Sports Desk: Covering a Coed Game Without Clichés
While two coed teams play, a student news desk takes notes and writes a short game story, which is then reviewed against a checklist of gender bias common in sports media. Students explore sports journalism as a career and look at how language treats male and female athletes differently.
How to play
- Quick read of two real or made-up headlines about athletes, then discuss: do they talk about performance, or about looks, clothes or personal life? Introduce the bias checklist (5 min).
- First half of coed 5v5 team handball; four reporters per team note plays, stats and halftime quotes; one person may take action photos on a phone, no close-ups (8 min).
- Second half with roles flipped: reporters play and players report (8 min).
- Each desk writes a 100–120 word game story with a headline, a key stat and a quote (8 min).
- Swap stories and review with the bias checklist: diminutives, "the team and the girls", comments on bodies, unequal spotlight; rewrite one paragraph (6 min).
Rules
- Photos show game action only and are not posted or shared outside class.
- No hard contact; respect the goal area.
- Quotes are real: ask the player, and respect it if they'd rather not talk.
- Reviews focus on the text, never on the person who wrote it.
Variations
Easier
Fill-in template: headline, score, key play and quote.
Standard
Free-form 100–120 word story.
Harder
Also record a 30-second radio version and play it for the class.
Adaptations
- Visually impaired students: be a radio reporter with a partner narrating; record the story by voice.
- Deaf or hard-of-hearing students: interview in writing in the notebook and handle the stats.
- Limited mobility or injury: stay at the desk for both halves as editor-in-chief.
Learning goals
- Learn what sports journalists do.
- Identify and fix gender bias in sports language.
- Write a short text with data and sources.
Equipment for a class of 25
- team handballs: 2
- pinnies: 10
- notebooks: 8
- pens: 8
- phones: 2
Teacher tip
If you'd rather skip phones, have one student "photograph" the key play by sketching it. The usual weak spot is writing only the final score: require a stat, a specific play and a quote.
PatioLab has "Sports Desk: Covering a Coed Game Without Clichés" and 8714 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More main activities for High School
"Switch!": Talking Defense Against Screens in 3v3
3v3 games where the offense uses ball screens and the defense must decide out loud whether to switch or stay with their player.
“Throw Like a Girl”: Your Other Arm Explains It
In pairs, each student throws with their dominant arm and their other arm while their partner checks technique.
1 vs. 1 Channel Duel: Dodge and Score
In narrow channels, an attacker with the ball tries to reach the line without the defender pulling a tag.