When I was first approached about contributing a column to the sports section, I was both elated and terrified.

Elated because I’ve loved sports all my life; terrified, well, for a couple reasons.

First, how could I possibly help fill the esteemed shoes of Ferd Lewis, whom I’ve known from two newsrooms over more than a decade? And how would I do it alongside such seasoned veterans as Ann Miller, Cindy Luis and Mindy Pennybacker, whose names you all recognize?

Second, how do I introduce myself to a legion of fans whose institutional knowledge in many cases puts mine to shame? (One college summer I was a tour guide aboard the USS Missouri and occasionally had to field questions from Navy veterans; that “deer in headlights” feeling is pretty similar.)

The only thing I can do is introduce myself as best I can and hope my perspective is a worthy contributor to this space.

My journalistic experience with sports has been brief at best: I spent a few weeks as a college summer intern on The Honolulu Advertiser’s sports desk, and I’ve written numerous articles about Hawaii’s pro wrestling scene (don’t knock it as a sport until you’ve seen it in person). But I’ve been active since small-kid time, and obsessed with sports for about as long.

My first love was and still is college basketball, women’s and men’s. Tennessee’s Lady Vols and their former coach, the late, great Pat Summitt, were a huge influence for me even if my basketball skills petered out by eighth grade. I was a subscriber to the short-lived Sports Illustrated for Women and followed basketball’s breakout stars, from Sheryl Swoopes to Rebecca Lobo.

At the same time I was obsessed with University of Hawaii sports. I attended basketball camps, kept marble-notebook logs of top volleyball players and even lobbied KGMB’s then-sports director Neil Everett for equal gender coverage when Wahine hoops was faring better than the men’s team.

My interest in sports not only lies in overall awe for athleticism, but specifically in the talents of women and people of color. It’s one thing to watch other humans be great; it’s another entirely to see people who match your profile, in my case female and of mostly Asian descent, do just as well or even exceed the accomplishments of their peers.

That’s what I hope to focus on in my columns. The current social and political climate has opened wide the doors to all kinds of sports coverage, and my goal is to raise up different perspectives from all corners of the athletic world.

Having a young daughter makes what I hope to highlight even more critical. I want my toddler to grow up unafraid to try new things, to question what doesn’t seem right, to challenge herself and pursue her passions. My goal — my duty, really — is to expose her to as many different perspectives as possible.

That being said, it’s important to remember to have fun, too. We all had a blast watching March Madness this year even though my alma mater, Marquette, didn’t make the Big Dance; Clare delighted in the women’s and men’s actions, and I got to be a basketball nerd again. (“Hey! Remember Dawn Staley? I do! Before she was South Carolina’s coach she was a women’s pro ball pioneer.”) (“Look, Jim Boeheim still puts his Syracuse Orange in a zone defense! A ZONE, Clare! No one does that anymore!”)

We’re a long way out from the next March Madness, but there’s plenty in the sports world to explore, analyze and admire until then.