Little League
Working as a team for the teams
By Melissa Wood
The York Little League Association, with the help of York Parks and Recreation and Bob LeClair of Shore-Built Construction, has created two new dugouts for the town-owned York Beach Ball Field. Pictured, from left, are Mike Sullivan, director of Parks and Recreation, with Bob and Sue LeClair and Ryan LeClair, 11, Karissa LeClair, 13, and Dave Gallagher, director of safety and facilities manager for York Little League. Not pictured is Rick Benoit, president of York Little League.
Photo by Melissa Wood
YORK BEACH - A cool breeze blowing off the ocean can make it a cold game for Little League players waiting between innings at the beach field on Church Street, home of York's girls' softball teams.
Fortunately, thanks to the work of the Little League Association and its coordination with York Parks and Recreation and volunteer construction by Bob LeClair, owner of Shore-Built Construction, the eight girls' teams now have two new dugouts to call their own at the town-owned ballpark.
Stacie Goodrich, president of the Little's League's two softball divisions, said the first day the players saw the new dugouts they were beside themselves with excitement.
"It makes them feel like they're in the majors," she said.
It turns out that LeClair and his wife, Sue, are no strangers to helping kids in sports. They are starting the non-profit COY - Coaching Our Youth - based in York, and hope to one day build a grassroots athletic facility available to all kids but targeted at those who are lower income or at-risk who would benefit from sports being introduced into their lives.
Sue, who was born in Mexico and grew up in the projects in Manchester, N.H., said she and her neighbors didn't have sports as an option because they didn't have the money or transportation available.
"They were all good kids," she said. "If somebody had come and showed them a different path it would have made a difference.
