Most eleven year olds asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” will answer a singer or an astronaut; but for an eleven year old Dom Smith, the answer was, and always has been, a Football Reporter.
I recently interviewed Dom Smith, a 2022 York PPE graduate, and current Football Reporter for The Evening Standard.
During Dom’s time at York, he was heavily involved with Nouse. He held the position of Sports Editor almost immediately after joining and was later Chief Sub Editor. Dom’s roles and experience within Nouse helped to grow his confidence as a writer. Dom primarily wrote for Sports, but also pushed himself to write about topics he was less “clued up on” - Comment, for example. Dom particularly enjoyed the collaborative atmosphere at Nouse, and the opportunity to write for a variety of sections. However, his involvement in journalism while at university extended beyond Nouse. Dom started a website that would later be responsible for a job offer from The Evening Standard. ‘EnglandFootball.org’ was another medium in which Dom could write and publish his articles, and was particularly useful at demonstrating his proactivity, innovation, and enthusiasm for Sports journalism. Taking steps to open doors for yourself, and to get your name out there, is something that Dom really recommends to students and young people wishing to break into journalism.
After York, Dom decided that it was time to gain a qualification specific to journalism. He studied his NCTJ, a postgraduate diploma in multimedia journalism, at News Associates. Learning about everything from podcasts, to shorthand, these skills came in useful for his current job. It was also during Dom’s time studying for his NCTJ in which he was contacted with a job offer by The Evening Standard which he attributes to his extensive portfolio on Nouse and his website, alongside some other freelance articles. However, wanting to finish his qualification first, Dom accepted a freelance writing position, then joined as a Football Reporter full-time post-graduation. Dom spoke to me about the relief he felt being offered this job, feeling “assured [he was] doing the right thing” and with a tangible reward for his hard work.
In 2023, around the same time as he accepted his freelance position at The Evening Standard, Dom was named the ‘Hugh McIlvanney Student Football Writer of the Year’ by the Football Writers’ Association for a piece he submitted about a Christian preacher outside football stadiums. Dom explained to me that the award was based on one piece of writing, irrespective of a wider portfolio. Dom decided to interview and write about Ben Jones, a Christian preacher outside London football stadiums. The article reads as though you’re a fly on the wall, listening to this fascinating conversation detailing Jones’ background, as well as the difficulties and “thick skin” he has developed as a result of his preaching. A read of this article will certainly show why Dom was worthy of this award.
“So you’ve got your dream job, what’s next?”, I asked Dom.
Few 22 year olds can claim to have their ‘dream job’, and even fewer to have achieved their childhood dream, but Dom isn’t done! Having already reported on the Wimbledon women’s final, and appeared on radio stations including TalkSport and BBC Radio 5, Dom still has some things left on his wishlist: reporting on the World Cup, for example. This drive and ambition, in addition to his obvious love for sports journalism, is admirable and makes his success thus far unsurprising.
The final thing that Dom and I discussed was advice to aspiring journalists, particularly those wanting to pursue a career in sports journalism. Dom recommends writing and keeping a blog to demonstrate consistency and dedication, in addition to consuming as much journalism as possible to find styles that you like. Though minor setbacks are a fact of life, Dom advises not taking rejection personally. Instead, open doors and create opportunities for yourself through what Dom calls “polite persistence”.
I’d like to thank Dom Smith for taking part in AlumNouse. I have also linked his portfolio at the Evening Standard, and his X (Twitter) profile for any aspiring sports journalists to take a look at.
https://www.standard.co.uk/author/dom-smith
@MrDomSmith on X
Want to get involved? Whether you are a current UoY student and want to write for AlumNOUSE, or you’re a York alum and want to share your story, please contact me via my email: grace.bannister@nouse.co.uk. To find out more info on AlumNOUSE see my LinkedIn post and the previous AlumNouse articles.
