Oak Mountain student chosen to be SI Kids reporter

When Henry Jacobs applied to be a Sports Illustrated Kids reporter in March, he did so for fun and to see if he would actually get chosen.

A history teacher at Indian Springs mentioned the opportunity to Kelly Jacobs, Henry’s mom, believing Henry would be a good fit. With only a week until the deadline, he began working on the assignments neededto apply. 

“I buckled down and decided to do it,” he said. “I had to write three articles to apply; it was a lot of pressure.”

Several weeks after submitting a 400-word article about a sports team making a difference in his community, a 200-word essay about why he wanted to be an SI Kids kid reporter and two story ideas related to his community, Henry got the call that he had been chosen.

The 12-year-old Oak Mountain Middle School student is one of only 15 students to be a part of the 2017-18 class of Sports Illustrated Kids kid reporters. He will have the role until March 2018.

For the contest, open to ages 10 to 14, Henry Jacobs wrote his main story on the Over the Mountain Miracle League, a baseball league for developmentally disabled children and adults. He chose this as his feature because his friend Alyssa plays on the team. The two have been friends since they were 4 years old.

While Henry doesn’t play organized sports, he enjoys watching them, and supports his twin sister, Lillian, at hersoftball games. 

In his essay on why he applied, Henry wrote about his love of sports and of writing. 

“I was honest and said that while I like writing, if I had to pick a career, computer programming/game design would be a No. 1 career choice, but writing is No. 2,” he said. “I might not take classes on being an author, but instead just write books in my spare time. That’s my general plan.” 

Kelly Jacobs said her son has “lots of story ideas in his head and can see them as games or as books, but isn’t sure how to get them out there.”

While his main goal is to write novels, Henry Jacobs said he may considersports journalism. 

The two community story ideas he pitched were the return of the UAB football program and Fight 4 Life Urban Boxing Ministry, which instills self-discipline, self-confidence and physical fitness through boxing, mentoring and fellowship services.

Henry will be mentored by Sports Illustrated Kids editor Mark Bechtel, who is also the NBA editor for Sports Illustrated. Bechtel said that this is one of the most notable programs they have at the magazine, and every year they receive so many great candidates that they take more than they intend to.

Although Henry doesn’t have sports writing experience, Bechtel was impressed with his submission and looks forward to working with him. 

“Henry submitted a story that was very well reported and well written,” he said. “He seems like a natural, and that’s why we picked him.” 

Henry’s story pitch for UAB football drew the attention of Bechtel, who lived in Huntsville before graduating from high school. He has had friends from Alabama previously tell him this would be a great story tobe published. 

“I thought it was a good thing to delve into and a good idea from him,” Bechtel said. “He had a good idea for angle, as he knows one of the former players.”

Henry will write the Fight 4 Life story first and then the UAB football story closer to fall. His stories will be published online at sikids.com from now until his term ends in March 2018.