We Shall Never Forget

I was once again humbled and honored to cover the City of Beacon commemoration ceremony marking the 14th Anniversary of 9/11.  It is truly hard to believe that fourteen years have past since this heinous and outrageous attack was cowardly carried out.

This year's event once again took place in Patriot Park and was hosted by the Beacon American Legion Post 203 and the Auxilliary Unit 203.   As in year's past, it was very well attended and participants included several first responders.  Mayor Randy Casale, Past Post Commander John McEnroe and Fire Chief Gary Van Voorhis were this year's guest speakers.

 To view the ceremony in its entirety, please follow the link below.
City of Beacon 9/11 Commemoration

Featured Service Spotlight -- Individual High School Demo Highlights

As we all know, playing high school sports is extremely competitive.  However, collegiate athletics is in a league all of its own.  In order to stand out amongst the crowd, it is imperative to have a superior, high-quality individual demo. 

Here at Video Ventures, we are proud to be able to offer this service to our players.  Each year we produce a significant number of demos and our success rate continues to accelerate.  Those who have utilized our demos, have not only gotten into the college of their choice, but have also received scholarships to play for that particular team.

We go above and beyond simply handing our clients a DVD.  What we do is produce a full 4-6 minute highlight reel and incorporate it into the athletes own Vimeo channel.  This enables any coach, recruiter or scout, with a swift click of the mouse, to access the demo, game footage and a full sports biography. The average highlight demo has 25 to 30 clips and ranges in price from $300-$500.  Costs will vary depending on the amount of editing needed.

To view one of our lacrosse high school demos, please use the link below.

Eric Greenberg 2014 Highlights

"Land Of The Free Because Of The Brave"

We were honored and humbled to have been asked to cover two Memorial Day parades in Dutchess County this year.  The City of Beacon held their parade along Main Street and concluded with a ceremony at the City's V.F.W. building. Just like Beacon, the Town of Beekman's parade marched down its Main Street.  Their parade however, concluded with a ceremony at Beekman Town Hall.

These are always very personal occasions for me.  My hero and role-model is my dearly departed father.  He served in the United States Navy during World War II and was stationed in the South Pacific.  He instilled in me a great sense of pride and humility for the men and women who served and continue to serve in our Nation's Armed Forces.  That is why events such as the above, are always one of the most touching tributes that I have the privilege of shooting.

To view these services in their entirety, please click on the links below.  

Beacon Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony

Beekman Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony

Crowning of a Champion

We have covered some incredible games this lacrosse season, but, without a doubt, the Section 1 Class A Championship game, was by far the best we were privileged to capture. This showdown featuring Mahopac vs. Mamaroneck at White Plains High School on May 21st, had everyone holding their breath right up until the last second.

The game began on a very slow place with each team scoring a goal a piece at the end of the first quarter.  As we moved into the second, the game intensified drastically.  Mamaroneck revved up and goals by Eric Greenberg and Charlie Harris enabled them to take a 5-2 lead.   Without hesitation, Mahopac kicked themselves into gear and picked up another three goals.  As we headed into halftime, it was clear that this could be either team's game to win.  The third quarter can be summed up as a simultaneous onslaught of goals being scored by both teams.  With two minutes left to play in the quarter, Mahopac held a 9-8 lead but that did not last for long as Mamaroneck answered back with two quick goals of their own. once again assuming control. 

With a score of 10-9 to start the fourth, Mamaroneck and Mahopac each exchanged goals within the first two minutes.  Now with just nine minutes of play left, tension hung in the air with each play made.  Suddenly, with only a minute left in the game, Mahopac scored to tie the score and forced this cliffhanger to head into overtime.  Before the crowd could even blink, Mamaroneck's shining star, and offensive player of the game, Eric Greenberg, delivered an unassisted goal propelling his team to victory and thereby crowning Mamaroneck as the 2015 Section 1 Class A Champions. 

Mamaroneck has a bye for the first round of regional play and will play the winner of the Section 3 vs Section 9 game (to be held on Wednesday, May 27th) on Saturday, May 30th. 

To view highlights of this game, please follow the link below.
Mahopac vs. Mamaroneck

The March To The Championship

In this battle of the Tigers, White Plains squared off against Mamaroneck vying for a chance to advance to the Section 1 Class A championship game on Tuesday, May 19th.  It took only two minutes and thirty seconds for Mamaroneck to claw their way to an early lead when Jack Harrigan and Eric Greenberg each scored a goal a piece.  Unfortunately for White Plains, Mamaroneck's Ben Shapiro, won close to 90% of his face offs thereby giving Mamaroneck's Tigers ball possession for almost the duration of the game.  At the half, White Plains was down by three goals. Things did not improve much from there.  Mamaroneck doubled their number of goals by the end of the game and walked away with a 19-8 victory.  They will now play on Thursday against Mahopac, in what will be a rematch of the 2013 Class A Section 1 Championship game.  Will history repeat itself and Mamaroneck once again reign supreme?  Please be sure to stay tuned.

Defending Class C Section 1 Champions Bronxville took on Briarcliff in this semifinal thriller.  Briarcliff was ready and successfully scored first against the Bronxville powerhouse.  In order to prove their prowess, Bronxville came fightng back and was able to tie the score at one at the end of the first quarter.  The next four goals would belong to Bronxville, giving them a 5-2 lead as we headed into halftime.  Bronxville did not lose any momentum and continued to distance themselves from Briarcliff, picking up another two goals by the end of the third quarter.  Briarcliff had been silenced long enough, energized they came fighting back and were able to add two more goals to their tally.  However, in the fourth quarter, only a total of two goals were scored and unfortunately for Briarcliff, they were both scored by the mighty Bronxville team resulting in a final score of 9-5. Bronxville now finds themselves headed back to their 4th straight Class C Section 1 Championship game.  Despite this tough loss, Briarcliff should be incredibly proud of themselves.  They had a stellar season and have proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned with in the next upcoming season(s) to come. 

For highlights of these semifinal games, please follow the links below.
White Plains vs. Mamaroneck

Briarcliff vs. Bronxville

Second Round Showdowns

Mamaroneck took to the field on Saturday energized and full of vigor as they faced off against Suffern.  Not wasting anytime, one of their shining stars, Eric Greenberg scored two goals within the first 45 seconds.  By the end of the first quarter, Mamaroneck held a 6-1 lead.  Any time Suffern managed to score a goal, it was rapidly matched and/or exceeded by Mamaroneck.  At the start of the 4th quarter, Mamaroneck had its reserve team members in the game and they walked off the field victorious with a final score of 19-13.  It will be a "Tiger vs. Tiger" showdown as Mamaroneck advances to the Class A semifinals and will face White Plains on Tuesday, May 19th. 

Two of our teams, Haldane and Briarcliff, went head to head on Saturday, May 16th, in what many people believed would be an epic battle of these two closely matched Class C teams.  Much like Mamaroneck, Briarcliff was not going to let anyone stand in their way, and they too led 6-1 and the end of the first quarter of play.  The Haldane Blue Devils had a very difficult time maintaining ball possession and consequently, Briarcliff was ahead by seven goals at the half.  The second half of play continued on much like the first, with Briarcliff continuing to increase their lead over the Blue Devils.  It was evident that Haldane was starting to feel the pressure, as towards the end of the game, things began to get a little volatile with an increase of slashing and hitting.  At one point two players had to be pulled away from one another, resulting in a huddle between both coaches and referees.   At the end of the day, victory belonged to Briarcliff  with a 16-5 win.  They will meet Bronxville, the 2014 Class C Champions, on Tuesday, May 19th. 

For highlights of these games, please follow the links below. 

Suffern vs. Mamaroneck

Haldane vs. Briarcliff

First Round

As the days begin to heat up, so does the lacrosse action across the Hudson Valley.  We are now officially into the playoff season.

On Thursday, May 14th, we filmed three games in the first round of the Class "C" playoffs. First, we take you to Briarcliff where this #3 ranked hosted #14North Salem.  Unfortunately, North Salem seemed to have left their offense on the bus as Briarcliff easily dominated throughout the game.  Their sustained offense and stellar goal-tending had them leading at the half by a score of 5-1.  The second half of the game was not much different.  They added another four goals to the scoreboard and dealt North Salem a 9-2 loss. 

Next up we bring you #11 Lourdes vs. #6 Haldane.  Haldane was no match for Lourdes as they scored a whopping 24 goals.  Lourdes was determined to not go down without a fight but at the end of the day, they came up short, only putting 10 goals on the board.  The Blue Devils move on to the next round as they topple Lourdes with a 24-10 victory.

For our last game of the the day, #9 Westlake traveled to play #8 ranked Irvington.  This was an incredible game where neither team led by more than two goals at any given time.  Neither team was willing to give up and this game went into double overtime.  Unfortunately, when all was said and done, Irvington fell short and lost by one goal to Westlake.  In the next round of play, Westlake will meet Bronxville, the defending Class "C" champions.

Please stay tuned as two of our teams advance to quarter final action.  The Briarcliff Bears and Haldane Blue Devils will face off against one another on Saturday, May 16th.

To view highlights of these games, please follow the links below.

North Salem Vs. Briarclff

Lourdes vs. Haldane 

Westlake vs. Irvington