From Classroom to Press Box: Launching a Career in Sports Journalism
Lead image by Seth Hoffman / Unsplash
By Elizabeth Kane
For many young hockey fans, working as a sports reporter for NHL.com is a dream job. Fourth-year journalism student Zoe Pierce is living that reality, covering NHL games, interviewing players and seeing her name on the byline – all before graduating from Carleton University.
Pierce nurtured a lifelong love of sports through competitive diving – first as an athlete and later as a coach. Knowing she wanted to stay connected to the world of athletics, Pierce found she could fulfill her passion by telling stories that bring fans closer to the athletes behind the game.
“I always try to write beyond who won,” she says.
“I focus on the story of the athlete because that’s what the sports audience wants to read.”
When deciding where to study, Pierce’s long-standing desire to live in Ottawa combined with her passion for writing made Carleton’s prestigious School of Journalism and Communication a natural choice. For Pierce, the skills, experience and network offered by journalism program helped her to score a rare feat: breaking into professional sportswriting while still an undergrad.
“The journalism program has done a lot for me,” says Pierce, noting her courses sharpened the quality of her writing, while the experience of chasing multiple challenging deadlines equipped her for working in a newsroom.
“It really forced us to adapt and prepare for how it is in the real world.”
Professional League Writing: Covering the Ottawa Senators
Pierce benefited by learning from instructors who had experience in the industry, including a sports journalism course taught by Ian Mendes, broadcaster, sportswriter and current Ottawa Senators vice-president of communications. Class assignments gave Pierce the opportunity to interview and network with journalists, as well as gain experience through reporting on the PWHL’s Ottawa Charge team as a final project.
When an opportunity to cover the Ottawa Senators for NHL.com came up, Pierce was included on the list of potential journalists proposed by Mendes to fill the role.
Following a game-night test run and interviews, Pierce got the job.
“A lot of people in this role are experienced journalists,” she says.
“I have my very own press pass, which feels surreal.”
On game days, Pierce’s mornings kick off by covering the team’s practices, making notes about the rosters and writing game projections. When she’s not in class, she spends the day at the arena before the game.
As players hit the ice, Pierce works on her articles – preparing a short game summary that is sent for publishing as soon as the final buzzer sounds. Her first article of the night filed, Pierce joins the players’ media scrum to get quotes for her story.
“I’ll go talk to the visiting team and the visiting team’s coach with a few other journalists,” she says, noting her journalism contacts with the home team help supply the remaining quotes.
“Then it’s back to writing. I have usually around an hour to finish my story and send it in.”
Getting Started in Sports Journalism
Pierce’s early professional success didn’t arrive overnight, her path to sports reporting started by honing her skills through classroom assignments.
Those skills and her portfolio of coursework were needed when Pierce applied for her first journalism role – a competitive summer internship with the Winnipeg Free Press covering local amateur sports leagues and learning from established journalists.
“It was a learning curve at first,” she says.
“To have my work show up at my door the next morning in the newspaper was amazing.”
Back on campus, Pierce joined the Charlatan, Carleton’s student newspaper, as its sports editor. Every week, her team brings the inspiring stories of Ravens athletes to thousands of Carleton students.
One of her assignments was to fly to Calgary to cover the 2026 U SPORTS Men’s Final 8. Pierce was courtside to capture the excitement when the Ravens men’s basketball team defeated Bishop’s Gaiters to win their 18th national championship title.
“It was so impactful to be able to be there for the players’ first or second interviews right after winning,” she says.
Graduating With Dream Job Experience
Now in the late stages of wrapping up her undergrad degree, Pierce is focused on continuing to build her career in sports journalism.
Noting she has often been the only woman sportswriter in her workplaces, she hopes sharing her experience will encourage women to pursue opportunities in sports media so that future newsrooms will be more inclusive.
With one class of her undergrad left to go, Pierce expresses her appreciation for the Journalism department’s assistance in preparing her graduating class for their future careers. Pierce credits the program’s professors as a key factor in her success, learning from their professional experience and benefiting from their mentorship.
“Hockey is my favourite sport, so working for the NHL has always been my dream job,” she says.
“I could never have imagined I would already have this work experience while I’m still in school.”
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