Varsity Aces

Blown Away

Spent the afternoon up in West Milford for the Highlanders girls soccer game with Wayne Hills. Hope you saw some of the reports on Twitter.

A lot has changed in the last couple of days with regard to the Passaic County girls soccer tournament.

Girls Soccer Passaic Seeds

The Passaic County girls soccer tournament seeds came out around 9 p.m. tonight. (you could have seen them on twitter). Let's go over it again and I have some first thoughts.

Also, they didnt call to cancel, so I believe I will be a guest on GHT tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 p.m. So check it out.

Scoops: Sowing the Seeds

I have been promising to plug a softball camp coming up in Wayne. Check it out at: www.premiersoftballshowcase.com. And if you have something of note you want us to look into, just send us an email.

We are less than 24 hours away from the seeding meeting for the boys and girls Passaic County soccer tournaments. Let me express my thoughts on how the girls seeds should go. Plus, I want to say I will be a guest on GHT Wednesday talking about the county seeds I'm sure. Tune in at 2:30 p.m.

Ghost of a Chance

As many stories as you think you write and as many places as you go, there are still places and people in the North Jersey sports community who still don't get a lot of recognition.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing something I had not done before. I went to an Eastside girl soccer game.

Scoops: The Battle Continues

Yep, if you were checking my tweets earlier, you know I was at Wayne Hills this afternoon (and what a glorious afternoon it was) for Wayne Valley vs. Wayne Hills in girls soccer. Say what you want about the North Jersey TooMany Compromises Conference or NJTCC, but I think having two schools in the same town in the same conference makes a lot of sense, especially if they are like sizes.

The game was a good one, lots of people, lots of young talent on display. The home-standing Patriots came away winners 3-2.

Scoops: Eagles Soar

It wasn't a pretty afternoon for soccer, or a pretty soccer game, but Eastern Christian was able to get by Midland Park, 4-1, in the season opener for both teams.

GHT Today

I, Darren Cooper, will be a guest on Sports Overtime this afternoon at 2:30 talking about the upcoming girls soccer season, and whatever else the guys want to discuss.

We have been dropping hints about some of our changes coming for this fall, and I am free to reveal one now, and that is the Varsity Aces are now on Twitter. You can find me (for now) and the other guys (soon) all at Twitter.com/VarsityAces

Spent

I was thinking of titling this "How I Spent my Summer Vacation" but that sounds too much like a third-grade essay. Still, with a chilly autumn breeze starting to blow, it would be a good time to reflect on what has been going on.

Say, "What's"

Spent a wonderful Saturday morning at the New Milford Swim Club at the 50th Annual New Jersey Pool Managers Association Championships. I can't help it, watching the 6 year olds swim 15 meters is a hoot.

But other, more serious, observations, and results below.

Breaking News: 43 Feet is In for 2010

Heard my first report that 43 feet has been approved in New Jersey as the pitching distance starting in the 2010 athletic season for softball. Nothing yet on the NJSIAA web site, but I expect the official announcement to come out shortly.

Today was the vote by the NJSIAA softball committee, a seven-person panel on whether to put in 43 feet starting in 2010. The National Federation of High Schools voted to institute 43 feet starting in 2011 with each individual state voting on whether to put it in for 2010.

1 p.m. UPDATE: 43 feet will be the distance for all levels of High School softball, including Junior Varsity and freshman levels. This will ease some concerns about having 2 different pitching rubbers on the same mound, however, for some municipal fields which still use 40 feet, it will still be an issue.