NJSIAA: Watchung Hills at Ridge Girls Soccer
October 17, 2009: Watchung Hills Regional High School at Ridge Girls Varsity Soccer held in Basking Ridge, NJ.
CLICK HERE to see all the photos from the game
Photos by: Alan Maglaque / www.njsi.net
Kent Place at Oak Knoll Lacrosse
2 April 2009 Thursday; Chatham, NJ, USA: Kent Place at Oak Knoll School for the Holy Child Girls Varsity Lacrosse played at the Chatham Athletic Fields. Oak Knoll defeated Kent Place 15-13 after two 3 minute overtime periods.
CLICK HERE to see all the pictures from the game or enjoy the images below.
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- Check!
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- Defending the Net
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- Oh No You Don’t
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- Shot on Goal
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- My Competition
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- Face Off
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- Going for the Net
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- Fighting for the Ball
A Profile on Jennifer Ross – Lacrosse
CLICK HERE to view in higher quality
(Written by Louis Rossi for NJSI.NET) Sincere devotion to a sport is the trademark of a true athlete; a competitor that spares no expense when it comes to developing their craft. Dedication at that level requires an immense commitment on the part of an athlete – be it a professional playing before millions on a national stage, or a first year junior varsity try-out hoping they’re good enough to make the cut. It is for these reasons that those fortunate enough to make that cut and continue on to the bigger stages professional athletics has to offer ever make it out of the locker room.
Commitment is a word you’ll hear often in sports. Commitment on a play, a committed performance, a committed comeback – you get the idea. You rarely hear it refer to athletes when they aren’t in the game. How often have you heard the NFL broadcasters talk about the star quarterback’s time spent off the field, doing everything he could to learn from his mistakes and continue his winning streak? Almost never, but why is that? Because it goes unsaid; those players that we watch every week have been committed, dedicated players for years – learning, every step of the way.
While Jennifer Ross doesn’t play in front of millions on a weekly basis, her commitment is just as outstanding and genuine. It is rare to see a player just three-years into a sport make every conceivable effort to immerse themselves in it.
Oak Knoll @ Kent Place Swimming
Madison, NJ, USA; 16 December 2008 Tuesday: Kent Place defeated Oak Knoll 111-59 in a varsity girls swim meet held at Fairleigh Dickinson’s Athletic Center.
CLICK HERE to view images from the meet.
200 MR: Kent Place (Jackie O’Neill, Jenna Immormino, Cassidy Bommer, Katie Cummins) 2:05.89.
200 Free: Louise DeMartin, Kent Place, 2:12.72.
200 IM: Katie Cummins, Kent Place, 2:27.59.
50 Free: T. Hartley, Oak Knoll, 0:26.28.
100 Fly: Amanda Grywalski, Kent Place, 1:04.33.
100 Free: T. Hartley, Oak Knoll, 0:58.36.
500 Free: Jenna Immormino, Kent Place, 6:27.13.
200 FR: Kent Place (Jackie O’Neill, Olivia Wolff, Louise DeMartin, Katie Cummins) 1:54.88.
100 Back: Ali Guida, Kent Place, 1:08.97.
100 Breast: Vanessa Osman, Kent Place, 1:20.84.
400 FR: Kent Place (Allison Goldberg, Jackie O’Neill, Caroline Kingsbery, Olivia Wolff) 4:29.70.
Soccer Goalkeeper Training with Dan Gaspar
Net Edge Training, LLC works to bring you the best and most current practices in Goalkeeper training. Their courses are designed to address challenges keepers are facing in today’s game and focus on training that is not readily available in other programs. In addition, they always keep their coach-to-athlete ratio low to insure individual attention.
World-renowned Goalkeeper Coach Dan Gaspar, who is an accomplished professional with 25 years experience, will be doing the opening session of Net Edge Training, LLC’s winter training programs. Don’t miss a chance to train with Dan!
Time to Get Your Early College Applications Out
Early Decision and Early Action deadlines are fast approaching for many universities and colleges. Just a quick heads up for you high school seniors out there. You may think you have plenty of time but you do not. Some schools have a November 1st deadline and those need to be post marked by today. Some are as late as December 15th. If you have not done so, you better get moving. Your parents and high school guidance counselor are ready and willing to help, but you still need to just do it. Here are some things to double check and make sure: 1) your teachers and guidance counselor mailed in their recommendations and your high school has sent your transcripts for early schools; 2) you sent scores (AP scores, SAT scores, ACT scores) to all early schools; you SIGNED your application; 4) you included payment; 5) you track your package so you see when it arrives. In fact, we would recommend using only UPS or Federal Express and NOT the US Post Office; and 6) you make copies of the common application and other application materials in case it’s lost in the mail.
If you still are a sophomore or junior, I suggest you get someone to supplement your school’s guidance counselor so you can start planning NOW. We used Mimi Doe and Michelle Hernandez Consulting. They were a tremendous help in assisting us plan the summer of senior year and have all our kids applications done before the start of senior year. Two kids and 22 applications filed by the end of September and we already have started to hear back from schools with rolling admissions. It’s a great relief to get those early acceptance letters in the mail!!!
If you are an athlete, you better start thinking about creating a recruiting video during your junior year. When you start visiting schools and meeting with coaches, many are going to ask for a copy of your video. College coaches just do not have the resources to come and see everyone play so a recruiting video is the ony resource that will enable them to evaluate your abilities. You do not have to use us, but use somebody other than an aunt, uncle or friend who may or may not know how to use their video camera and, ABOVE ALL, start the process during your junior year. It could be the difference between getting and not getting a scholarship, but more importantly it could be the difference between getting into your stretch school or not. Think education first, sports second!
West Essex @ Oak Knoll Field Hockey
Chatham, NJ: West Essex @ Oak Knoll Girls Varsity Field Hockey played to a 2-2 tie at Oak Knoll’s Athletic Fields in Chatham, NJ on Thursday October 30, 2008.
Profile on Running Back Dan Dash
Dan Dash, the Holy Cross High School Senior Running Back, recently took time to do an interview with njsi.net. His Q & A Feature Interview is about his playing career.
njsi.net: You are from Willingboro. Did you ever think about going to Willingboro High School? And why did you chose to go to Holy Cross?
Dan Dash: “I thought about going to Willingboro High School. Both my two older brothers and sisters go there now. And my two younger brothers and sister are going to go there, as she is a cheerleader and would like to be a cheerleader there. I wanted to be different and go somewhere different than them. I knew Holy Cross had good academics and a good football team.”
Volleyball: Profile on Marika Racibarskas
Chatham, NJ (Anthony Caruso III for www.njsi.net): Marika Racibarskas, a Senior Chatham Volleyball player, recently took time to do an interview with njsi.net. Her Q & A feature interview is about her playing career.
Environmental Portraiture
Layton, NJ: While I spend most of my time taking photographs of athlete’s in action, I took the opportunity to focus on environmental portraits for the last several days by photographing people at work, home or at play. I even took a chance at a self portrait.
Lacrosse Profile: Roger McGlynn Midfielder
Millburn, NJ (Written by Lou Rossi for NJSI): As you can see from his video below, Roger McGlynn is a force to be reckoned with on the Lacrosse field. His power and speed do justice to his ability to survey the playing ground and determine where his presence is best allocated, allotting his team a valuable, versatile player, that effects the game from the moment he arrives at the field. Roger’s presence is not only felt on the Lacrosse field, however: Roger is a dual-sport athlete that excels as both a team leader and star performer; he is also a talented musician, stellar student, and a devoted contributor to his community.
Recruiting Video for the High School Athlete
The college admissions process can be a daunting experience. I know! My twin boys will be seniors this year at Seton Hall Prep. The process can be even more complex for athletes who are interested in competing on the college level. Regardless of whom you turn to for advice, one of the most often asked question is how to increase your visibility with college coaches and recruiters. One of the most important factors when a recruiter is deciding whether or not you are a good prospect is for them to have a chance to see you compete with their own eyes. A well-prepared college recruiting video is of tremendous value in helping you to be successfully recruited. The recruiting video is especially important for coaches who may not get the opportunity to see you in person in order to accurately evaluate your skills. The video will enable the coach to assess your abilities personally and decide if you are a good prospect without having to rely on someone else’s possibly biased evaluation. If you are some distance from your choice of schools, then the recruiting video is a must in our opinion.
If you would like a recruiting video prepared for your athlete, please contact us for more details. In fact, you can view recruiting videos prepared by our partners at Net Edge Training, LLC.
Photography Tip: How to get Sharp Images
I really believe you should use a professional to get memorable photos of your favorite athlete. Sure, I am biased because it is how I make a living, but you will enjoy your high school or college athlete’s games much better. It’s tough to watch your kids life pass you bu through a viewfinder. If you insist on taking your own photos because of budgetary constraints or you simply enjoy taking photos, here are a couple of suggestions that should improve your ability to get tack sharp images.
First of all do not buy anything but a Nikon or Canon DSLR. Sure lots of other cameras take very good pictures, but there are numerous reasons virtually all sports photographers use Canon or Nikon. To get sharper images, my suggestions for the amateur using a Nikon or Canon SLR are as follows: 1) Be sure the camera is set to continuously track your subject, 2) increase your depth of field when possible; and most importantly, 3) be sure the camera has locked on to your subject before releasing the shutter.
Stuff it Volleyball
Flemington, NJ, USA – We recently did a photo shoot for an apparel company called Stuff it, which specializes in volleyball shorts. The company was created to provide players with a fun and stylish compression short for use during practice. But that’s only a small part of the story. Stuff it shorts combines the most up to date sports technology in design and fabric to create apparel that has exceptional fit and comfort for the athlete. From the response they have received thus far, you are likely to hear more about these guys in the near future.
With over 30 years experience in competitive and technical sportswear their designers should continue to find new and innovative ways to bring all these elements together to make clothing that is intensely fun.
Shooting Sports Indoors
As the indoor sports season approaches, I thought I would opine on how to simulate arena lighting inside typically dark high school venues. Many people take their fancy DSLR cameras to basketball and ice hockey games thinking they will get great images of their favorite athlete, but all they get are blurry images full of digital noise similar to grain we used to get when we were shooting mostly film. You can spend a lot of money on the fastest lenses and the fanciest camera bodies, but your images still will not come close to rivalling those shot with some artifical light. Save your money. You do not need that 200/2.0 lens. What you need are some strobes.
My suggestions are applicable to basketball, wrestling, track, ice hockey, swimming and other indoor events in dark locations. I will talk about my strategy using Dynalite strobes and packs, but they are certainly applicable if you plan to use monolights from White Lightning, Dynalite, Speedotron, Elinchrom, Profoto and others as well as camera flash units with sync such as the QFlash, SB-800 or 580-EXII. Done right, you can capture images like those below.
If you want to know how it’s done, continue to the rest of the article:
