Riley Congdon, a senior at Fuquay Varina High School, was invited on March 27, 2024, to cover the Charlotte Hornets game versus the Cleveland Cavaliers with a media pass, making Congdon one of the youngest people ever to be given this opportunity.

Congdon received this opportunity from Brandon Williams, a teacher at Holly Ridge Middle School and also the owner of a publishing club at his school that talks about sports, specifically the Hornets. This club is similar to a newspaper class in that it allows students to write articles and explore the field of journalism.

Congdon was given the opportunity to write for Williams during this game through this media pass, an excellent reward that is paving the way for his future career in journalism. 

“He gave this opportunity to me because he knows that I love the Hornets, and so I got a media pass and was able to go to the game for free,” said Congdon.

Along with free entry to the game, Congdon also received exclusive access to the conference rooms after the game to conduct interviews and get a feel of what sports journalism is, including what it is like to write an article during a game.

“I was able to interview players in the conference room and write an interesting story,” said Congdon.

Congdon has recently been accepted to Elon University for sports journalism. Congdon hopes to use this accomplishment as a gateway for future opportunities to cover topics, such as the Charlotte Hornets game, in his sports journalism career.

“My newspaper class has prepared me by teaching me what it takes to write an article in a professional way,” said Congdon.

With this, we hope to see even greater successes in his career as he moves forward into the real world of journalism. Hopefully, one day we’ll be reading articles about other games he has attended in a sports journal online.