Meet the 2019 Winners: South Carolina Sportswriter Gene Sapakoff

Today’s award spotlight is on NSMA 2019 South Carolina Sportswriter of the Year, Gene Sapakoff. Sapakoff is a columnist and college sports editor at Charleston Post and Courier, currently covering Clemson and the Gamecocks. He's worked at his current publication for the past 34 years, originally as a beat writer until 1992 when he became a columnist. He’s also previously worked at the Santa Monica Outlook and volunteers as a Guardian ad Litem outside of work.

This will be the seventh time Sapakoff wins South Carolina Sportswriter of the Year, his first being in 1998. He's also a three-time winner of the prestigious Judson Chapman Award.

Sapakoff briefly spoke with NSMA on his career and other thoughts regarding the industry.

NSMA: What was your career path like on the way to your current position?

Gene Sapakoff: From Colorado State U. to the Santa Monica Outlook in Los Angeles. From beat writer, general assignment reporter at Charleston Post and Courier in 1986-1992 to columnist, enterprise reporter roles and to full-time columnist and college sports editor around 2004

NSMA: What is your favorite thing about your job?

GS: The opportunity to make a difference

NSMA: What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

GS: Seeing my journalism result in changes in our community: construction of a new minor league baseball park, forcing The Citadel to finally play sporting events against the primary HBCU in our state (S.C. State), influencing Clemson to be more transparent and make changes in race relations, helping Sports Illustrated break a major steroids scandal story at the University of South Carolina that resulted in many firings.

NSMA: What is the best piece of advice you have for people pursuing a career in sports media?

GS: Find people 2-7 years older than you who are in job positions you would like; ask them and their hiring managers how they got there. And: How willing are you to make the sacrifices necessary to get from here to there?

Written by NSMA intern, Brian Cohen