Welcome to Molly On The Story!
I’m Molly, an aspiring sports journalist who has just completed her MA in Journalism. I am a serial yapper and I think sport is for everyone.
I’m originally from Wakefield, Yorkshire and before my MA, I achieved a BA in Media Production at Nottingham Trent University.
I started Molly On The Story because I know how intimidating it can be to want to enter this world when you don’t look or talk like 99% of the people already there. It’s frightening – but it doesn’t have to be.
On this site, you will find blog posts, articles, my portfolio and anything else on my journey into the industry. You’ll find I love talking anything from rugby league to F1, so whether you want to know what’s going on in the Championship to which EIHL team has the best signings, you’re bound to find a bit of everything here!
A bit about Molly
I grew up in a family that LOVED sports – my mum and older brother both love their field hockey (I did play, but I was truly terrible), my dad is an avid Liverpool supporter, and my grandad watches everything from cricket to darts to F1. I am the first to admit I was not athletically gifted – I think in year 10 and 11, I “forgot” my PE kit more times than I ever brought it.
But I’d always had a healthy respect for sport – I remember going to watch my brother play rugby in the pouring rain when I was probably the age I am in the photo on the right. I’d just accepted that because I wasn’t very good at it, it would be the background to other, more creative pursuits. I danced, I did musical theatre, I played in a brass band. Even when I picked my degree for university, I chose to study media production because I knew I was heading down a creative path (except for when I was 14 and decided to become an astronaut, joined air cadets and planned a career in the military – we don’t talk about that.).
But it was while I was at university that I fell back in love with so many sports that had become background noise – and that’s mainly because of my grandad.
My grandparents have always been my biggest supporters, and I’m so fortunate to have such a close relationship with them. Sunday dinner always meant a roast, with whatever football or rugby was on that day in the background of the meal. My Grandad has been a Wakefield Trinity supporter since he was in his teens and has stood in the same place at Belle Vue since. When they redid the North Stand, I was surprised the concrete didn’t have his footprints left in it. I started to get into F1 because of an old boyfriend, and I could chat away with him about it. I was old enough to have more patience for rugby and very quickly saw the beauty in the game.
When my brother left home and I was back from university, I started going to games with him and my mum. I fell in love with rugby league, and I knew I could spend my whole life talking about it if I could – and why couldn’t I?
My journey to journalism was by no means a linear path! If you’re one of those sorts of people who grew up knowing what they wanted to do, congratulations! I was not. In my teens, I bounced from actor to astronaut to writer; I considered becoming a translator, joining the RAF or the police and even a teacher (I don’t know why – I do not have the patience).
In my second year, I studied abroad for a few months. I had chosen my university (MUP in Prague) based on their wide range of media-based courses – when I arrived, I found out that none of them would be running. In retrospect, this was a blessing. I still didn’t know what I wanted to do with my degree, and I decided to choose modules on culture, linguistics and history to broaden my horizons.
When I came back for my third year, I realised I simply was not interested in being behind the scenes. I looked at what I had enjoyed – making podcasts and documentaries – and realised my interests were firmly in real life.
As you can tell, I love to talk. This, and the fact I was now a fanatic about rugby and F1 (I was Vice-President of the society in my third year), got me thinking about sports journalism. I did what any sane person would do, then, and “panic-mastered” – which has led me to where I am today.
