SUMMER CLASSIC II

Now Batting … BTS’ Summer Sports Memoir Writing Contest

Don’t miss our sizzling two-round event with two cash prizes

Screenshot via YouTube.

Grab your favorite pen, put on your thinking cap, and wiggle into those batting, er, typing gloves. It’s time for the summer league of storytelling…

Welcome, all, to [Beyond the Scoreboard’s](http://Our newest tournament is structured similarly to our BTS Sports Writing Bowl contest last December. There will be only two rounds, though, this time. The prompt above is for the opening round only. Stories must be submitted by Thursday, July 31, 11 p.m. PST to be eligible. The top four entries, which will be announced Sunday, August 3, move on to the championship round with a new prompt. The final deadline is Friday, September 5, 11 p.m. PST. The first- and second-place winners will be announced Sunday, September 7. First place is $40, while the runner-up prize is $20. Be sure to use "Summer Sports Classic" as one of your tags, and as a kicker (I can add the kicker if needed). The BTS editing team of David Asch, Scot Butwell and Mike Butler will serve as the judges.) Summer Sports Classic II writing contest.

Beyond the Scoreboard is recruiting all ballplayers-at-heart, bench coaches of imagination, and stat-sheet geeks to step into the box and swing for something mightier than a box score.

BTS wants your very best summer sports memoir-style stories. Drenched in nostalgic sweat, dugout humor, and that strange, star-producing magic that makes a ho-hum scrimmage feel like Game Seven of the World Series.

Bring us walk-off moments. Locker room legends. Disastrous tryouts. Halftime pep talks… that should’ve maybe stayed in your head. Give us grit, glory, and the perfectly timed airball of a memory.

Here’s the Summer Sports Classic II’s opening-round writing prompt:

Write a first-person sports memoir of a summer memory that includes the phrase “summer loving had me a blast” somewhere in the piece.

That’s it. And no, this doesn’t have to be a love story. Forget about Sandy and Danny! However, it does have to capture some summertime emotion. Summer camps, summer travels, Little League baseball, friendships, fishing trips, Sandlot adventures. Or, the non-literal meaning of summer, representing a person’s coming of age, or summer symbolizing a carefree period in life. Be creative. And swing for the fences.

BTS’ Summer Sports Classic II is structured as a tournament, similar to our BTS Sports Writing Bowl. There will be only two rounds, though. The prompt above (“summer loving had me a blast”) is for the opening round only. Stories must be submitted by Thursday, July 2, 11 p.m. PST to be eligible.

The top four entries, announced on Sunday, July 5, advance to the championship round with a new prompt. The final-round deadline is Thursday, August 6, 11 p.m. PST. The first- and second-place winners will be announced Sunday, August 9.

First place is $40, while the runner-up prize is $20.

Be sure to use “Summer Sports Classic II” as one of your tags, and as a kicker (I can add the kicker if needed).

The BTS editing team of David Asch, Scot Butwell, and Mike Butler will serve as the judges.

Rules:

1. No AI work will be accepted. BTS runs stories through AI detector programs. If a story comes up more than 10 percent, it will not be considered or run.
2. None of the Beyond the Scoreboard editors can enter.
3. No copyrighted stories and/or photos are allowed.
4. Follow the prompt correctly. Grammar and spelling will all be considered.
5. Writers may enter up to three entries in the opening round, but only one entry may advance (no writer can have two spots in the championship round). In the championship round, writers may only submit one entry.
6. Stories must be at least four minutes long, and nine minutes or less (ten-minute or longer stories will not be considered).
7. Stories must be submitted by the deadline PST.
8. The winners — writers advancing — will be contacted via private messaging and announced in a BTS story, in which they will be tagged.
9. The two winners will be paid via Zelle or Venmo.
10. There must be at least four entrants in the opening round for prizes to be issued. (If there are only four, those four will advance automatically to the championship round.)

Please like Beyond the Scoreboard.

Thank you for reading Beyond the Scoreboard.

Lu Skerdoo, Patricia Vicary, Todd Castor, Henry Loe, Anne Hope, John Slobodien, CL Battles, Steve Uppendahl, Chad Harvey, Angie Mangino, Brett Langridge, Jill Ebstein, K Mills, Sturg Writes It Down, Mark Baquiran, Curt Melzer, Jason Reynoso, Allison Wonchoba, Susan Wheelock, Krista Rausin, Kendra Sparkles, Claire Franky, Beth Dele, Kim Fedyk, Neil Offen, John Corten, Brian Dickens Barrabee, William Mersey, Ripton Green, Amol Shrikhande, Marcus aka Gregory Maidman Deborah Camp, David Martin, Ka Wai Cheung, Stephen Hands, Kieran O’Connell, Cardell Hardy, Michael M. Brownstein, Mohammed Thameem, Anu maheshwari, Carter Anderson Lee, Salsam, Marcia Abboud, Andrew Tsao, John Polonis, N.V. Foxes, Jeffrey Harvey, Erin Anne, Jeffrey Pillow, Ken Schreiner: Der Alte Fußballer, Pablo Andreu, steven eichenblatt, Joe Luca, Janice Harayda, Jibajyoti Panda, vydhi, Nancy Anderson, Laura Williams-Burke, Steve Crane, Val Henderson (@yourvalpal), Terry Barr, Paul Vee, Michelle Proctor, Nancy Parish, Robert Bush, Joey Trees, Andrew Fischer, Dave Of All Styles, Amy Sea, Darren Weir, Erie Astin, Deb Harman MEd., Natalie, Chevie Hanssler, Brian Rosta, Michael Burg, MD (Satire Sommelier) 😬, Ella de Jong, Lindy Vogel, Ginger Cook, Catherine Oceano, Jaclyn Ha, Razib Ahmed, TzeLin Sam, Sandy Maximus, Jay Thomas, Nam Tran, William Croyle, Eugene Adams, LaurenJane, Pseu Pending (Seu), Sreese, Abril, Sean Chandler, Sarah Ouellet, Susan Christiana, Jay Squires, Melcarriere, Frank Ciavarella, Michael M-C, Klara Jane Holloway, Jameson Steward, Brian S. Hook, Doug Brown, Ini-Iso Adiankpo, Anujap, Kyle Wells, Henrik Hageland, Matt Pierce, Brad Snyder, Conni Walkup Hull, Craig Jarvis, Steve Dunn, Girish Menon, Penny Zhang, Mad Midori, Daniel B. Gallagher, Jeff Eagle, Jonathan Carey, Josh Hinton, Michael L. Schajer, Bob Harlow, Paul Marsh, Jennifer Lindsey, Akara Skye, Cara Stawicki, Kevin Kaczmarski, John W. Green, Karthik Agnihotram, David Sepe, Rayhan Dilip Mahadevan, Alessio Venezia, Zach O'Leary, John Wakefield, Proud Khoncham, Daniel Riad, Rupert Taylor, Takeshi Yamanoi, Anargha Gunawan, Yasmin Ismail, Do Capozucca, Beckett Hueter, Pamela Peredo, Joe Guay - Dispatches From the Guay Life!, Jordan Nili, Glenn Hines, Caleb Maduneme, Tomi Korkeamäki, Bob Nolley, PhD, David Dimitrie, Sean Corcoran, Ms.WhatsIt, Scott Saffran, John Goddard, Mark Holburn, Andrew Knott, Favian Rafif