Roar of the Crowd: Writing guidelines
The Roar encourages you, the fans, to write your own articles. We’ve even had stories broken by our citizen journos.
Here are some guidelines for submitting Roar of the crowd articles to The Roar:
We suggest a minimum length of 150 words with a considered opinion, observation, theory, idea, gripe, statement, diagnosis, assertion, commentary, reflection, grievance, discovery or pronouncement. The goal is to develop an idea or opinion rather than simply raise a question.
Please keep articles to a length of no more than 500-600 words. If they extend beyond this limit, they may be edited for length.
The Roar encourages supporting your text with images, video and audio files. You can send us a link to YouTube; or upload your own photos from matches.
As only the first sentence or two of the article will appear on the home page, it’s in your interests to give that first sentence a hook/angle that will lure readers to click onto the article and read the complete version. Therefore, do your best to give the first paragraph a concrete reference to the general thread of the article.
If you wish to pose a question to the other readers, you are more than welcome to do so, but in the context of an article rather than just a simple, forum-style discussion point.
Offensive language will not be tolerated.
The Roar certainly supports different styles of writing, welcoming the work of the earnest, solemn and sober along with that from humourists, satirists and wits.
However, The Roar will not publish any article that is deemed to be defamatory, racist, deliberately inflammatory or aggressive, and will not print gratuitous swearing. We also won’t publish articles which attack any of our contributors or promote products or websites.
You cannot edit the article yourself once you submit it. Please do a spell check before submitting, and avoid using abbreviations and using all CAPS.
We at The Roar edit your articles, but if you do spot a mistake, you can let us know and we will fix it for you.
Finally – please keep a copy of your article on your computer…just in case.
Sound good? Why not submit a sports article now.

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![NRL fans need to be remember the virtue of patience before they anoint the next superstars of the game. The exposure of the Toyota Cup has given every club a glimpse of their future and plenty of young players are making the jump into first grade.
But the gulf in class between the Under 20s [...] Steve Kaless: Don’t expect too much too soon from young NRL stars](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dont-expect-much-nrl-folau-th.jpg)
![In mid-October, I wrote a piece regarding the A-League’s need to better market itself. Here is an example of one area in which the league and teams can drastically improve on.
Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have transformed how we communicate and interact with one another. It also presents businesses, including sporting [...] Adrian Musolino: The A-League failing to engage with fans online](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/a-league-failing-online-fans-th.jpg)
![This Saturday, two of our region’s greatest football rivals will come face to face. Not at Hindmarsh Stadium – where Adelaide United host Queensland Roar in the A-League preliminary final – but rather in cooler climes further north.
The Shizuoka derby is set to grind into gear, and as usual it’ll be handbags at six [...] Mike Tuckerman: Which is the best derby in world football?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/kenta-hasegawa-th.jpg)
![The Brisbane Lions’ decision to remove the Fitzroy lion from its home and away jumpers – and replace it with the much-criticized “Paddle Pop lion” – is remarkable considering just how desperate some clubs are to have a secondary supporter base in another part of the country.
Hawthorn’s relationship with Tasmania has seen a number of [...] Michael DiFabrizio: Brisbane’s jumper stance makes no sense](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/fevola-lions-th.jpg)
![When Australia walked onto the ‘GABBA against Sri Lanka in November 2007, it was the start of a new era. No Warne and no McGrath. All the talk was how this team was going to regularly take 10 wickets. Immediately the critics were hushed as Australia won the match by an innings and 40 runs.
Brett [...] Benjamin Conkey: The best rebuilding cricket team ever](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/test-cricket-struggling-fifty50-india-ponting-th.jpg)
![Until she was upstaged by comeback super-mom Kim Clijsters, Melanie Oudin was THE story of the US Tennis Open.
Slaying Russian giants round by round, and blessed by the extreme self-confidence and enthusiasm that only an American upbringing can engender, naturally the question arises as to whether the 17-year-old native of Marietta, Ga – gotta love [...] Greg Russell: Stats say you’ve got to be tall to be a tennis champion](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/stats-tall-tennis-dokic-th.jpg)
![To the outsider, it must often appear that rugby league is little more than a soap opera that just happens to contain some scenes in it where men in different coloured jerseys run around on a field.
Such is the apparent enthusiasm that many sectors of the media and fans have for the seemingly never [...] Gabriel Knowles: Are they soap stars or footy stars?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/michael-ennis-gets-one-hand-th.jpg)
![The most important part of any season is getting into a position to play finals, and hopefully grab that double chance. During my time at Hawthorn, we were very fortunate to play in thirteen consecutive finals series (1982-94), including seven straight Grand Finals (1983-89).
Usually a month out from September you would know that you’re [...] Robert DiPierdomenico: In finals footy, the players must do everything right](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/in-finals-footy-hawthorn-th.jpg)
![Last week, Cricket Australia issued a brief statement confirming that the chairman of the selection panel for Australia’s national cricket teams, Andrew Hilditch, has been re-appointed for two more years.
This means that Hilditch will preside over the selection policies and processes involved in trying to regain the Ashes in 2010/2011 after a series this year [...] Spiro Zavos: Two more years for chairman Hilditch? Amazing!](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Two-more-years-for-Hilditch.jpg)
![After a comprehensive 3-0 rout of Ireland in their recent friendly in Limerick, the Socceroos will be out to extend their winning streak when they take on Korea Republic in Seoul.
But without the talismanic Tim Cahill in their midst, Australia may need to find a new match-winner when they run out at Seoul World Cup [...] Mike Tuckerman: Time for some fringe Socceroos to step up](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/time-for-socceroos-th.jpg)
![FINA, the international organisation governing swimming, and sixteen leading swimsuit manfacturers have developed new rules on what swimmers can wear in international swimming tournament.
The rules, in my opinion, are fine for all events outside of the World Championships, the Commonwealth games and the Olympic Games.
In the future, swimsuits will not extend past the shoulders, below [...] Spiro Zavos: The answer to the Olympic swim suit controversy](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/fina-olympic-swimmers.jpg)
![Late last week, the South Dragons pulled out of the 2009/10 basketball season. A few days later, the Melbourne Tigers joined them. By that point, it seemed like finally someone in the sport had the foresight to say enough is enough. Pity it didn’t last.
Now Basketball Australia is forging ahead with the teams that didn’t [...] Michael DiFabrizio: Forget the bandaids, the NBL needs genuine reform](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/forget-bandaids-nbl-dragons-th.jpg)



