Associated Press Sports Editors, the APSE Foundation and Billie Jean King are partnering again during Women’s History Month for Year 2 of the Billie Jean King Award for Excellence in Women’s Sports Coverage, an annual sports journalism prize for reporting and writing about girls’ and women’s sports.
This award is a continuation of APSE’s mission of annually recognizing professional excellence in sports journalism with a wide-ranging national contest. APSE’s members include more than 170 news organizations of all sizes from around the country.
The award will be given through a journalism contest administered by Associated Press Sports Editors and the APSE Foundation.
This year the contest will be split into the following categories:
– Pro sports
– College sports
– High school/community sports
– At-large (Olympics, combination of sports, column writing, etc.)
Note: The at-large category is comprised of stories that would fall in multiple other categories, as well as columns or other general stories about women’s sports at all levels.
Each writer should submit a portfolio of four stories published in 2024 about women athletes or events, issues and trends in girls and women’s sports at any level. The entry deadline is 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on Monday, March 31, 2025.
An early-bird entry fee of $50 per portfolio is applicable through March 24. The entry fee will rise to $75 from March 25-31. This contest is open to all North American media organizations and individuals involved in sports writing. You do not need to be an APSE member to enter. Freelance writers and student journalists are eligible and can submit work that appeared in different publications. Newsletter writers can also enter. There’s no limit on the number of entries an individual organization can have, but each reporter must be entered and paid for separately.
A panel of judges selected by APSE will pick at least five finalists and a winner. Depending on the number and quality of entries, the judges may award honorable mentions and special citations. Please send any questions about this contest to apsecontest@gmail.com.
The Associated Press Sports Editors, founded in 1974, is a national sports journalism organization, representing more than 170 publications. It annually bestows the Red Smith Award, given to a person who has made major contributions to sports journalism, and the Jack Berninger Award, given for exemplary service to APSE, along with its writing, photography, print and digital contests. The APSE Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization established to support journalism education and diversity, including the APSE Diversity Fellowship for women sports journalists, sports journalists of color and LGBTQ sports journalists.