Associated Press Sports Editors, the APSE Foundation and Billie Jean King are thrilled to kick off Women’s History Month by announcing the creation 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 new 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 currently include more than 170 news organizations of all sizes from around the country.
“Billie Jean King has been a champion for gender equality in sports for more than 60 years, and creating a prestigious award in her name specifically for coverage of women’s sports – I’ve already started affectionately referring to it as The Billie — elevates the great work being done and incentivizes this coverage in a way that is commensurate with the popularity and growth of women’s sports,” said APSE President Naila-Jean Meyers of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. “It is time for writers who are consistently and expertly telling the stories of female athletes to have an award of their own.”
The award will be given through a journalism contest administered by Associated Press Sports Editors and the APSE Foundation. The contest is open to all North American media organizations and individuals involved in sports writing, including newsletters and collegiate media. Freelance writers are eligible to enter and can submit work that appeared in different publications.
“The people who cover women’s sports are among the most entrepreneurial writers in the business, and this contest wants to honor that,” Meyers said.
Each writer should submit a portfolio of four stories published in 2023 about women athletes or events, issues and trends in girls and women’s sports at any level: professional, college, high school and/or youth. The entry deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, March 31.
An early-bird entry fee of $50 per portfolio is applicable through March 23. Entry fee will rise to $75 from March 24-March 31. 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.
Enter the Billie Jean King Award writing contest by clicking on the link below:
