First year Journalism student finalist in prestigious competition
Thu, 11 Feb 2016 16:31:00 GMT
First year University of Huddersfield sports journalist Dan Godfrey is in the final three of the prestigious David Welch Student Sportswriter of the Year competition.
Dan, 19, and his fellow finalists will gather at the Sports Journalists Association (SJA) awards dinner in London on 22 February to discover the identity of the winner.
As Dan has only been on the sports journalism course since September 2015, it is remarkable achievement to have got this far in the biggest national student sportswriting competition.
His three submissions included an illuminating feature on greyhound racing at Wimbledon, his 10 most under-rated football managers and an in-class article on the Olympic rowing gold medallist Helen Glover.
"I saw the competition advertised online a few weeks ago, and read what past winners had said about how the award has helped them, so decided to enter," Dan said.
"It was only a matter of hours between finding out I had made the final 11. Seeing I'm in the last three, it's only just sinking in. I'm excited to be going to London for the SJA Awards with some of the most successful sports journalists in the UK, and I look forward to representing Huddersfield at the event."
Sports journalism tutor Chris Irvine said: "Dan has grabbed every opportunity so far on the course. At this early stage of his degree, it is a quite a feat to be up for such a major prize. It's a credit to him."
The student sportswriting competition was launched in 2012 in memory of the former sports editor of The Daily Telegraph, David Welch.
A huge fan of fine writing, who prospered the careers of many of sports media’s best-known journalists and broadcasters, from Sir Michael Parkinson to Paul Hayward, Welch ran the Telegraph sports desk for 15 years with an adventurous spirit and ground-breaking results.
The competition is dedicated to uncovering the next generation of brilliant writers who understand that coverage of sport – both in its breadth and detail – can encompass everything from comedy to tragedy to trenchant opinion, colour and illuminating thought.
