It’s only July.

The smell of sulphur from the recent fireworks display at Heise Park is just now blowing away.

There is still a little work to be done to get the park back to normal following a successful Pickle Run festival.

The Galion Graders are still playing baseball and the swimming pool and the new splash park are still providing places for Galionites to chill out now and then.

I’m still celebrating the Cavaliers’ NBA championship, and I’m cautiously optimistic about the Indians’ run at a playoff spot.

Oh, and I’m still trying to figure out how the Golden State Warriors are going to get three basketballs into play each game to feed the egos of their four superstar starters, but that’s another story.

Anyway, it’s already time to start thinking about high school sports seasons, specifically the ones coming up in the fall.

To that end, I received word today that I an allowed to hire a new sports reporter. So this is my first solicitation.

This is a full-time job that will obviously require some evenings and weekend work. I’m looking to fill that position, well, the sooner the better. If sooner, my new reporter — male, female or something else — can get started and get his or her feet wet before jumping into the fall sports campaign. The new reporter’s main job will be covering high school sports. Mostly we’ll focus on Galion, but there could be some opportunities to do something with the other schools in Crawford County and at Northmor.

I’d also like to have a few sports stringers and photographers lined up. Specifically for Friday night football games, and some other assignments.

If you are interested in a full-time or part-time job covering sports for the Galion Inquirer, send me a resume or contact me at [email protected].

That means, in the fall, you’ll need some basic knowledge of football, volleyball, cross country, tennis, golf and soccer. Yes, soccer. Galion will have boys and girls soccer squads this year. The Tigers will be the first high school soccer teams in Crawford County.

That need for some basic soccer knowledge applies to me, too.

I’ve watched a little bit of World Cup. I used to watch indoor soccer in Columbus now and then when I lived in the Capital City. And I’ve watched Nick and Nate Eachus and Cooper and Carly Kent play in their church/youth soccer leagues. Despite those experiences, my knowledge remains a little — no a lot — lacking.

So yes, I’ll be contacting the Galion coaches soon for a crash course on soccer basics.

There also will be correspondence going out in the mail, or via email, to fall sports coaches and area athletic directors seeking information on your fall squads. Kyle Baughn, you are on my call list for next week.

I’m not exactly certain what type of sports coverage appeared in the Galion Inquirer in recent years, and I’m still trying to work out the details in my mind of what exactly I want to do. But I’ve got a basic premise figured out.

One thing I will need is alot of cooperation from coaches.

Times have changed since the last time I worked at the Galion Inquirer. Two decades ago we had a sports editor, a couple of reporters and several stringers who worked to collect and process stats of every game we could get our hands on. We had a full-time photographer and several stringers who took sports photos for us. Those stats, photos and game stories appeared in the Inquirer the next day.

Today, at the Galion Inquirer, we have an editor (myself), one news writer and no sports reporter, although I’m looking to fill that vacancy ASAP. And reporters and editors take our own pictures. So, it is incumbent on coaches, or someone the coach trusts, to get game results to us. And the best way — the only way — to do that is via email at [email protected] or [email protected]

Unfortunately, I do not have the resources to track down scores and stats.

So parents, friends and relatives, if you can’t find any results of your favorite team in the newspaper or on GalionInquirer.com or our Facebook pages or on Twitter, ask your coach to do a better job getting results to us. That’s the best way to get coverage of your sport and the kids you know who participate.

If sports teams have Facebook pages that I can pull pictures from and share them with others, that’s great. Just give me permission. If I can pull some of those pictures and use them in our print edition, that’s great, too. Just let me know if that’s an option. I can link to your sites from the Galion Inquirer site, too, and vice versa.

Plus, I’m open to other suggestions.

So, that’s it in a nutshell.

And once again, if you are interested in a full-time or part-time job covering sports for the Galion Inquirer, send me a resume or contact me at [email protected].