I’m guessing you have just as many members of your sports staff who dream of some day working at ESPN as I do, so with that in mind, let’s teach them one of the backbones of Bristol’s sports coverage: the highlight package.
This is a nice mix of the gamer and live Tweeting, as it picks out key moments to highlight, but tells them in sequential order. These are similar to what you would see on SportsCenter or the local nightly news, as the storyteller cuts up all of their broadcast footage into a concise 60ish-second package.
To best execute this type of story, try to have two camera operators so you’re getting plays at both ends of the court/field, and take really detailed notes. If you don’t jot down when key plays happen, you will find yourself frustrated and exhausted as you sift back through all of your footage from the entire night. Along those lines, take shots of the scoreboard throughout the night so you can be accurate with the time and score of each highlight.
Be sure to grab rosters to correctly identify players in each clip, and live by the same rule from gamers: sports fans love stats! Tell them how many points, yards, etc. that particular athlete had that night while showing a specific highlight of them.
And also live by the rule of SportsCenter (and your physics class): for every action, there is a reaction. For every three-pointer, there is a high five; for every touchdown, there is a student-section celebration; for every bad play, there is a coach mentoring an athlete. Get a mix of both types of shots for your package!
Finally, when you have all of your clips cut up, write a quick script to use for your voiceovers (VO’s) to keep the story moving and to give context for each highlight.
Here is an example of a highlight package from a basketball game:
https://prospectornow.com/30246/sports/the-underdog-knights-get-it-done-against-the-huskies/
Note: This post was originally part of my MJE Project, “Beyond the Box Score: A Multimedia Approach to Comprehensive High School Sports Coverage,” which I completed in the Fall of 2025.
Written By: Jason Block
