I was not athletic growing up; I was scared and fearful of many things. I started bawling my eyes the first time my feet hit the ice to skate for the first time. I danced for a tiny bit of my life; however, that was cut short because I couldn’t handle so many activities at once when I was a little girl, and honestly, fair enough. So I stuck with swimming lessons. That’s about as far as I went with sports growing up. My parents had a fear that because I had bad vision as a kid, they shouldn’t put me in sports, which, again, fair enough, I get it. Although there is a part of me that wished I played more sports growing up other than swimming and ultimate frisbee (don’t judge, it’s fun), what I lacked in skill, I gained a significant interest in watching sports.  

First, I was exposed to hockey and football, but I never was completely into them. What I was the most drawn to was WWE. The theatrics, the drama, the storylines were everything. Obviously, at the ages of 5-9, I thought it was real, I have to admit, but I know I’m not the only one who thought so too. When I moved into my teen years, that’s when hockey and football really grabbed my attention a lot more. 

It was easy to get into football because the high school that I attended was really big on football, so I figured I would learn the sport to better understand the culture and how the game is played. My dad was a huge help. He was so excited when I started watching with him, and it gave us something to do together, especially since my WWE phase had passed. 

For some reason, I was mainly drawn to the New Orleans Saints, and I loved watching them play throughout the week. But every family has one team you must root for, and mine, unfortunately, is the New York Giants. If you’re a Giants fan, you know how rough it is out here. Nevertheless, football was such a fun sport to get into, and it was a gateway for my interest in watching sports expand. 

Now if you live in Vancouver 9 times out of ten, one of the main conversations is about the Canucks or hockey in general. Hockey was a sport I had watched closely growing up just because I was most exposed to it. However, it has been a rough ride for fans and loyal viewers. But things were looking up this past season, and we were hoping for continuous success in this 2024/25 season. 

Overall, I think that whether you play sports or not doesn’t dictate whether you can be a fan. If you like watching the sport and it has been a big part of your life, there is enough pride and joy in that itself.