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By Carey Reeder | Staff Writer

“You’ve never arrived, you’re always becoming.”

This quote from retired NBA veteran JJ Reddick hung above the white board in the South Iredell High School basketball locker room in my hometown of Troutman, North Carolina for years. It was something I read numerous times throughout my four years playing for the Vikings, and it has stuck with me every day since. It’s a reminder to not get complacent or comfortable in life and always continue to improve and better yourself.

My name is Carey Reeder and I am the new sports staff writer at The Clanton Advertiser. I’m very excited to be working closely with the community, schools and players to produce the most accurate and intriguing content in the state of Alabama.

I graduated from the University of Alabama in August 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was working for The Crimson White, the UA student newspaper, covering the Alabama baseball team throughout the year in 2020 when everyone’s world came to a screeching halt. It took two days for the UA baseball season to be cancelled, my last semester of college to be put online, and I traveled back home to North Carolina to finish school and possibly find another avenue for work.

However, I never strayed far from my passion and what I believe is my best skill, which is writing. I always wanted to be able to apply the loads of knowledge, what some people may call useless, of sports facts, scores and players I amassed in life and writing gives me that opportunity. The Advertiser is a place where I know I can excel and help raise the level of sports and community coverage, and I plan to do so this year.

I am a huge NASCAR fan and I believe one thing to be true; Dale Earnhardt and Kyle Busch are two of the three best drivers to ever grace a paved oval and neither is third. I am a huge supporter of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team and Liverpool Football Club in England.

In my free time I enjoy playing pick-up basketball with friends from college and collecting baseball cards. I have a huge collection of Orioles cards from many different which I began collecting during the pandemic and then I could not get enough of them. My goal is to collect the entire all-time Orioles roster and have a card for every player to suit up for the Birds.

This first week with The Advertiser has been full of great work with many different coaches and community leaders. I cannot wait to continue to work closely with the Chilton County community and grow as a writer here.