I got introduced to the game in 2006 by a long-time childhood friend who was already playing. I remember my 16-year old self being really excited about having a bunch of guys with their own names who could play virtual football for me. It was also a way for me to connect with people from all over the world, and that was very exciting.
I started playing Hattrick in the summer of 2002 when a friend, who I played "Fantasy Wrestling" with online, told me about Hattrick. I made many mistakes in the beginning. At that time there was no such thing as mentors or beginners' guides. So my very first club was bankrupt after only a few weeks. Luckily, I was able to restart with a new club shortly after that and then I did a lot better.
I would say the community is the strongest reason I have stayed in Hattrick for so long. The game too of course. After having trained my players and played in the French Division 2 for a while, I started focusing on training international players to help the Moroccan team. Today 80% of the defense of the Atlas Lions was trained by me!
I play Hattrick because it has become a sort of strange family to me. I've been playing since 2008 and I've met a lot of people here. Very interesting people, very strange people, all kinds of people. I think I'm still playing Hattrick because in this game I have found a lot of friends. Some of them are now very close to me and my family, they have seen my child's birth and Hattrick is still the place where I can find them.
The best moment for me is when a youth player finally has finished the training you envisioned. I still remember the key players from my time in Hattrick. Josip Dumont-Damien was one of the first ones, Luc de Romrée de Vichenet and Mamadou Toure are players I remember fondly from my last generation.
The Hattrick community is colourful, it really helps expand the Hattrick world. You can find plenty of helpful managers that can help you with Hattrick and real life questions.