With his long lanky movements and the facial hair that frames his face he looks like the college baseball player he soon will be. But as he lopes the bases as a 'buddy' to Christopher League participant Chris, Lee Miller reminds you he is still the little boy who grew up on the NYO ball fields. He is the first recipient of the league's 'Buddy Award,' named in memory of Nick Napolitano.

Once, Nick Napolitano had a Christopher League buddy. Nick also reported to the Jane Wilkins Bronco Field each spring Saturday morning to assist children with physical and mental challenges. His great defensive skills in baseball earned him the nickname 'Hoover' (think of the vacuum), as he made NYO's 12-year-old Titans all-star team. A top student at the Westminster schools and an all-state soccer player, he graduated from Wake Forest University and worked in New York City as a financial and credit analyst. Last August, Nick Napolitano, 23, died while saving the life of a friend in eight-foot waves that pounded the rocky Rhode Island coast.

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It began when she served as team Mom for son Zach's NYO squad. A decade later, Pam Miller is completing her sixth year as co-president of NYO Baseball's Ladies Auxiliary. The program's Executive Director Jane Wilkins intends to hold Pam to her promise to serve a seventh year next year when her younger son, Ben, completes Pony league.

Karen Balser serves as the auxiliary's baseball co-president, and Julie Bassett heads the fastpitch softball program. Women are everywhere at NYO. Some coach and at least two umpire. But the true unsung heroes, or heroines, are the team Moms. On this Mother's Day weekend, we pay tribute to all of them, but to one in particular --- Pam Miller. At its year-end party, the night before Mother's Day, NYO bestowed upon Pam its annual Suzanne Caswell Volunteer Award. It's the highest honor an NYO volunteer can receive.
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Four runs were in, the bases were loaded with Dodgers in the first inning and no one was out. With a run-limit rule of five, NYO Shetland Red Braves manager Brad Glenn had resigned himself to the final run scoring and his team taking its turn at bat. That's how it usually goes when 6-year-olds play. Not this time.

Although it would take a week for what happened next to become an ESPN SportsCenter #1 Top Ten Play of the Day, Braves shortstop Ross Bernath put himself, his team and NYO on the national sports stage --- at least for one night --- when he recorded an inning-ending, unassisted triple play May 1.

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His left arm rests at his side. He taps the plate twice with the bat, then lifts it into a good hitting position with his strong right hand. The count is 3-1. It's late in the season, but Will Penn, an NYO Double-A Yankee, is getting his first at-bat. It's a season that almost didn't happen for Will, 9, who suffered a stroke last summer that affected the left side of his body. But don't tell Will anything is beyond his reach.

Drafted by Yankees' manager Ken Caldwell, Will has dressed for the team's games, dutifully taken his place in the dugout and attended as many practices as he can, given 12 rehabilitation sessions a week. Realistically, an on-the-field appearance was unlikely . . . until this past Saturday.

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For years, NYO had heard from local high school athletic directors and girls' basketball coaches how helpful it would be to them, to have girls' basketball at NYO. To create a league with the attention to development and a high-level of competition that NYO provides for young girl basketball players would fill in a niche between less serious leagues and the too time – consuming for some AAU basketball scene.

Once operational control of the Chastain gym came back to NYO, and we had the opportunity to use it in the months other than November through February, the idea of creating a girls basketball league once again bubbled to the surface. There were many nervous meetings; NYO had not created a new sport in over 15 years; we did not want to create competition with the growing fall softball program; we were not sure how hosting an "off-season" sport would be received; and we had no successful model to fall back upon.

Click on the title of the article above to hear how a couple of great people made this program happen.

It's getting late in the NYO baseball season. With three wins, seven losses, a tie and two regular-season games remaining, the A-league Nationals won't reach .500 unless they get hot in the playoffs. A recent 28-10 loss compounded the pain. The fans have grown restless. But one of them, a dad, has gathered his wits and put together an email entitled, 'Why the Score Means Very Little.' The National players are mere 8-year-olds.

Bill Preston, whose son Harrison plays for the team, recalls his own 8-year-old Little League team of 1976, the Torpedoes; his coach and dad Walter, and one special player who went by the nickname Bronko. The full impact of the story wouldn't become apparent for a quarter of a century. When it did it would speak volumes of how 8-year-old boys can grow up to become men --- real men.

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Numerous changes were considered for the 2012 season. The most significant of which that were implemented are summarized below and contained within the following sections:

NYO has for some period been moving away from the concept of allowing selected players to participate in a younger age group. Last year none of the players that sought to play down from the Bigs to Littles were permitted to do so. For the 2012 season NYO has decided to simply require players to participate in the group for which they are age appropriate. No players will be allowed to “play down”.

Football Registration for 2012 Season

• Registration for Returning players (those that played NYO football in 2011) – April 30 thru May 11, 2012 beginning at 8:00 AM.
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• Registration for Players new to NYO Football – May 14 thru May 25, 2012 beginning at 8:00 AM.

The Meaning of Strength – A lesson Learned

Can participation in youth football really strengthen a young man character? Please judge for yourself from the following that was written by Will Floyd who was a member of the Big Texans shortly following the end of the recent NYO football season. The Texans entered the championship game as the only undefeated team in the league ...