Emily Leiker is one of the youngest reporters we've had on the high-profile Vikings beat. And one of the only women (though the team is led by senior assistant sports editor Naila-Jean Meyers). But Leiker has been dreaming of this moment since she was 13 years old, when her dad told her sports reporting was an actual career — and she could do it.

"I set my sights on it that day and haven't ever really looked back," said the 24-year-old, who joined the Minnesota Star Tribune on Monday.

Leiker grew up in Lynnwood, Wash., about 30 minutes north of Seattle, and graduated from the University of Missouri journalism school in 2022. While there, she interned at the Raleigh News & Observer and USA Today and joined the Syracuse Post-Standard after graduating, where she's been covering Syracuse University's football team.

She joins seasoned Vikings reporters Ben Goessling, Andrew Krammer and Mark Craig. Learn more about her in her own words.

Welcome to Minnesota! First impressions?

I love it here so far! I was ready to get back to a bigger city after graduating from Mizzou in Columbia, Mo., and then starting my career in Syracuse, N.Y., covering the Orange football team. Minneapolis is the perfect size. I'm excited to continue exploring — though that might go on pause a bit heading into the winter season — and am sure I'll find much in Minnesota to remind me of Washington state, where I grew up.

You've wanted to be a professional sports reporter since you were 13. Why?

I have been a storyteller since I was little, and my mom would give me a tape recorder to talk into during our commute to school, which grew into a passion for writing and telling stories that way. We were also a big sports household — both playing and watching. I just remember being on the couch one Sunday with my dad around 13 and seeing Erin Andrews on TV and being told that sports reporting was a job I could do. I set my sights on it that day and haven't ever really looked back.

How did you make that dream come true?

Early on it was a lot of creating opportunities for myself. My younger brother played football, so I took stats by hand, interviewed players and coaches and wrote recaps on a personal blog about his team's games. That carried into high school, as my school didn't have a newspaper or magazine that I could write for. I continued just doing my own writing online on a variety of sports and took my first foray into live tweeting. My senior year I also took photos and produced short "sports report" videos hosted by classmates.

As soon as I toured Mizzou, I knew I wanted to attend its journalism school, and from there my journey has been a little more typical. I covered women's soccer, men's basketball and two seasons of football while I was there for multiple publications as well as freelanced high school sports. I kept involved in journalism clubs and organizations, and by March of my senior year, I had accepted a job covering Syracuse football as the primary beat writer for Syracuse.com/The Post-Standard.

What will your role be for Vikings coverage, along with beat writers Ben Goessling, Andrew Krammer and Mark Craig?

My angle on the beat is going to be geared toward content that will hopefully expand our audience reach into the demographics of new NFL fans that have started cropping up over the past few seasons — like young people who are interested in more than strictly what's happening on the field, though I'll be writing plenty about that, too. I'm also going to work more with expanding our multimedia coverage.

What have you been doing to prepare yourself for the job, especially starting in the middle of the season?

I've been watching the Vikings' games for weeks now, as well as reading and listening to the work of Ben, Mark, Andrew and others. I've also started going over some of the more memorable historical moments in the Vikings' history, too — the Minneapolis Miracle, etc.

What's your take on the Vikings season so far?

When I started interviewing for this job way back in August, quarterback JJ McCarthy had just torn his meniscus and the season seemed to be in some peril for the Vikes, so 8-2 is better than expected back then. Most of the games since September have been close, though, and I think the Vikings will need to batten down the hatches a bit more in order to keep adding tallies in the win column heading toward that rematch with the Lions in Week 18 and into the playoffs.

Who are your favorite sports writers?

Brooke Pryor (ESPN) and Mirin Fader (The Ringer) are both mentors of mine whose work I love and read all the time. Mizzou grads Seth Wickersham (ESPN) and Wright Thompson (ESPN) are also two whose longer form work I look to often.

So are you a Seahawks fan? Mariners? Or other teams?

The Legion of Boom era for the Seahawks really sent my NFL interest into overdrive, and as the team I grew up with, they'll always have a special place in my heart. But I've found the further I get into professionally covering sports, the harder it is to watch them as anything but an objective viewer, so I take my fandom energy elsewhere: movies ("Star Wars" and Marvel are big for me), TV, music, etc.