HBQVB Little League: We Teach More Than Just A Sport
As hundreds of kids march through the streets in route to the Padavan-Preller Field complex for the start of HBQVB season, based in Queens, parents look from afar, as they see their child marching to start playing America’s greatest pastime. It’s at this parade where you can see the excitement on the faces of the young ballplayers who are looking forward to another season of little league baseball.
A member of the Babe Ruth League, the Hollis - Bellaire - Queens Village - Bellerose Athletic Association is considered a traditional safe haven for youth around the Queens community since 1954. At that time New York Daily News Cartoonist Bill Gallo founded the league to keep kids off the street and on the field. Since that groundbreaking year, parents and members of the Queens community continue to fix the look of the field. Even former players come back and contribute from coaching to volunteering in various projects. The togetherness of this little league exemplifies why little league was first formed back in the 1930’s. “I’ve been involved since I was eight years old, said former president Paul Busciolano, who currently handles equipment and uniforms for the league. “My dad signed me up and I’ve been here ever since.”
What started out as a league with only thirty players from around Queens has now ballooned to over six hundred players. Some of the current players reside outside of Queens and the metro New York area.
During the winter months, the league hosts a variety of clinics for players, including pitching mechanics, fielding and hitting. Prior to the start of the season, much work is taking place off the field as coaches receive roster listings and practices begin. It all leads up to the first pitch of the season and then concludes, for teams within different divisions, after the 27th out of the season and being able to call themselves champions at the end of the season.
The league features divisions from tee ball at age six to a fast pitch style at seventeen, on some of its nine fields. Though league play is mainly between April through the end of June, the summer is where the competition picks up. Teams from different leagues throughout the five boroughs compete in the Nick Lomangino tournament including some of their HBQVB’s own travel teams.
“When I was playing, we didn’t have travel teams,” Busciolano said. “It was just your in-house programs and [some] went to all the tournaments. Now, we have tournament teams all over the place. We have parents starting their own travel teams and entire little league teams turning into travel teams. The whole complex is changing and becoming more competitive because truthfully, every child hopes to one day become the next Derek Jeter,” Busciolano added.
While HBQVB strives to get competitive players, it also keeps in mind that some players wish to make it a career and one day go to play baseball in college and hopefully, play professional baseball.
“We have an under fifteen, and under eighteen travel team, which is very good because a lot of them went to showcases for colleges,” current president Mike Pfeiffer said.
For most players, the odds of making it to the major leagues are slim, but HBQVB still tries to pump out players and have had good results, Pfeiffer said. Over the years, the league has produced players in the minors and majors, like current minor leaguer Matthew Rizzoti.
“Rizzoti went through the whole system from tee ball at age six to seventeen years old. He attended Molloy College where he played baseball for four years, and then went on to get drafted” by the Philadelphia Phillies organization. Currently he is playing for the Phillies Triple-A minor league team. “We try and instill the characteristics necessary to be good people and good baseball players. It’s not about just being able to hit a ball well or throw a ninety five mile per hour fastball. It’s also about learning how to be a team player and an overall good competitor. That’s our main focus here at HBQVB,” said Busciolano.
Though the league requires a registration fee for players to sign up, Pfeiffer said he enjoys that not only are players getting involved, but parents are making a commitment too. By requiring parents do to at least three work details, “we have the best looking field in Queens through volunteers. Nobody is paid.” “It’s hard work to upkeep the complex, said Busciolano. “We have twenty acres of land. It would be very expensive to pay people to get the fields playable, weed and green the fields, and get rid of the garbage. That’s one of the reasons we are so grateful for all of our volunteers.”
For as many years as Mr. Busciolano has been involved with the organization, he said it’s being able to see the players as they grow up through the program that is so rewarding. “They get older and comeback to help out. Some players are now watching their own children put on the HBQVB Little League uniform. It’s a great sight to see.”
