A coach makes his pitch to bring Little League baseball to Wyandanch
Coach Bernard Greene played baseball as a kid growing up in Wyandanch as part of a Police Athletic League program. Credit: Howard Simmons
The crack of a bat. The thump of a ball hitting a mitt. The swish of a player sliding into home.
It’s been decades since Wyandanch youth have heard those sounds in their community, but Bernard Greene is determined to make the iconic echoes of baseball a fixture there.
Greene, 51, has put together a group of more than 50 kids ages 4 to 14 whom he coaches across four age-based baseball teams. They are playing exhibition games with teams in neighboring communities, but the goal is to eventually form an official Little League program in Wyandanch.
“It needs to be revived in our community,” he said of youth baseball.
But there is, no pun intended, a catch.
Little League International, which has teams in 80 countries, controls the establishment of teams and keeps them limited within a geographic area. Because there is a Half Hollow Hills league in nearby Dix Hills, Wyandanch youth can join it. Efforts can be made to form Wyandanch's own league and prove that it’s sustainable enough to earn its own Little League charter, said Steven Muraco, the area’s district administrator for the league and president of the Half Hollow Hills team. But it will take time.
“There’s a lot of analyzation that goes on before they say, 'OK, we’re ready to make you a chartered Little League,'” Muraco said, adding that it could take a few years before the Wyandanch program is established. “This is the first time that Wyandanch has really put in a good effort to get one.”
Greene, an electrician with Local 25, played baseball as a kid growing up in Wyandanch as part of a Police Athletic League program, which “kept us busy and out of the streets,” he said.
Last year with his wife, Giovannette, he started a youth football league.
The couple ended up spending about $53,000 of their own money to build that league, they said, forgoing vacations and other personal expenses to get it off the ground.
“The teams are not going to do so well if they’re not brought up playing these sports,” Greene said. “They get to the high school and then they get beat up on and they’re going to quit.”
This year, the couple branched out into baseball. They’ve spent about $4,000 so far, they said, but got help from the Town of Babylon’s Local Development Corp., or LDC, which donated $30,000 toward team uniforms and equipment and to help keep registration fees low.
“There’s been a need for a Little League in Wyandanch for years,” said Marlon Marshall, deputy commissioner for the town’s parks department, who has been helping to establish the league. “When you think of Wyandanch sports for youth, it’s usually basketball or football. This gives them another option.”
There is no varsity baseball team at Wyandanch High School. The Wyandanch school district has a junior varsity baseball program and has been trying to build a varsity program, said Steven Davis, the school district’s athletic director.
“It’s kind of tough when you don’t have a Little League in the community,” he said. “The kids really aren’t playing organized baseball or learning the skills until they get to middle school or high school.”
Davis said he tried to start a middle school baseball team last year but didn’t have enough kids. He said he will try again next spring, this time with the hope of getting some of Greene’s players.
Greene hopes his teams become part of a “feeder program” for the school district.
“They might not make it to play with the professionals, but it might get them a scholarship to help them get a college degree,” he said.
Greene admits that baseball was initially a hard sell to the kids.
“They said, 'I don’t want to play, baseball is boring,'” he said. “Now it’s all they can talk about.”
The teams started training in February and have played a handful of exhibition games against other teams, such as those from Brentwood and Deer Park, Greene said.
Giovannette Greene said the effort is about something more. She said she found out some of the kids were dealing with food insecurity when one boy told her his stomach hurt from hunger because he had little food at home.
“That broke my heart,” she said. “From then on, every day at practice, I make sure they have food, even if it’s just a snack and something to drink.”
Parents watching a recent practice at Herman Griem Park in Wheatley Heights praised the league and the impact it’s had on their children.
“I love seeing the improvement in him and he loves to play,” said Jose Corea, 67, whose son Willie, 12, is a catcher.
Corea even made a deal with his son: You can continue to play if you improve your grades. “He’s doing better in school, so I love it,” he said.
Antonio Fuller, 13, is a pitcher and third baseman who said he’s started watching professional baseball videos to improve.
“I like to get people out and help my team out,” he said of his love of pitching.
During the practice games, the kids encouraged each other and expressed delight when they connected bat to ball or fielded a hit.
“It gives them pride to be part of something,” Greene said. “It gets them to try something new. You never know what’s going to grab your heart.”
The crack of a bat. The thump of a ball hitting a mitt. The swish of a player sliding into home.
It’s been decades since Wyandanch youth have heard those sounds in their community, but Bernard Greene is determined to make the iconic echoes of baseball a fixture there.
Greene, 51, has put together a group of more than 50 kids ages 4 to 14 whom he coaches across four age-based baseball teams. They are playing exhibition games with teams in neighboring communities, but the goal is to eventually form an official Little League program in Wyandanch.
“It needs to be revived in our community,” he said of youth baseball.
But there is, no pun intended, a catch.
Little League International, which has teams in 80 countries, controls the establishment of teams and keeps them limited within a geographic area. Because there is a Half Hollow Hills league in nearby Dix Hills, Wyandanch youth can join it. Efforts can be made to form Wyandanch's own league and prove that it’s sustainable enough to earn its own Little League charter, said Steven Muraco, the area’s district administrator for the league and president of the Half Hollow Hills team. But it will take time.
“There’s a lot of analyzation that goes on before they say, 'OK, we’re ready to make you a chartered Little League,'” Muraco said, adding that it could take a few years before the Wyandanch program is established. “This is the first time that Wyandanch has really put in a good effort to get one.”
A PAL player as a kid
Greene, an electrician with Local 25, played baseball as a kid growing up in Wyandanch as part of a Police Athletic League program, which “kept us busy and out of the streets,” he said.
Last year with his wife, Giovannette, he started a youth football league.
The couple ended up spending about $53,000 of their own money to build that league, they said, forgoing vacations and other personal expenses to get it off the ground.
“The teams are not going to do so well if they’re not brought up playing these sports,” Greene said. “They get to the high school and then they get beat up on and they’re going to quit.”
This year, the couple branched out into baseball. They’ve spent about $4,000 so far, they said, but got help from the Town of Babylon’s Local Development Corp., or LDC, which donated $30,000 toward team uniforms and equipment and to help keep registration fees low.
“There’s been a need for a Little League in Wyandanch for years,” said Marlon Marshall, deputy commissioner for the town’s parks department, who has been helping to establish the league. “When you think of Wyandanch sports for youth, it’s usually basketball or football. This gives them another option.”
Coach Bernard Greene watches a play at the plate. Credit: Howard Simmons
There is no varsity baseball team at Wyandanch High School. The Wyandanch school district has a junior varsity baseball program and has been trying to build a varsity program, said Steven Davis, the school district’s athletic director.
“It’s kind of tough when you don’t have a Little League in the community,” he said. “The kids really aren’t playing organized baseball or learning the skills until they get to middle school or high school.”
Davis said he tried to start a middle school baseball team last year but didn’t have enough kids. He said he will try again next spring, this time with the hope of getting some of Greene’s players.
Greene hopes his teams become part of a “feeder program” for the school district.
“They might not make it to play with the professionals, but it might get them a scholarship to help them get a college degree,” he said.
More than just baseball
Greene admits that baseball was initially a hard sell to the kids.
“They said, 'I don’t want to play, baseball is boring,'” he said. “Now it’s all they can talk about.”
The teams started training in February and have played a handful of exhibition games against other teams, such as those from Brentwood and Deer Park, Greene said.
Giovannette Greene said the effort is about something more. She said she found out some of the kids were dealing with food insecurity when one boy told her his stomach hurt from hunger because he had little food at home.
“That broke my heart,” she said. “From then on, every day at practice, I make sure they have food, even if it’s just a snack and something to drink.”
Parents watching a recent practice at Herman Griem Park in Wheatley Heights praised the league and the impact it’s had on their children.
“I love seeing the improvement in him and he loves to play,” said Jose Corea, 67, whose son Willie, 12, is a catcher.
Corea even made a deal with his son: You can continue to play if you improve your grades. “He’s doing better in school, so I love it,” he said.
Antonio Fuller, 13, is a pitcher and third baseman who said he’s started watching professional baseball videos to improve.
“I like to get people out and help my team out,” he said of his love of pitching.
During the practice games, the kids encouraged each other and expressed delight when they connected bat to ball or fielded a hit.
“It gives them pride to be part of something,” Greene said. “It gets them to try something new. You never know what’s going to grab your heart.”
Wyandanch Youth Baseball
- Four teams have been formed featuring kids ages 4 to 14.
- More than 50 kids are participating, playing exhibition games with teams from neighboring communities.
- Coach Bernard Greene's goal is to eventually form an official Little League program with players that move on to play in school.
Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.
'Just disappointing and ... sad' The proportion of drivers who refused to take a test after being pulled over by trained officers doubled over five years. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.
'Just disappointing and ... sad' The proportion of drivers who refused to take a test after being pulled over by trained officers doubled over five years. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.
