An Athlete By Choice A Writer With Passion

An+Athlete+By+Choice+A+Writer+With+Passion

From getting a press pass, sitting on the bleachers to being able to interview athletes face to face. Damien Alvarado has began to take his sports writing to another level.

Alvarado started his sports writing career with little knowledge of writing sports when he was just a sophomore in high school.

Journalism adviser Adriana Guzman said, “Damien has chosen to help us with the online part of The Conqueror he’s helped us with the sports part in particular and he’s even done lessons to the class.”

The Los Altos journalism team was rarely known for writing sports stories. The paper generally published small write ups and sports scores before his arrival. When Alvarado joined it seemed to be a key point for the schools athletics page, and the community began to notice his work.

Alvarado said, “My expectations were not what I thought they were going to be joining the class because there were no other sports journalist. I sort of had to teach myself how to write sports stories.”

As he began to attend varsity football games his sophomore year he payed close attention to the plays, the calls, and the players who had done something good for the team.

Alvarado said, “It being my first year writing sports stories I would consider it a blessing because I was able to cover Tyler Nevens, and the football team that went 13-1.”

It  being his senior year, the three years of experiences has definitely helped him get more exposure.  He earned honorable mention for sports writing at the JEA National Journalism Convention in April of 2018 in San Francisco, Ca.

Guzman said, “He has participated in writing meeting deadlines, attending  games , covering stories that require him to talk to the coaches, and players. He’s also been apart of fundraising to help other journalism students go to conventions.”

He gained enough experience to take on the next level of what his future career will be. He created his own segment called THE CONQUEROR RUNDOWN SPORTS EDITION. This segment is a student produced production where all athletics throughout the school are recognized for their hard work, and dedication for the sport.

Alvarado said, “Being in journalism has translated to the broadcasting side because they are both outlets that let me do what I love and that is reporting sports. Whether I’m recapping a game or giving information about a player, it all involves writing so they both go well with one another.”

Alvarado has gone farther than just writing, and being the host of his school news segment. He has joined the SoCal PrepInsider team where he is one of the first high school students to send in his schools sports stories in Southern California.

His main goal after he leaves off to Washington state is to continue having a legacy here at Los Altos high school. He wants his work to motivate younger class men to be encouraged, and not be afraid to write a sports story for their schools athletic program. It is all about trying rather than losing out on opportunities.