Win a $50 Westfield Gift Card  Writing Competition

Are you a budding writer? A would-be social commentator? A critic? A poet? Just someone with an opinion to share?

Welcome to our weekly Writing Challenge, where you’re invited to write on a topic of our choosing.

The best entry of the week will be published on Student Edge.

To enter, simply write a 400-word response of publishable quality to the topic outlined below, in the style of our previous writing challenge responses.

You have one week to submit your entry. The author of the winning article will receive a $50 gift card from Westfield.

Keep it smart, keep it clean and most of all, keep it under three minutes reading time.

Here's a tip: One line answers don't tend to make for an entertaining article (this isn't one of those 25 words or less competitions), so put your thinking caps on and write something you think others will find interesting.

Check out our guide to winning the writing challenge for some dos and don'ts.

This week's topic: Are We Too Harsh on Sportspeople?

If we've learnt anything from Cricket Australia's recent "sandpaper scandal", it's that we sometimes hold sportspeople to a standard higher than we hold some politicians. Do you think that's fair? Should our international sporting ambassadors and role models be scrutinised over their conduct (on and off the field)? Or, do we need to lay off these (usually young) players? Explain your feelings!

Deadline: 16/04/2018 11:59:00 PM EST