Moncks Corner — As you are reading this another school year has come and gone in the great state of South Carolina, where this writer has lived all of his life. The seniors are moving on to the next phase in their lives. Some will go on to college, some will join the work force full-time, and some might even engage in a military career as a way to serve the freedom loving people that we are. At the other end of the humanity “Ferris Wheel” come the freshman. They are eager to join the high school ranks, and so many are aspiring athletes. Those athletes who embrace the process, grow a little better with each practice, or work-out, truly have a chance to get off the Ferris Wheel, in four years, having met their goals and objectives of playing at the next level, or helping a team win a state championship. With hard work and focus you can earn your way to an athletic scholarship. The adage of bigger, stronger, and faster will always be the objective. There are no short-cuts. Thus, we salute the departing class of 2023, and in just a few months we will welcome the class of 2027 to the prep sports scene all over the state of South Carolina. Honestly, covering high school sports has never been work to me. I enjoy the travel, the long enduring deadlines, and the challenge of making a company payroll every two weeks. We salute all the hard-working State Champions of Spring! The memories you made with your victory will last forever, making future class reunions even more the better. I know that many in the high sports community across South Carolina are anxious for the HSSR to renew our expertise in organizing, and putting on some of the best attended statewide all-state banquets anywhere in the nation. Unfortunately, the Pandemic may be all but over, but in just three short years it would shock you to know how much more things costs because of the Pandemic, in my opinion. As late as May, 1 st I felt like it was time to dive back into the banquet business because I truly believe the 100 or so banquets the HSSR put on over a 35-year period were purposeful, and honored the sweat equity of our hard-working children participating in athletics. After researching everything from catering costs, speaking fees for keynote speakers; price of comp tee shirts, and the price of awards, I e-mailed this memo to Cal and Corey Seawell at Seawells Catering in Columbia: . . Thursday May, 18 2023 Cal & Corey: After crunching the numbers, and the time the HSSR would have to devote to getting a statewide banquet organized, funded, and attended, the HSSR will not be having any banquets at any time, or anywhere in the summer of 2023. We sincerely regret this situation. Over the past few months, we made an honest effort to gets costs of meals, costs of awards, costs of comp tee shirts, what speakers would charge to keynote the event, etc. The awards have doubled in cost since our last all-state banquet in February, 2020, and your figure for meals at HSSR events are up over 20 per cent as well. The HSSR, like many small businesses, was hit hard during the Pandemic, and while we had hoped to have a banquet in late June of this year it is just not possible for us to have the time, and the financial resources to sponsor a banquet at this time. The HSSR has also been engaged in conversations with several athletic directors around the state. After we informed them that the HSSR would have to increase guest ticket prices from $50 to $75, just to break dead-even on a banquet, it was our impression we would not receive as much support from high school booster clubs, or athletic departments, in terms of sponsoring reserved tables. that come with guest tickets for family members. The HSSR has never charged an honoree (coach or player) for attending the many banquets we have sponsored over a 35-year period. We have been informed that other organizations, conducting all-state banquets (post Pandemic), have had to charge honorees to attend their respective event(s), to help cover costs. This is not something the HSSR is comfortable doing. Perhaps in the near future the HSSR can secure a corporate sponsor to help defer increased costs so we can resume all-state banquets in honor of hard-working student athletes all across our state. It would be great for a multi-millionaire like Zion Williamson, to offer his financial support towards an HSSR all-state basketball banquet. He attended two HSSR banquets at Seawell's, and his HSSR Mr. Basketball award he received, after his senior season, received 1.8 million views on instar-gram! How about Darius Leonard of the Colts, who also attended HSSR banquets, agreeing to sponsor a HSSR all-state football banquet. We could still sell guest tickets at the old costs. All Zion and Darius would have to do is sponsor the meals for all the honorees! (Good idea or not?) In the past two years we have reached out to family members, or close friends to Zion and Darius. To date, we have not had direct communication with either one of these two blessed professional athletes, strongly supported by the HSSR when they were prep athletes at Spartanburg Christian and Lake View respectively. It is with deep regret the HSSR is having to post-pone all-state banquets at this time. Sincerely-Billy G. Baker-HSSR Founder & Publisher (Your feed back Welcome To hsreport@aol.com )