2000 Emmanuel Moutsatsos

EMMANUEL MOUTSATSOS
by Don Goodwin

The 2000 NIKE Bursary selection involved candidates from several parts of the country, adding complexity to the adjudication process for the selection committee.

Emmanuel Moutsatsos

Emmanuel Moutsatsos

The 2000 recipient was from the journalism course at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta. The 2000 NIKE Bursary was presented to Emmanuel Moutsatos, who explained his attraction to sports journalism this way: “The first Sports Illustrated (magazine) that I bought was in 1994. An author by the name of Rick Reilly had written the cover story on the third consecutive NBA title won by the Chicago Bulls. Little did I know that he would affect the choices that I’d face later in life.

The article was not simply a sports article with scores and highlights, the article was a story filled with feeling, humour and pathos. The way in which he used his words felt so real and flowed with such ease. I soon realized that I wanted to bring this sort of reality to others. Writing articles that were not just articles; composing stories that would get the attention of readers. Make them take notice of not merely the score but also the games within the game, the battles within the teams and everything else that makes sport so powerful in our society.

Hoping to fulfill my dreams of working as a sportswriter in Canada and at some point doing articles for Sports Illustrated, I enrolled in Grant MacEwan College’s journalism program. I learned that I was one of only a handful of people who had come straight from high school into the course. I realized that I’d have to work harder than anyone else if I wanted to succeed.

With that in mind I latched on as a sportswriter for the school newspaper covering occasional sports events when the main writer couldn’t make them. I covered the CCAC Men’s National Basketball Championships and was fortunate enough to have two of my articles published by newspapers in British Columbia.