Something to keep in mind. I've been learning quite a bit lately about shooting RAW vs. JPEG. Might be good to keep in mind, if you only record your images in JPEG format, they can degrade a little every time you back them up or even open for editing. I have found photos that have gotten corrupted just from backing up. A co-worker, who is an expert in this area of photography, tipped me off to this. So now I am trying to shoot only in RAW.
Under most circumstances, I would agree that shooting in RAW, you could get by with using AWB, especially if you are shooting in consistent light. But I have seen the difference, such as with portraits, where, if your subject is shaded and your background has bright light, AWB can not distinguish the difference because it measures all light coming through the lens. I'm sure there are ways around this issue. But it does happen. The hope here is to back off the post processing time, which most professionals aim to do, unless the have a Photoshop expert on staff.
I've shot high school football under lousy stadium lighting using only an 18-200 zoom with my D 7000 at ISO 6400. Had pretty good results depending on uniform color and distance from subject. But I was also on the sideline. So unless you want to spend big bucks on a sport lens that will reach out and touch someone, I'd see about getting closer to your subject. The other possibility to see what will work best for your situation would be to try and rent a lens and see what you like best.
Can't go wrong with the versatility and convenience of the 18-200. I've been using one on my D 7000 since I got it and the same lens on a D 80 prior to that. Excellent for portraits and landscapes alike as it incorporates aspherical glass. Just got to keep focal length in the back of your head for portraits. Mine is a first generation so I get the creep. Not a big deal at all as long as you know it happens when you are trying to quick draw on some wildlife or kids.
Most of the photography community are really caught up in Photoshop. Make no mistake it IS the best you can get. However, if you are only interested in bringing out the best in your photos and not altering what you are shooting, I'd recommend Corel Paint Shop Pro. I've been using it for a long time (since X2 came out). It's a powerful tool with many of the same features as Photoshop but only about 1/3 the cost. Corel offers a 30 day trial on their products so it might be worth looking in to.
Something that is one I never considered until recently is WHITE BALANCE. Specifically when shooting RAW photos. Learn as much as you can.
Just so you know, maybe not everyone had this issue, I just got one for Christmas and had to return it. Not because the sketch pad was defective. But when I loaded the driver, it installed filters which disabled the CD/ROM on my PC. It took some serious investigating to discover this. I'm fortunate that my wife is a computer tech at her work and was successful in finding the issue. I will say the sketch pad did work at first (until the other issue came up). It would seem to be a good device otherwise. Will be looking for another brand in the near future as I would like to be able to electronically autograph my photos.