When I used to be a child, I used to be drawn to tales that concerned a good treasure hunt.
Favorite film: National Treasure, the 2004 Nicolas Cage traditional. Favorite e-book sequence: The 39 Clues. Favorite puzzle: a phrase search. Dream e-book mission: a hunt for a treasure hidden throughout Olympic host cities – and naturally, a companion sequence involving World Cup stadiums. (There’s nonetheless time!)
Today, my favourite half of journalism is similar factor: the search. For the story that’s sitting in an surprising place. The story that’s buried behind the story. The story you possibly can solely see when looking through a new lens.
The tasks I’ve most loved engaged on are those who emerge from small details, the gems ready inside field scores or sport notes – the gamers with demanding aspect jobs; the e-book that’s taken over the locker room; the uniform details that followers obsess over.
Indeed, the world of sports is what these treasure hunters would most likely time period a target-rich atmosphere. But I’d say that soccer is the richest of all of the climes. The tales round soccer – the historical past, the crowds, the cultures, the songs, the individuality, its worldwide scope – are all so ample and ever-changing. I fell in love with what occurred off the sphere earlier than I understood a lot of what occurred on it. (I do know now.)
The refined, intricate details of the sport pair properly with spending hours rifling by pages of transcriptions to pick the very best quotes. The near-nonstop fixture checklist calls for equally relentless focus, writing define upon define. I’d think about that scoring a purpose feels one thing like once you lastly discover the fitting option to sequence paragraphs in a story, making every thing click on into place. It’s most likely no shock I used to be drawn to modifying.
The search for tales stays thrilling, and it’s a by no means ending one: for what’s new, for what’s subsequent, for what’s hiding beneath all of it.
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Ella joins the Guardian as half of our ongoing expansion covering soccer in the United States forward of the 2026 World Cup. She arrives alongside two different new hires: soccer correspondents Pablo Iglesias Maurer and Jeff Rueter. She relies in Washington DC.