I’ve never had the chance to write an introduction column before, so bear with me here.
As you can tell from the byline above, my name is Ryan Posner and I’m the newest sports guy for the Signal.
You’ll probably see me roaming the sidelines or perched up in the bleachers at local high school sporting events, with a notepad likely in hand and a hat likely on my head. You may also see me typing like a madman on Friday nights at McDonald’s trying to make deadline after a football game.
Either way, always feel free to approach me to have a chat about the latest game or what’s going on around town.
This won’t be my first go-around covering prep sports. I spent seven months at the Bryan-College Station Eagle in Texas — my first full-time job out of college — before orchestrating a move back to Southern California.
I grew up in Poway (about 20 miles north of San Diego) and felt lucky enough to call San Diego my home that I chose to go to San Diego State.
Since I started at SDSU, I’ve been fortunate to work at publications like the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Orange County Register, the Los Angeles Daily News and Major League Baseball Advanced Media, along with the Eagle.
All the positions have been exciting in their own way but that excitement tends to center around a common theme:
The people.
I remember writing my first feature story as a freshman with the Daily Aztec (San Diego State’s campus paper) on a women’s volleyball player and came away with an interview that had little do with volleyball. It had a lot to do with the challenges of being a student-athlete and what it was like to be away from home.
Probably not a shocker, but I grew up a major sports fan (Padres and Chargers, sorry) and thought the best way to stay connected to that passion was through journalism. But I realized after that first feature with the Daily Aztec I enjoyed writing about sports for an entirely different reason.
I loved being able to get to know people and their stories, which made covering games, writing previews and those kinds of things much more rewarding.
I’m excited to make those connections with athletes and coaches throughout Santa Clarita. I promise to work as hard to provide coverage of these high schools as the students, coaches and administrators inside them work to win games and develop quality citizens.
I also promise to not take myself too seriously, and will always be open to criticism and suggestions for better ways to report on the community.
With that, I’ll end the painful exercise of talking about myself.
Now, it’s on to more important stuff.