It’s not surprising, to me anyway, why I chose this time of year to publish my first blog. I am a hockey fan, from youth teams to the pros, and I love to photograph all of them. For those who don’t know me, I am a freelance photographer working in Central New Jersey covering primarily high school sports. I consider myself a photojournalist with a desire to cover all sports at all levels. I have been doing this since 2014 when I started my business and allowed it to occupy most of my time since I retired from the corporate world in 2017. The links above will give you a view of some of my work.
So now that you have an idea of who I am let’s get to the heart of this idea of a blog. I want to present an opportunity for people to follow an idea of sports photojournalism, as I see this as something that is going away for many reasons, (this may be a future article), and to maybe fill a digital void that is not consistently covered. I chose Monmouth and Ocean Counties NJ because this is where I live and work currently. It will include high school, junior college, and university level sports that I get to cover. It will include teams outside of the Shore Conference when we get to the state level playoffs for high school sports. It will include some recaps, previews, my own opinions, and of course photos. I will try my best to post something every week, dependent on my schedule, and whether there is something to say.
So now the 2020 HS Hockey State Tournament. The quarterfinals are on Monday, March 2nd at the highest seed home ice. The Shore Conference started with 17 teams across all four groups in the tournament. Dowd Cup winners Manasquan, Handchen Cup winners Rumson-Fair Haven and Gordon Cup winners Christian Brothers lead the way being seeded 5, 4 and 1 respectively in their brackets. I will be covering games all week including most of the semi-finals and I will be at the Rock on Monday the 9th for the finals. If there is a Shore team still in it, I will prioritize these teams while covering the games for Jersey Sporting News and Hockey Clan.
This year is the inaugural tournament for Girls Ice Hockey, with the Devils hosting the final and an All-Star Game on March 5th. Girls ice hockey has grown in NJ over the last few years and this tournament is a culmination of all that growth. The tournament is put together by coaches and AD’s from the schools that host a team, as the NJSIAA does not sanction the sport yet. There is a Shore team, Trinity Hall, that is seeded #2 in the bracket, with a young team that is full of sophomores and freshmen and could be a strong competitor in future tournaments.
So, stay tuned for upcoming editions of this blog. I will be talking about the hockey tournament and throw in some basketball games that will be played for the Shore Conference Tournament and the State Tournament as they play through March. Track and Field championships for high school are also scheduled soon as the Meet of Champions is the day before the hockey final. Brookdale Community College spring season starts in a few weeks with baseball, softball and lacrosse games during the middle of March. I am going to be doing some Rutgers spring sports also, where the Men’s and Women’s lacrosse teams are projected to do well in the Big 10. But for now, it’s hockey and more hockey. I hope that my storytelling with photography is something that entices people to come back often. Enjoy the photographs and reading what I have to say.
Tom
Recent Photos
The Shore Sports Beat 
Tom looks great
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Great work Tom. Look forward to many more articles. Best of luck with the blog!!
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Great work
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