ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE is looking for a sports columnist.

Love sports? Like to write? Are you a reliable person with good English skills? Fair-minded?

The Orange County Tribune is looking for a regular sports columnist to write two columns a month on athletics with an emphasis on the local sports scene, especially Angels, Ducks, high school sports, etc.

What we are seeking is someone who has very good writing skills, treats deadlines as sacred (and in journalism, they are) and is not simply a fan anxious to praise his favorite team and ridicule the other teams or officials.

ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE is a fast-growing news site (OC Tribune photo).

A good range of topics would be a bonus; focusing on just one sport or team would leave out a lot of potential viewers. A fine sense of humor along with some knowledge of the history and heritage of sports is very useful.

You could be a retired sports writer wanting to keep a hand in. Perhaps a college journalist looking to get exposure beyond the campus. It could also mean a talented “rookie” who has the passion and the time to surprise us all. We’d give you an audience (so far) of up to 4,000 people, and growing.

If you’re interested, here’s what to do. Write two sample columns of original material on recent issues and people in sports. “Clips” of already published material are interesting but not what we need in this instance.

The sample columns should be about 2500 characters (that’s about 500 words). The column can cover several topics, or concentrate on one. You can take a personal conservational tone in a column, but when referring to a specific incident in a game, or season, take care to briefly recap what you are writing about for the readers who may not have heard of it.

Make sure to check your spelling and grammar. It wouldn’t hurt to have someone else look over your work; it’s difficult to copyedit your own material.

We’d like to start this in September, and we’d need someone commit to doing this steadily for at least several months. Send your submissions and questions to orangecountytribune@gmail.com or call (714) 458-1860.

The deadline is July 31. Hope to see you in the game.