From California, Journal & Courier welcomes new sports reporter Ethan Hanson

I can already hear the thunderous sound of 57,000 fans screaming inside Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday nights.

The bone-chilling eruption of fans after a buzzer beater during the vaunted high school basketball season within the Hoosier State.

These are the pictures my mind creates of the sports scene in West Lafayette while sitting at a desk in Redding, California. After filming live, up-to-the-minute clips on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram, you'll see a moppy haired Californian wearing a shirt, tie and wrinkled slacks running to each sideline to capture the moment.

This person you see will likely be dripping in sweat because sports reporting isn't just a job. It is my passion, a way of life and how I can give back to a world that's gifted me so many wonderful adventures.

My name is Ethan Hanson and I'm thrilled to serve Tippecanoe County and Indiana as a sports reporter after four memorable years in Redding, a small conservative hotbed whose passion for football is matched by its earthly wonders like Lassen National Park and Mount Shasta. It has some of the best freshwater bass and salmon fishing in the country.

The paper's audience grew from a select list of 10 schools within Shasta County to 18 schools within my tenure. I wanted to make sure that each school had a voice and was given representation at all levels, no matter how big or small. Cultivating healthy relationships with players, coaches and parents allowed me to bridge the gap between print readers and our digital audience.

Becoming a great sports reporter means you immerse yourself in the community outside of working hours. I coached Little League baseball for two years, was an umpire and club basketball referee and was the play-by-play broadcaster for our local summer collegiate team the Redding Colt 45s.

Saying goodbye to an area I call home has been one of the hardest and endearing chapter changes of my life. Not only was sports reporting my job, but I also learned to care for people and children. Yet, the draw of covering Purdue along with the talented high school athletes in Tippecanoe County was too good of an offer to pass up.

Icy winters and snowing roads can't scare this 30-year-old sports junkie who was born in Los Angeles and raised on the beaches of Santa Monica and San Fernando Valley sun. I've spent exactly one day in Indiana, covering the 2018 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament when my alma mater No. 16 CSUN battled No. 1 seed Notre Dame and future three-time WNBA All-Star Arike Ogunbowale.

Not only will I bring passion and creativity to my job, but I will also take a few corn pies to the face in the process. Sports are supposed to be fun, whether it's high school or college. Professionalism is always crucial but so is smiling.

There will be more schools to cover, plus helping to balance the coverage of Purdue University with the great longtime writer Samuel King — a man I know will help me grow as a reporter and a person.

I want to use my position as a sports reporter to inspire the autistic community. Sports became my way of communicating with the world after being diagnosed on the spectrum at 4 years old. I didn't speak much in my earlier years and still get triggered by lights, sounds and crowds. I didn't get my license until I moved to Redding due to the triggers I felt while driving the steering wheel.

More about Ethan Hanson: I have autism, and it made me the sports reporter I am

I'm praying the interactions we have together will put some inspiration in your lives. What hasn't changed is my desire to be the best sports reporter possible and tell honest and thoughtful stories.

Strap in, West Lafayette, Lafayette and Tippecanoe County. The knowledge and experience gained in Redding will only heighten and drive the high-level sports coverage that exists at the Journal & Courier.

I'm ready to serve as your new sports reporter.

Ethan Hanson started working for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette after four years at the Redding Record Searchlight. Follow him on Twitter at @EthanAHanson_RS and ethan_a_hanson on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Journal & Courier hires sports reporter Ethan Hanson