Mr. Dave Fierro is the founder of Greenwich Sports Beat, a digital sports newspaper covering athletic events in Fairfield County and specifically reporting on schools located in Greenwich, Connecticut.  Mr. Fierro began the Greenwich Sports Beat in February 2021 and covers Sacred Heart Greenwich athletics weekly.  He sat down with the King Street Chronicle to offer career insight to those hoping to pursue journalism. 

Besides overseeing the Greenwich Sports Beat, Mr. Fierro is a freelance sports writer.  One of the main publications Mr. Fierro writes for is the Ruden Report, covering Fairfield County Interscholastic Conference (FCIAC) teams in Connecticut.  Mr. Fierro writes for the Ruden Report once or twice a week.

Mr. Fierro also works as a paraprofessional aide at Port Chester High School, assisting administrators and teachers.  Mr. Fierro began this position in September. He monitors hallways, makes sure that students are getting to class on time, escorts students with special needs or an injury to class, and monitors the cafeteria during certain lunch hours.

Mr. Fierro shared insight about journalistic writing.  He emphasized the importance of writing articles to the best of one’s ability, no matter their significance.

“Try to think about every article you are writing as the most important article you will ever write,” Mr. Fierro said.  “Even if there are some articles that are more important than others, try to put the same attention and focus on each article.”

Mr. Fierro graduated from Pace University in 1994, where he majored in Journalism and minored in Criminal Justice.  He credits his active childhood playing baseball, basketball, and soccer as inspiration for his future career as a sports journalist.   

After graduating from Pace University and working in marketing for a year, Mr. Fierro joined The Journal and LoHud News, located in White Plains, New York, in September 1995.  Here, he began his first long-term position as a sports reporter and columnist, covering high school, college, and professional sports.  Mr. Fierro reported on New York Yankees and New York Mets games as well as New York Giants games. 

Following his time at LoHud News, Mr. Fierro sought out new work opportunities.  He followed the lead of a friend who had recently transferred LoHod News to the Greenwich Time.

“My friend who had previously worked with me at LoHod changed positions and began working for the Greenwich Time,” Mr. Fierro said.  “After a year of working there, he told me that there was an opening.  I felt that I needed a change, so I went to the Greenwich Time after seven years at the Journal News.”

When Mr. Fierro arrived at the Greenwich Time in March 2003 to manage the sports section.  His responsibilities included reporting on local high school and college sports.  With this job, Mr. Fierro laid out and created headlines for various sports articles.

Mr. Fierro appreciates all he learned while working at the Greenwich Time.  His time there allowed him to develop a basis of information for his future working in Greenwich sports.

“I enjoyed my time there.  I got to know a lot of athletes and coaches, and also got to work on my writing of course,” Mr. Fierro said.  “I learned a lot about Greenwich and a lot about Greenwich schools because before that, I knew nothing about Brunswick, Sacred Heart Greenwich, Greenwich High School, and Greenwich Academy sports.  I only knew about Westchester schools, like Rye High School and White Plains High School athletics.”

In March 2020, the Greenwich Time switched Mr. Fierro’s role from a sports writer to a full-time editor.  Rather than solely focusing on COVID-19’s impact on sports, he reported on COVID- 19’s impact on Greenwich as a whole.  Mr. Fierro wrote about the ongoing situation at Greenwich Hospital as well as the efforts of Greenwich schools to allow students back to campuses.

When interscholastic athletics resumed in the fall of 2020, Mr. Fierro served as both a sports editor and a news reporter.  Mr. Fierro left the Greenwich Time and the Hearst Connecticut Media Group in November 2020 and began the Greenwich Sports Beat in February 2021.  At the time of his departure, Mr. Fierro had spent over fifteen years with the Greenwich Time. 

Mr. Fierro runs the active online publication and Instagram page displaying various sports events in Fairfield County.  He covers interscholastic in-season games, post-season tournaments, and game results for Sacred Heart Greenwich, Greenwich High School, Greenwich Academy, Brunswick School, and the Greenwich Country Day School. 

Mr. Fierro‘s advice to aspiring journalists is to create a personal writing style.  He emphasizes the importance of exploring individual interests when writing journalistically.

“Try to write about what you like,” Mr. Fierro said.  “If you’re interested in politics, in the environment, in social issues, pursue that.  Have fun with it, and enjoy the writing process.  My three c’s are to make all articles concise, conversational, and clear.  Accuracy, revert, and clarity are also other things to focus on.”

Featured Image by Dylan Drury ’22