Calling all Local Shutterbugs: Please Keep Us in Mind
The 2020-21 school years were unlike anything we’ve ever witnessed thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic: Disheartening on so many levels. But our student athletes, coaches, administrators, officials and everybody associated with prep sports deserves a tip of the cap, a nod of approval and pat on the back for a job well done. It wasn’t easy on anybody remotely involved, including behind-the-scenes folks like the administrative assistants, T.A.’s, school monitors, etc. The oft-unbearable mandates — wearing masks in 90-degree heat and distancing from people we love to hug — made it tough at times, but we trudged through and found the finish line while folks across the globe meandered through a series of inconceivable trials and tribulations.
As spring turned to summer last week and the restrictions have eased, we’d like to give one last shout out to everybody associated with the local sports scene; for giving our kids some sense of normalcy, for providing the outlet our student athletes desperately needed.
As we move into the summer phase of local sports coverage, we’ll be dipping into everything from the Hudson Valley Renegades (NY Yankees High-A affiliate) to the Greater Hudson Valley Baseball League and all points in between, including YOUR submissions. We can’t do this alone, because we can’t be everywhere, but we can work together to acknowledge the summer exploits of all from ages 8-to-18 and then some.
Send us your schedules. Tag us — @examinermedia, @rjd_photos and @Directrays — in your Twitter and Instagram photos.
Coaches, please email us at raygallaghersports@gmail.com and robertdiantonio@yahoo.com with weekly recaps and highlights by 4:00 p.m. Sunday. Send us your team celebration shots with tournament trophies in tow. No team or individual accomplishment is too small to recognize.
Summer is the time to acknowledge the little guy/gal. Little Leaguers and travel ballers will become the primary focus over the next six weeks as we await a somewhat normal fall varsity football/soccer campaign, so we’re hoping you shutterbugs out there can keep us in mind and send us your detailed contributions. Thanks in advance and have a great summer, gang!
P.S. On a personal level, I would love to see 2018 Fox Lane grad Henry Davis, the extraordinary Louisville catcher, slip to No.10 in the upcoming MLB draft where my beloved NY Mets would have a chance to nab the former Section 1 standout, but, in a draft where shortstops and pitchers are in high demand, I highly doubt Davis lasts beyond the No.5 pick. We all knew “H” was going to be a big-time, can’t-miss prospect when he went next level, but top 5, possibly No.1??? #HolyMoly #PayDay.
P.S.S. Best of luck to soon-to-be-appointed Putnam Valley Athletic Director David Kantrowitz, who hails from Monroe-Woodbury area and has cut his teeth in the NYC PSAL. He’s totally new to the Section 1 terrain, so my P.V. brethren will need to give the 31-year-old D.K. some time to see if he can flex #PatienceIsAVirtue.
P.S.S.S. Horace Greeley hit the nail on the head with the hire of A.D. Geoff Curtis, the former John Jay CR baseball coach and teacher. Curtis, flat-out, is a terrific call, and he will thrive as the leader of the Quakers (if YOU let him!).
Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.
Visit Ray’s author bio page for more details. Also read Ray’s archived work here and his Direct Rays column here.
