The thrill of covering sports lies in a constant hunt for details | US sports

When I was a kid, I was drawn to stories that involved a good treasure hunt.

Favorite movie: National Treasure, the 2004 Nicolas Cage classic. Favorite book series: The 39 Clues. Favorite puzzle: A word search. Dream book project: a hunt for hidden treasure in the host cities of the Olympics – and of course, a companion series involving the World Cup stadiums. (There’s still time!)

Today, my favorite thing about journalism is the same thing: research. For the story that takes place in an unexpected place. The story that is buried behind the story. The story you can only see by looking from a new perspective.

The projects I’ve most enjoyed working on are those that emerge from small details, the gems that wait in scores or playing notes – players with demanding side tasks; the book that took over the locker rooms; the uniform details that fans are obsessed with.

Indeed, the world of sports is what these treasure hunters would probably call a target-rich environment. But I would say that football is the richest climate of all. The stories around football – the history, the crowds, the cultures, the songs, the individuality, its global reach – are all so many and constantly evolving. I fell in love with what happened off the field before I understood much of what was happening on it. (I know now.)

The game’s subtle, intricate details pair well with spending hours poring over pages of transcriptions to select the best quotes. The near-non-stop match schedule demands equally constant focus, writing shot after shot. I imagine scoring a goal is like when you finally find the right way to sequence the paragraphs of a story, so that everything falls into place. It’s probably no surprise that I was drawn to editing.

The search for stories remains exciting and endless: for what’s new, for what’s next, for what lies behind it all.

• Ella joins the Guardian as part of our continued expansion covering soccer in the United States ahead of the 2026 World Cup. She arrives alongside two other new recruits: soccer correspondents Pablo Iglesias Maurer and Jeff Rueter. She is based in Washington DC.