Seasons change

By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com

As many of you are already aware, this is my last week as sports editor of the Hamilton County Reporter. My last official day is today, July 24.

It’s been an honor to serve the people of Hamilton County for 19 years, including the 13 years I have spent here at The Reporter, which was started back in September 2013 by Don and Jeff Jellison. What was supposed to be two separate weekly papers – one focused on the northern part of the county, the other focused on Noblesville – soon became an online paper covering the entire county.

Was it overwhelming? You bet. Did we feel like we were doing something special, necessary, slightly groundbreaking? Yes. The Reporter was supposed to be sports-focused at first, but a nasty winter storm and cold snap quickly made us realize, “Yeah, we’re going to have to do a lot of news, too.”

During the first three years, I was doing news. And sports. And designing the pages. We settled into this rhythm until health issues caused Don to retire in October 2016. Thankfully, Jeff soon brought on Stu Clampitt and Isaac Taylor as professional consultants for the paper. They gradually took over the news portion, and I was free to focus solely on sports, which I have been doing ever since, except whenever we have a total solar eclipse or a 4-H Fair.

While covering sports in this county has been hard work, it has also been a ton of fun. The best part of this job is the fact that I’ve gotten to meet so many people along the way. Through interviews, casual conversations, learning about their stories, and telling them my story, I’ve not only developed many great relationships, but also made some life-long friends.

So, why am I leaving? Simply put, it’s just time to move on. The headline refers to an ‘80s hit song by the freestyle group Exposé, where they sing “Seasons change/People change.” It is a ton of work, and after such a long time, I knew I was ready to take a step back and take a breather after all these years.

I couldn’t put that into words until I talked to Rose Skripsky at the Noblesville Boom Jr. Camp on Tuesday and told her what was going on. After explaining it, she said “So, you’re taking a step back.” Finally! That’s the explanation that made sense. Thanks, Rose!

Am I leaving The Reporter? Yes. Am I not going to write anymore? Actually, no. There is a new independent journalism service called Substack, and I began two separate Substacks: The Indiana Fairways and Around The Net in Indiana. The focus of these are golf and tennis, respectively. I put introductory posts on them but haven’t had much time to write anything else. I’m hoping to add to them now, and I will be writing them for fun.

I would like to say thank you to everyone who has contributed to The Reporter sports section over the years, whether it was writing articles, taking pictures, providing information about events, or just being supportive. I certainly could not generate all of the sports content in The Reporter on my own, and I am forever grateful to all the people that have helped.

A special thank you to Stu, Isaac, and the other owners, Ray Adler, Seth Wilson, and Paul Poteet for all of their support over the years. Another thank you to Jeff Jellison and Don Jellison for bringing me on to help build something that has become truly special.

And, it goes without saying that there would be no sports section at all without the athletes and coaches of Hamilton County. It might seem like it was a challenge to cover all the sports, but you actually made my job easy by giving me quite a bit to write about.

Thanks again for being so great.

Richie Hall covered high school sports for more than 25 years, 19 of those years in Hamilton County, and 13 of those years with The Hamilton County Reporter.