I’m not exaggerating when I say sports are everything to me.
In one way or another, sports have been the center of my life since I could hold my head up as a child. Maybe it started when I was dragged along to my older brothers’ tee-ball games, or maybe it was watching Michigan State football on the weekends with my dad, asking him every question I could think of to understand, to love it like I knew he did.
From then until now, I’ve learned sports can unify as much as they divide, serve as a metaphor for life’s ups and downs and be a point of intersection between culture, politics and human nature.
In my first week as a sports reporter for Tallapoosa Publishers Inc., I’ve seen this in action, up close and personal.
Before this job was a speck on my horizon, I dreamt of following my dream of becoming a nationally recognized sports journalist. That dream has stuck to me like gum on the sole of my shoe since I was 13 years old.
It stuck through the first story I ever wrote about my high school’s basketball coach at 14, through my acceptance to the School of Journalism at the University of Texas – the school of my dreams, one I was convinced was out of my reach. From my first day of journalism school to my first story in the school student newspaper, until I walked across the stage at graduation with my dreams and the knowledge that I’d finally get my chance in an Alabama town I’d never heard of.
It’s been one month since I graduated with my degrees, 10 days since I moved to Elmore County and five days since I started my career as a sports journalist; I’ve loved every minute of it.
Despite my short time, I’m already convinced that there’s something magical about the community here. I played my fair share of sports growing up in Houston, Texas in every type of league you can imagine, but they were never a centerpoint of the community like they are here.
If we could get 25 people in the stands at my Thursday night varsity basketball games, it was a miracle. Elmore County is the opposite and it warms my heart. As your local sports reporter, I plan to do everything I can to celebrate your athlete’s victories, detail your team’s heartbreaking losses and most importantly, become a trusted voice in your community.
My dreams and I are so excited to be on this journey with you all.
Ana Sofia Meyer is a sports reporter for Tallapoosa Publishers Inc.
