Living Support Local Soccer (Football)

A while ago I promised Kristin that I would write this fan post but it got delayed due to the business of the holiday season and then Toronto FC deciding that they wanted to actually give us some news to cover again. Now I have time to sit down and write it though so without further ado this is the post of my fan story.

My story as a fan is not really anything special. I did not grow up in a family that loved soccer but my parents wanted me to be active so they let me play soccer as a child. From the first time that I played I found that I had a great time and was quite good at the sport. I spent my early years in house league since my parents did not want to dedicate the time or money required for rep soccer but that did not bother me as I just loved playing. It became more serious for me around high school as I played at a more competitive level as well as for my school team. I even got in to reffing around grade 10 which was something that I enjoyed for the most part. My playing years got sidetracked by a knee injury but I did manage to play some rec indoor during University while reffing for around 6 years. I gave up the reffing due to a whole lot of reasons, mainly a loss of passion and lack of time, and was no longer playing.

When I finished school at the end of 2010 I was really looking for a good way to stay involved in soccer but with much of my life being a bit up in the air it was tough to commit to a club and work meant I did not have the time to dedicate to coaching. That left me with one real good option for staying involved and that was becoming a soccer blogger and sharing my passion in that way.

That left me with the question of what I should blog about. It was actually a tough question since for years I have been a fan of Manchester United but if I wrote about them I would likely just be lost in the sea of coverage that already exists and that was not my goal. Instead I decided that for the first time I would look closer to home as a soccer fan. Toronto FC had been around for a while but until 2011 came around I never really gave them a fair shake. I actually feel that I might have been a boarderline Euro snob who dismissed the MLS for lacking the quality of my beloved BPL but that was just me being ignorant to how enjoyable that league was actually becoming.

It was out of all those thoughts that my blog was born. I launched "Here We Call it Soccer" to write about my efforts to better support local football and that included a lot of blogging about Toronto FC and the Canadian National teams. The site was enjoyable but it really was not going anywhere so when the latter months of the summer came along and I was working 50 hours most weeks the blog basically stopped being a priority since it did not feel like it was going anywhere. That blog will always be special to me even if it only ever got around 3000 page views since it allowed me to make a lot of connections, recounted my first trip to a CMNT game, and really started the ball rolling on everything else that has taken place.

The blog died in early August but when I was laid off from my job at the end of the summer that writing bug came back stronger then ever. I did not feel like going back to running a blog all by myself so I started to ask around for chances to write elsewhere. That is where Duncan stepped up and gave me the chance to work with him on this site. From there I have not looked back at all and it has been a great time helping to grow this site and getting connected to even more of you fine folks. Working for this site has only made me more of a Toronto FC fan and I realized this fall when Manchester United was crashing out of the Champions League that I actually have a stronger emotional attachment to TFC and CMNT now, that was unthinkable at the start of this year.

I think it is safe to say that my time on Waking the Red has been a success so far so I have to thank all of you for the part you have played in that but mainly Duncan for giving me the chance to join the writing team here and giving me the chance to gain more exposure for doing something I really do enjoy.

The real high point of the past year though was getting the chance to write for Sportsnet. It is hard to describe how flattered I was when John Molinaro got in touch with me and asked me if I would be willing to regularly contribute a blog for the website. It was a chance that I could not turn down and just feels like I am now one big step closer to making this soccer writing thing work out.

I dream of one day reaching the point where I can call myself a professional soccer writer but for now I can call myself a better, more knowledgeable, fan. All the time I have spent writing about TFC and the Canadian National teams has really increased my dedication to them as fans and it has been great going on this journey with all of you. Still blows my mind what has all taken place in less than a year.