Sara Tidwell comes in peace from the North, eager to tell Athens-area sports stories
It’s me, hi. I’m the new reporter, it’s me.
Sara Tidwell, born and raised Northerner at your service, Athens.
I will cover high school sports for the Banner-Herald, while also assisting with University of Georgia athletics.
I just finished a six month internship with The Sporting News covering nationally trending news and am ready for my next challenge. I’ve been a Pure Michigander for 23 years. The southernmost place I’ve ever called home was Cincinnati, and I’ve also lived in Hartford, Conn., which was an equally long haul to the East.
I come in peace from East Lansing, Mich., where I earned a degree in journalism in May 2022 from Michigan State University. While there, I worked for the campus’ independent and award-winning newspaper — The State News — covering Spartan sports.
Truth is, I wanted to be an author. I actually applied and was accepted to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y. and was planning to study creative writing out of high school — though $80,000 tuition was too much.
Like many girls in their early teen era, I had an incognito Wattpad account and tried my hand at writing fanfiction. Creating alternate universes of my favorite characters from series like Harry Potter and Teen Wolf was the ultimate pastime before I was forced into a real job at Taco Bell.
I applied to Michigan State mostly because my dad and uncle are alumni. I’ve been a Spartan since birth and even had my diaper changed at Spartan Stadium on a stack of newspapers — must’ve been my parent’s way of influencing my future.
Though originally deferred, I claimed a coveted spot a few months later for the fall of 2018 and began a rollercoaster experience I wouldn’t trade for the world.
Now, here I am, a second-generation MSU alumna driving thirteen hours from my parent’s house to Athens, ready to start my career.
How I became interested in sports reporting is silly.
My friend said one day, “I want to be a sideline reporter, get to interview people like Odell Beckham Jr.”
I laughed, but the statement stuck, and I called my guardian angel Julie Hagopian (the godsend MSU journalism advisor) to enroll as a sports writing minor. Then I spent all summer emailing Madison O’Connor, the then-editor in chief of The State News, basically pleading for a position on her staff as a sophomore.
It’s funny how things work out. I I fell in love with sports reporting when the gymnastics coach greeted me warmly at the 2019 Big Five gymnastics tournament, his face lit up and a thank you rolled off his tongue because I had driven to Toledo to cover his team. I showed up for a program once forgotten in tragedy, given them a platform not wrought with trauma, and his willingness to open up helped me in my early days more than he will ever know.
To say I have a strong passion for women’s sports is a bit of an understatement. I’m itching to get over to Stegeman Coliseum for UGA women’s hoops or to Jack Turner Stadium for what I hear is an electric softball scene. Georgia gymnastics immediately flipped my interest and women’s soccer too.
If you see me out at local high school games or around Georgia’s campus please don’t hesitate to introduce yourself and let me know the happenings.
Sara Tidwell covers Athens-area high school sports and University of Georgia athletics for the Athens Banner-Herald. Ping her at stidwell@gannett.com and @saramtidwell on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Meet Sara Tidwell, the new Athens-area high school sports reporter
