sessions.”

That was arguably a self-inflicted wound, as were Aryna Sabalenka’s recent comments about preferring men’s tennis . However, this also illustrates another unspoken dynamic: women have to be extra careful not to say anything denigrating about their sport, lest they get criticized for not supporting fellow players, even though a top men’s player saying something about their sport would likely not be considered an existential threat to its repute.

It’s also rare that male players speak up. Andy Murray’s corrections of journalists’ “first…” stats are an exception: the three-time Grand Slam champion has routinely reminded journalists of their forgetting about the Williams sisters, most notably in 2017 when a reporter claimed Sam Querrey was the first American to reach a major semi-final since 2009. Canadian Denis Shapovalov wrote that “I think some people might think of gender equality as mere political correctness” in an essay on the equal pay in the Players’ Tribune in 2023.

Furthermore, it’s well-documented that top men’s players have unspoken preferences, which they often communicate to tournaments, and which tournaments — unspokenly — try to accommodate or nudge around. (They do this some for top women, too). Rafael Nadal has said clay-court tennis should never take place at night, and it goes on.

The other scheduling inequality also happens at night. No-one, man or woman, wants to play the second late match at the U.S. or Australian Open, with a ridiculous start time .

The men argue that if women are getting equal pay then they should play the late match half the time. OK, but then a men’s match goes five sets in four hours and the women start at 11:30 pm in an empty stadium.

Sometimes scheduling benefits to men happen so fast no one really notices. The Madrid Open experimented with a new doubles format this year, cramming the men’s event mostly into the second half of the second week.

That meant men who weren’t playing the singles got an extra week off. A highly-ranked man who lost early could find a doubles partner, and with him an extra few days of free food, lodging and practice. Nice.

The women’s doubles? It started at the start. They didn’t have that option. Organizers didn’t purposefully set out to deprive them; it just happened, and they had to deal with it.

This attitude extends to matters of inequality in planning and infrastructure off-court, too; anxiety about change doesn’t just extend to the number of sets played or matches scheduled.

Wimbledon only relaxed its all-white dress code after concerns from players about menstruation last year, where the tournament previously required all clothing, including underwear, to be white. At the time, Magda Linette told The Athletic that she has “had a couple of situations at Wimbledon where I felt very uncomfortable,” and welcomed the change, but it had required strident protest at the previous year’s tournament to make it happen.

Top players have become increasingly open about discussing the impact of menstruation on form and performance, with numerous female players talking about PMS’ impact on their game — albeit while coding it as “girl things” in press conferences. China’s Zheng Qinwen saw cramps derail what would have been a famous victory against Iga Swiatek at the French Open in 2022, while Swiatek herself opened up about PMS contributing to her loss to Maria Sakkari of Greece at the same tournament in 2021. “PMS really hit me that day. I’m telling this for every young girl who doesn’t know what’s going on. Don’t worry, it’s normal. Everybody has it,” she said.

Women also suffer speculations about general injuries and “illness” that men never have to go through. Combined with the sport’s limited provisions for players that want to have children — there is no maternity pay, even though players that take time out can retain their previous ranking to enter 12 tournaments over a three-year period after giving birth — these changes and the increased visibility, through players like Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, and Elina Svitolina, also reinforce that tennis’ women are playing in a structure built for men.

On the tour, it is ever thus.

Wimbledon are relaxing their all-white dress code to ease the stress of women's periods

(Down) the bottom line

Ultimately, the starkest measure comes in dollars, euros, pounds.

Women and men have received equal prize money at all of the Grand Slam tournaments since 2007. Amid some fanfare, last year the WTA Tour announced that the 500-level tournaments would follow suit, along with that 2027 plan for the 1000-level tournaments one rung below the Grand Slams. But not until 2033, in almost a decade. At the time of the deal, Paula Badosa said, “I don’t know why it’s not equal right now.” Tour officials said new sales and marketing efforts need time to produce more revenue.

The WTA requires top players to participate in every Masters 1000 tournament as part of that deal. World No 4 Elena Rybakina, and Swiatek too, have previously expressed disappointment at the way the WTA communicated these changes. Last year in Rome, Rybakina had to lift her title gone midnight after rain delays. Organizers refused to move the match to Sunday, because of the men’s final. Schedule, audience, money.

Tournament organizers have long complained that equal prize money is impossible when WTA media deals are worth about 20 percent of ATP equivalents. Consequently, the WTA contributes far less than the ATP, and the prize money reflects that. That’s how two tournaments in Auckland, New Zealand organized essentially by the same people have the women playing for $262,000 and the men for $660,000.

Last year, male players shared $336million in prize money, including the Grand Slams. Women shared $170million.

Why are those media deals worth so much less? Women often receive second billing in mixed tournaments, play less desirable schedules and don’t get the same television coverage, because their matches are shorter. And then the players get blamed for not being able to bring in as much money. This is how it all coheres, into the ultimate self-fulfilling, blame-the-victim ouroboros that is seemingly impossible to slay.

Last year, Steve Simon, the chief executive of the WTA Tour, struck a deal with CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm, which bought 20 percent of a WTA commercial subsidiary for $150 million . The tour has launched a commercial ventures entity aimed at enhancing sales and marketing efforts and improve the visibility of tournaments, part of which is improving streaming and online showings of matches, which are currently limited in comparison to the ATP Tour.

“I would love to go to the hotel and open the TV and see a woman’s tennis match,” Jabeur said midway through the Madrid Open. “I haven’t seen once one tennis match of woman. For me, it’s really frustrating to see that.”

There are more improvements. After a series of disastrous decisions on venues, scheduling, and promotion which came to a nadir in Cancun last year , women will compete for about the same amount of prize money as the men at the season-ending Tour Finals — the WTA’s premier event and a knock-out showcase for the top eight players in the world — for the next three years.

They’ll just have to do so in Saudi Arabia , a country with a long history of human rights abuses, that has jailed women who have run afoul of the country’s leaders by pushing too hard for equality.

Welcome to the new dawn.

(Top photos: Hannah Peters; Julian Finney/Getty Images; Design: John Bradford)

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Matthew Futterman is an award-winning veteran sports journalist and the author of two books, “Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed” and “Players: How Sports Became a Business.”Before coming to The Athletic in 2023, he worked for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Star-Ledger of New Jersey and The Philadelphia Inquirer. He is currently writing a book about tennis, "The Cruelest Game: Agony, Ecstasy and Near Death Experiences on the Pro Tennis Tour," to be published by Doubleday in 2026. Follow Matthew on Twitter @ mattfutterman

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