Ahead of the Netball World Cup and for the Mirror’s Belonging Project, I decided to interview two England netball players, Layla Gusgoth and Jade Clarke. The interview, which was conducted across Zoom, lasted around 20 mins apiece, with both players giving detailed answers.

However, as the interviews were conducted a month before the first game, I had to ensure the questions/answers were going to be relevant and still worthy when the tournament started – as that’s when we wanted to publish the piece. I managed to produce a detailed quotes-led piece from both, who previewed the tournament and opening game in South Africa.

Instead of using a drop in intro, I chose to go newsy as felt that was the best way to entice the reader, especially given netball isn’t as widely followed as football and other sports. In the end, I managed to knock up a 1000 word feature, which was produced in the morning of England’s first match. As for the headline, I decided to try and spice it up, by using England, World Cup and netball, three key components.

To further entice the reader, I decided not to include the names of Clarke and Gusgoth in the HL, and just refer to them as part of the England team. Though the piece didn’t do as well as others, it was important to produce a piece like this for the Mirror brand and for the Belonging Project, ensuring we are covering all types of bases. 

Read the story HERE