SportsAsToldByAGirl Spotlight: Charlotte Wilder

It’s the first official spotlight of 2017 after a month of hiatus and this week’s spotlight is one of the more underrated sports writers currently in the business. Her impact on the sports world has been huge.

Here’s some brief info that I could find about Wilder. She received her degree in creative writing from Colby College in 2011 according to her Linkedin page. She started her own blog, The Wilder Things in 2009 that posts about everything in pop culture. She also worked for America’s Test Kitchen for two years before writing for Boston.com. After that, she would go on to be a writer and editor for USA Today’s For The Win and now, a staff writer for SB Nation.

Now that you know a little about Miss Wilder, let’s get into why she’s this week’s spotlight. I first stumbled on Miss Wilder when I was looking for female sports writers. At the time, she was writing for FTW and I found her writing to be fun and informative while still touching on important issues. Some of her pieces were comical like the squirrel running across Lambeau Field and ranking Cam Newton’s post-game outfits. Other articles touched on issues of politics such as the presidential election, the fear of athletes speaking out. Her writings are refreshingly honest and unapologetic.

The biggest reason people know Wilder now is because of her writing on SB Nation. Her most popular article has to be “The Patriots Have A Trump Problem.” The article breaks down the team’s connection to Trump and how it has created friction in their fanbase. The day the article was posted, social media was ablaze especially on her Twitter feed with tweets from angry Trump supporters, Patriots fans and those tweeting their support for her. The article was so aptly timed and started a conversation that some fans still aren’t ready for and never will be. It was eye-opening, honest and intelligent, something some writers try to venture away from.

Charlotte Wilder is easily becoming one of the great sportswriters of this generation. She uses her platform to open conversations, try to create change, and isn’t afraid to criticize her own team. Truly, it isn’t the easiest thing to do, but a good writer knows when and more importantly how to do it. Even her latest article this morning, “An oral history of Julian Edelman’s incredible Super Bowl catch, as told by Patriots players” is fun and refreshing from all the Tom Brady G.O.A.T. posts everyone else is doing.

I’m not even a Patriots fan and I love reading what Wilder writes. Charlotte Wilder was this week’s spotlight because she’s changing the game. She isn’t afraid to discuss tough issues, has a sense of humor and brings a unique perspective to the sports world.