As we launch our Young Sportswriter of the Year competition, here is some advice on how to excel by the authors of the Football School books

If you love sport then you have what it takes to enter the Football School/Guardian Young Sportswriter competition. You’re halfway there! In all writing, passion and enthusiasm for the subject matter is key. Here are 10 top tips that will help you develop into the best writer you can be.

1) Read!

You probably do this anyway, but spend time reading about sport, whether online, in newspapers and magazines, or in books. Not only will you learn lots of fascinating facts but you will also develop an understanding of how sports articles are written. In a match report, for example, you need to mention the result towards the beginning. The reader wants to know who won straight away.

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2) Think!

If you are going to write about a match, choose an exciting one. If you are going to write about a person, choose someone you find fascinating. It sounds obvious but if you are not interested in the match or the person you will probably struggle to make the story interesting.

3) Plan!

List the facts you want to have in your story and sketch out a structure. The best pieces of writing have a beginning, a middle and an end. If you are stuck on how to start the story that is fine. You can start writing the story in the middle and write the beginning later.

4) Be clear!

The best writing is clear writing. There are tricks to writing clearly. One is to write in short sentences. Another is always to use simple language. Even if the ideas are complicated, keep the language simple.

5) Don’t repeat!

We said don’t repeat! Avoid repeating the same words, since this will make your text boring to read. In football, for example, players are always kicking the ball, but rather than use the word “kick” all the time you could use a more descriptive word like curl, slot, fire, poke or hook.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Harry Kane shoots at goal … but there are plenty of words you can use that are more descriptive. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

6) Add context!

Include relevant background. For example, if you are writing about a football match it is important to tell the reader what sort of match it is: is it a cup final, a relegation battle or a derby between your school and your rivals down the road?

7) Don’t assume!

You may be very well-informed about a team or a person but do not assume your reader is. For example, if you refer to a team’s “famous victory” you need to spell out what that victory was. You cannot assume the person reading the story will know what you are referring to unless you state it clearly.

8) Avoid jargon!

Jargon means language only a specialist will understand, such as “the low block”, a phrase used by coaches to describe teams who keep their defenders near their goal. Make sure every word you use would be understandable to a classmate who does not share the same interests as you.

9) Avoid cliches!

A cliche is a phrase that is overused, like “cool as a cucumber”, or “110%”. Cliches make the text feel predictable and boring. If you want to describe a player as happy, avoid “over the moon” and if you want to describe someone as sad, avoid tired phrases like “sick as a parrot”.

10) Have a conclusion!

It is always nice to end a piece of text with either a summary of what has come before or a final thought.