If a high of 76 degrees wasn’t enough to convince residents of Hollis, Bellaire, Queens Village, and Bellrose that summer was nearly upon them, a parade of baseball and softball players down Hillside Avenue surely did the trick on April 18.
It was Opening Day of the HBQVB Little League, and half of Hillside was closed for a procession of players, classic cars, bagpipers, and drummers. When the congregation arrived at the Padavan-Preller Fields, festivities continued with a series of speeches, performances, and awards – all before a mass of antsy little leaguers, positioned around the infield and resembling a rainbow in their colored uniforms.
State Senator Frank Padavan and State Assemblymember Mark Weprin, rival sponsors of two HBQVB teams called “Padavan’s Powder Puffs” and “Weprin’s Wranglers,” spoke at the hour-long ceremony, during which many of the league’s supporters waxed poetic about the values that make little league baseball and softball so distinctive.
“I think you learn more on a ballfield than you do learning how to take standardized tests,” Weprin said.
They were joined by a collection of sponsors and young cheerleaders from the Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Youth Organization in Floral Park. A few meters away, an enormous cupcake sale – accompanied by concession stands and a table selling HBQVB merchandise – helped raise money for the league. A 50-50 raffle offered four box seat tickets to Citi Field, at $1 per entry.
As big as the scene was on April 18, no one familiar with the scope of the HBQVB Athletic Association would be surprised. The group, which this year took in the less-established ASOPEC baseball league of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, hosts games on nine fields for approximately 1,000 little leaguers aged five to 17. Those fields are owned entirely by the Association – a rare luxury for a little league in the New York area.
“That’s a very, very special thing,” Padavan said.
According to vice president Kenny Conyers, league volunteers usually work between 50 and 60 hours a week, finding time after their regular jobs and during their weekends.
“It’s incredible. It’s a full-time job,” Conyers said. “We don’t have any boundaries. [The kids] are from all over the place. … This is probably the most hectic day of the year.”
“We do it for the love of it. We do it for the kids,” said Frank Giannone, the league’s treasurer.
