An introduction to the new sports editor

Hello Rockdale, my name is Raynard Churchwell. I am from Atlanta, GA. I am the new sports editor for The Rockdale Reporter, and I am happy to be here in Rockdale.

Outside of work, I am a laid back and quiet person. I enjoy working out, writing poetry, watching movies and doing anything sports-related. My favorite sports are football and basketball, and I am a die-hard Atlanta Falcons fan.

Growing up in the early 2000s, I remember watching the tenacity of Kevin Garnett with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the highlight dunks of Kobe and Shaq with the Los Angeles Lakers, the elusiveness of Reggie Bush at USC and the dynamic play of Michael Vick with the Atlanta Falcons.

I would look up stats to see who reigned as the best player, and memorized colleges each pro athlete attended. I always knew I wanted to have a career in sports whether it was playing professionally or just being around the game.

As a child, my family and I lived in many different states because my Dad was in the Army. I have lived in Oklahoma, Alaska, South Carolina and three different cities in Georgia. Luckily, all the permanent change of station (PCS) moves came to a halt when I began high school. I attended Shaw High School in Columbus, GA, where I ran the 800- and 1600-meter races in track. In addition to sports, I played percussion in the band and I participated in numerous clubs such as: Future Business Leaders of America, National Music Honors Society and the Senior Council.

After high school, I chose to continue my education at Georgia State University. I wanted to pursue a career as a sports agent; therefore, I decided to become a marketing major. After a year and a half of making C’s and barely getting by, I knew I had make a change. Because failing wasn’t an option, I knew I didn’t want to transfer schools.

I sat down and pondered what I considered myself good at. I figured since I was pretty strong in English and had decent writing skills that journalism would be a good fit. After I took a few journalism classes, I began to fall in love with it. Whether it was taking pictures, writing or editing video clips, I enjoyed every second of it.

It felt amazing to tell other people’s stories and creating art through my work. Once I graduated, I began working as a grocery clerk at Publix to put some money in my pocket. Still pursuing a career in journalism, my aunt recommended that I check out the Fayette Daily News, the newspaper in Fayetteville, GA. I became a freelance high school sports writer for the newspaper from 2018-19. The highlight of my time there was covering the 2019 Georgia 5A boys basketball state championship between Fayette County High School and Buford High School.

Halfway through my tenure at the Daily News, I began working part-time as a writer for Nuts and Bolts Sports, a blog where writers all over the country voice their opinions on sports. My job was to cover Georgia teams such as the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks, Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia State Panthers. I covered the 2019 Celebration Bowl, 2020 Elite 11 Tournament and the 2019 Georgia State homecoming game in Atlanta.

Although working for Nuts and Bolts Sports brought a lot of fun and excitement, I knew I needed a job that would support me financially. And to be honest, I was tired of living at my aunt’s house and stocking shelves at Publix, so I applied for every journalism position I could find online. I interviewed for several positions but never appeared to be quite what the company was looking for. Eventually, I moved in with my mother in Augusta and began training for the military.

I continued to apply for sports jobs while training. As soon as I planned to schedule my officer aptitude rating exam for the Navy, Christine from The Rockdale Reporter called to ask if I wanted to interview for the sports editor position. Since I had been turned down plenty of times, I didn’t have much faith that I would get it. After interviewing with Ken Cooke, I was told that he wanted to hire me. From the start, I knew that I would accept the position no matter what.

I am happy to be here in Rockdale and to begin my career as a sports journalist. Everyone I have met has been nice and thoughtful to me. I plan to learn as much as possible and do my best to entertain the readers through my stories and photography.

I’ll see you at the games when they start up again.