BY JAYSON CAMACHO | This past weekend the Greenwich Village Little League kicked off its 31st season. G.V.L.L. is well known for its strong commitment to community and its Opening Day festivities displayed nothing less.
The day began with teams from all divisions marching into Pier 40, at W. Houston St., and taking a spot on the turf field. There were tons of smiles everywhere, as players eagerly awaited the start to their season.
After all the teams were settled in their right places, G.V.L.L. President Carin Ehrenberg took the podium.
“For over 30 years, we have provided thousands of children an opportunity to play team baseball and softball, learning skills and life lessons of all sorts,” she said. “We have also built a ‘small town’ in our G.V.L.L. community. G.V.L.L. is where kids can play baseball and softball with their old friends, make new friends and where all of us players, parents and coaches make lifelong friendships!”
Andrew Ehrenberg — Carin’s son — and Ryan Magelin, two former players in the league, were on hand for the festivities.
Ryan, who now attends LaGuardia High School, played “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” on electric guitar, with Andrew singing backup, and then broke out into a psychedelic Jimi Hendrix version of the song.
Asked by this reporter “What has G.V.L.L. taught you?” they both answered that they’ve learned that sports are a great way to make friends.
“G.V.L.L. has taught me, you don’t have to be good at playing sports to love sports,” Ryan said. “It has taught me that through sports you can make lifelong friends.”
Similarly, Andrew — who now pitches for Poly Prep — said, “Well, a lot of my former teammates are some of my closest friends, and I’ve kept in touch with them for several years. G.V.L.L. taught me how to have fun while playing baseball.”
G.V.L.L. has always taken many steps to teach their players what community is really about. This is one of the things that makes the league what it is. Winning isn’t everything at G.V.L.L.
I spoke with my former G.V.L.L. coach, Mike Schneider, about some of the philosophy that he brings to the table.
“It’s fun, it’s educational and it’s safety,” he said. “Within that, we try to win. In order to do that, we try and get the parents as involved as they can.”
Getting the parents involved definitely seems to be part of the league’s winning formula.
During the Opening Day ceremonies, G.V.L.L. honored four individuals who have been with the league the longest: Mike De Rosa, Carlo Saldana, Art Henkel and Henry Guiden.
De Rosa joined the league along with his stepson in 1985, and has been umping games for G.V.L.L. ever since. He also likes to teach the players as he umps.
Saldana joined the league with his son in 1990. He is a G.V.L.L. board member, as well as a year-round coach in the league’s Majors Division and its developing travel programs. On the board, Saldana specializes in field and equipment management, and is a key liaison with Little League of America.
Henkel joined the league when his son, Austin, became part of the league as a pitching coach in 1991. He’s an elder statesman on the G.V.L.L. board and manages the Upper Division (13-16 years old).
Guiden joined G.V.L.L. in 1996 as an umpire and has been the program’s head umpire ever since. He also teaches past and present players how to ump — which allows them to give back to their league and have fun while doing it.
Also in attendance at Opening Day were local politicians and community leaders who have supported the league. Among them were state Senator Brad Hoylman, City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Tobi Bergman, the recently elected chairperson of Community Board 2.
Bergman is a former G.V.L.L. president and also the founder of P3 (Pier, Park & Playground Association), which he started almost 15 years ago.
In what has become a tradition, it was another fantastic Opening Day on Pier 40. Everyone had a good time and was excited to start another season of baseball. It was clear how many people really love the league and everything that it does.
So now, all that’s left to do is — play ball!
