Jack Ronilo finds his beat
Jack Ronilo has sat in the press box at college football games, been caught on camera in the background of a post-game interview with Nick Saban and asked a question at SEC Media Days — and he’s only 11.
As a sixth-grader at Oak Mountain Middle School, Jack Ronilo already is working as a reporter for Sports Illustrated Kids.
His work as a kid reporter is part of a one-year program he applied for, not totally expecting to be selected. Jack Ronilo first heard about the program in his Sports Illustrated Kids magazine, and with the support of his parents, he applied.
“This has been tremendous because when he first wanted to do it, I’m a realist, so I said, ‘Well, Jack, there are probably a bunch of people. Don’t get your hopes up,’” said Beth Ronilo, Jack Ronilo’s mom.
The application included a 400-word essay on a sporting event, team or athlete that affects his community as well as a 200-word essay on why he wanted to be a kid reporter. Jack Ronilo selected the Beat Auburn, Beat Hunger/Beat Bama, Beat Hunger food drive as the center of his article and interviewed individuals from local food banks.
A few weeks later, Jack got an email saying he was one of the 14 students selected for the program, and it was time to start reporting.
“Twice a month, we call my editor from Sports Illustrated that they give me, and I pitch story ideas for credentials,” he said. “Then he’ll apply for credentials.”
Jack Ronilo has written stories on Chelsea High School graduate Jake Ganus, the Alabama vs. USC game, being a TV analyst for the SEC Network and Auburn University softball in his first few months as a kid reporter. When he applied for and started the program, Jack said he did not think he would have the chance to talk to the individuals he has met, including Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen and Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason.
Most of his friends think being a kid reporter is cool, but not everyone believes the opportunities he has received.
“Most of my friends don’t believe me, but there’s a picture in the library of me with Dan Mullen,” Jack Ronilo said, laughing. “I don’t know how it got there, but it did. And I think a bunch of people saw me stand behind Nick Saban in his [Alabama vs. USC] post game.”
SEC Media Days has been one of his favorite events to cover, Ronilo said, including asking Mason a question in front of a crowd of people.
“He got up in front of a crowd of, what, 200 reporters at [SEC] Media Days and asked Derek Mason a question,” Beth Ronilo said. “I wasn’t in town, and I got the video, and I was like, ‘I can’t believe he did that.’”
The experience has also been a worthwhile commitment. Jack said he has learned more about writing and the world of reporting, and he is glad to get the field experience at a young age.
“I’ve learned a lot about the career and how a story you write in February might not get pitched until June or July,” he said. “It’s not frustrating, but it is a little.”
His parents also agree that the job experience and opportunity to make contacts in the field are beneficial, even at age 11.
“We’re only in sixth grade, and we’ve got a lot of time to decide what we want to be when we grow up, but he knows; he’s gotten a little taste of it, what parts he likes and what parts of it he doesn’t,” Beth Ronilo said.