Announcing Steemit's Newest Player!

Hello World! I am the Sports Romantic, and welcome to my blog!
(I’m hoping to receive a gracious welcome into the vibrant Steemit community ergo this post)

ABOUT ME
Growing up, I was almost never without a ball between my feet. If it wasn’t at my feet, it was in my hands, or on the table, but always within close proximity. In short, I was surrounded by balls.

At the age of five, I kicked my first football (soccer for you Yanks) and was immediately hooked. Not the kind to limit my interests, my parents had us kids enrolled in MANY different sports clinics; so I’ve tasted the full 7-course meal. I’ve tried my hand, or more appropriately, body, at many sports including (but not limited to) Football, Karate, Badminton, Gymnastics, Bowling, Swimming, Basketball, Table Tennis, Rugby, Weightlifting, Taekwondo, Tennis, Archery, Volleyball, and Pistol - even getting quite skilled at some!

Key Stats and Characteristics
But throughout all this exploration and discovery, football was still my true love. An avid student of the game, I was (almost always) the smartest player on the pitch, even if I was never the fastest. I was invited to play a couple of tournaments in Europe for my club at the age of 12, but not being the richest of families, didn’t join the team.
Fast forward three years and I’m co-captain for the U-15’s in our nation’s premier youth league. Our team was talented, having players from top highschools around the metro and 3 junior national team players - we failed miserably.
I continued training, even promoted to train with our U-19’s. Our head coach tipped me to be a creative genius in the future, but things never quite pan out the way you’d expect.
cue dramatic violins

I pulled my hamstring towards the end of that year and, in hindsight, that injury may have been the best thing to have happened to me. Being restricted to watching matches on tv and highlights on Youtube wasn’t so bad after all, because for once (miraculously) there was a quality video on the suggestions bar!
gasp

And it’s a video I’ll never forget.

Long story short, I’m terminally addicted to table tennis and will not be looking for any form of therapy any time soon. I’ve also been volunteer coaching a football team of mentally disabled men for over two years, we compete regionally on occasion and I absolutely love it!

What I have to offer
My account will be primarily focused on the sports of football and table tennis, although I’ll also be covering other sports from time to time and blogging about general sports themes. The focus will primarily be on the emotional, social, cultural, and tactical aspects of sports; but other pieces will definitely be making occasional cameos. Thank you for making it this far, any comments/criticisms/advice/suggestions welcome below!

Stay Passionate!