I am grateful to be named Little League Eastern Region’s Volunteer of the Year for 2017, along with fellow volunteer Garett Argianas.

2017 marked a year of substantial change at the Eastern Region Headquarters. Longtime Eastern Region Director Don Soucy retired, and longtime Assistant Director Corey Wright was promoted to the top post in Bristol.

To ease that transition, Garett and I made the trip to Bristol, Connecticut about once per month throughout the spring and early summer to work on special projects. It’s a four-and-a-half hour ride for me, and just over an hour for Garett.

People often ask me what I could possibly spend so much time doing at Little League. The operational aspect has always been fun for me – and off-season preparation has become an integral part of my service.

Our work included completing several capital projects, such as a new communications system for game operations; pitch count displays for the dugouts; improvements to the website; a centralized tournament information database; production of a couple items for the Gift Shop; and enhancements to our lightning safety protocol.

There is nothing like the experience of working with dozens of friends, one week each year, to make a large community event a success. It’s especially rewarding for those from the host city of Bristol, Connecticut, like myself. Teams come from as far as Maine and Maryland, and making their stay a great one is of great importance.

The A. Bartlett Giamatti Little League Leadership Training Center is a cornerstone of the city of Bristol, and next June will be a milestone – 25 years since the dedication of the facility.

Over the years, the word “Leadership” in the name of the complex has come into better focus. Certainly for the Little Leaguers themselves, much is learned, but as part of the operations team, I have benefited greatly in my career from the lessons learned at the Giamatti Center.

I very much look forward to my fourteenth tournament season in 2018, and work has already begun to make it the best yet!