Sports
VIDEO: East Meadow Little League Kicks Off New Season
The East Meadow Little League starts its season with its annual parade.
With the flowers in bloom and warm weather on its way, there is only one thing missing from the picture. Well, maybe two - baseball and softball.
An East Meadow tradition for about 55 years, the East Meadow Baseball Softball Association (EMBSA) hosted their annual opening day parade on Saturday morning. Hundreds of children and parents met at the to line up for the festivities.
According to the Vice Commissioner of EMBSA Steve LaSala, the association, which began in 1952, has approximately 1,000 registered children in the different programs. They have leagues for children from ages 3 through 18, including baseball, softball and a program for special needs. Games run seven days a week at the located on East Meadow Avenue.
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Along with the parade, this event was also about giving back to the community. The EMBSA was collecting food for the “Kids Feeding Kids” program, which was started by their very own softball player, Sydney Inger.
Inger, 10, a student at , started “Kids Feeding Kids” in her summer between second and third grade. Her mother, Stephanie, explained that Sydney had seen a commercial for Feed the Children in Africa and she wanted to help feed children and families on Long Island.
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“We are collecting food for Island Harvest to help the needy children have all of the different foods they need,” Inger said. “There is feed the children in other towns and feed the children in other countries, so I figured why cant we just feed the children here before we start with everyone else.
They continued to collect non-perishable goods at the beginning and end of the parade; with many EMBSA parents dropping of come cans before taking part in the activities.
The route began at the Veterans Memorial Park and headed down East Meadow Avenue, over to Front Street and Merrick Avenue, through the Meadows community and finally concluded on EMBSA’s home turf at the sports complex. The children enjoyed games, food, prizes and a banner contest when they arrived at the complex – a festival of sorts in honor of the opening day.
“The season started two weeks ago but we were waiting for a little bit warmer weather to have our opening day parade,” LaSala said. “It gets them all out and gets them walking in the middle of the street and having fun.”
“I like parades and tee ball,” said Brendan Hand, 5, who was marching for his first time.
“It gives me time with my son to hang out with him,” said Mike Mallilo, who coaches the Melody Cleaners team and was at the parade with his son Eric. “I wanted him to play baseball as I did when I was a kid. It’s fun and enjoyable.”
Each team made their own banner for this event, representing their sponsor and all of the members of the team. Players carried each of their banners high during the parade – some with the assistance of the coaches. All of them smiled and waved as they made there way down the parade route.
Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray was at the ending point of the parade with her colleagues Councilman Gary Hudes, Assemblyman Tom McKevitt and Assemblyman Michael Montesano to greet the participants as they made there way into the East Meadow Sports Complex. They cheered and congratulated the marchers on completing the parade, and also wished them luck in the upcoming season.
“We are just delighted to be able to support the East Meadow Little League – it instills such great values in our kids and it is really a wonderful way for the community to come together,” Murray said.
Legis. Norma Gonsalves, an East Meadow resident, was also on hand to meet with children and parents at the sports complex. She explained that this event is “all about the kids.”
“When there is a coming together of the community for the benefit of the kids, I am all for it,” Gonsalves said. “It is a very tight knit community who are very supportive.”
