Gabriela Rożnawska `26 needed two credits, preferably a social studies course. In the list of course offerings, one class stuck out — sport journalism.
Rożnawska’s interest in sports provided further impetus to take this course, which is singular in its topic, as Grinnell lacks a journalism major and department. Taught by Andy Hamilton `85, associate professor of physical education, this course above the weight room takes students through various aspects of the journalistic process as it relates to sports.
Hamilton, who would like his students to call him Coach, taught the course for the first time in 2012, and brought it back in 2023 as a special topic. He continued teaching it due to student request. He said that he thinks students were excited to have a specific journalism opportunity on campus.
“The exciting part is, I’m going to introduce the students to writing a short sports story on four or five different sports,” said Hamilton.
Students in the course turn in a piece of writing every Tuesday. “Maybe this is the icing on the cake, is that the students are going to write a feature story on a student athlete or program.”
Hamilton said that he will grade students based on effort — he wants them to immerse themselves in the material and learn not only by writing, but also by reading and editing each other’s pieces.
“One of the things I learned generally as a writer at Grinnell is that reading a lot of writing helps you become a better writer,” he said.
Hamilton also said that he wants students to understand the new possibilities available to them with today’s journalism. “In terms of journalism, there’s so many places to put your writing,” he said.
Rożnawska said that one of the reasons she took the course is that, as an international student, she wants to more fully understand American sports jargon.
“I really like sports, I like knowing how they operate, and I like being able to at least understand the rules and play a little bit of different sports, like baseball,” she said.
She also said understanding sports is important to her so she can better understand the sports media she consumes and even changes the way that she watches sports. “I think when you’re trying to write about it, you’re trying to see it objectively,” Rożnawska said.
Hamilton expressed a desire to expose students to different aspects of sport journalism, including from Grinnell alumni in the field. This semester, he is bringing in Alissa Hirsh `16, who has worked for the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)’s Chicago Sky as a blogger and then for the Chicago Sun-Times covering the Sky.
Hirsh was a member of the women’s basketball team during her time at Grinnell, and led the team in points for three years straight following her strong first-year season.
Hamilton said that while students often have simple reasons for taking his course — according to him, the most common response is “I like sports” — the course has many positive outcomes.
“It’s an opportunity to involve themselves in a place that gives them happiness,” he said. “Maybe they’ll be sport journalists, but if they love sport or if they love writing, I hope that they can blend those couple of things together and get something out of the course.”
