Sports editor at the ripe old age of 22? Yes. Parker may be young, but he has an enthusiasm for sports that’s been evolving since an early age. It only deepened growing up in a sports town like Lake Placid. He’s of the generation growing up after the Miracle on Ice — born in 1998, learning of the famed 1980 Winter Olympic game between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. from living here and from Disney’s 2004 movie “Miracle.”

It’s nice to have a young sports writer join our other young writers in the newsroom, someone who didn’t blink at the question, “What’s your favorite sports podcast?” Our older newspaper veterans don’t listen to podcasts. His favorite is the “The Pat McAfee Show,” by the way.

We are thrilled to have Parker join our team. Instead of being covered by former LPN/ADE Senior Sports Writer Lou Reuter, like when he was the captain of the Blue Bombers’ basketball team during the 2015-16 season, Parker will be covering his alma mater and the other Tri-Lakes teams. From high school to college sports, Olympic teams to endurance races, Parker will have his hands full with this region’s plethora of sporting contests.

Parker graduated from SUNY Oswego last summer with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, minoring in sports studies. He interned at Oswego’s daily newspaper the Palladium Times, covering sports in Oswego. His favorite sports league is the NHL, and he enjoys watching the ECAC hockey tournaments in Lake Placid.

Like many young people with big dreams, Parker waited tables before landing his first big job after college graduation. Most recently, he was at The Cottage restaurant in Lake Placid. Monday was his first day as sports editor. Yet his first assignment was a washout, literally, as the Lake Placid-Saranac Lake baseball game he covered Monday was rained out after five innings. Saranac Lake won 1-0.

Parker will have many more chances to finish covering those games and get his stories and photos in our newspapers. It’s hard to believe that only five years ago he was interning at North Country Community College in the athletic department for his high school senior project. He wrote about it for the Lake Placid News.

“From a very early age I fell in love with sports, from playing sports to watching them on the television,” he wrote. “Sports have had a huge impact on my life, but I never was the greatest athlete. Around my eighth-grade year, I learned that I also had a passion for writing. So I decided to combine the two together for a future job.”

That job is here and now. Welcome aboard, Parker. We look forward to working with you and seeing all the talents you have.