Port Washington Youth Activities (PYA) is inducting two members into its Hall of Fame on Friday, June 17, at the North Hempstead Country Club.
PYA will honor longtime baseball coach and Director Joe Duarte as a key volunteer contributor to the organization, and Executive Director Emeritus Ronnie Henderson, at its 26th annual fundraising celebration. These two men, each in their own way, have helped to shape and grow the organization, which was founded in 1963.
Duarte served on the PYA board of directors for eight years, and helped spearhead the fundraising and disciplinary committees. He is best known for spending more than 15 years as a volunteer head baseball coach with PYA, and more than five years as an assistant in baseball, basketball and football. His teams won seven district Little League championships, one Williamsport Long Island Championship and a Long Island runner-up team. Duarte was head coach for a record six times at Cooperstown Dreams Park for their annual week-long tournament, and his teams had a winning record all six times. For two of those years, his teams were ranked in the top 25 of over 100 teams, and those two teams went on to make it to the “Sweet 16” round of that tournament.
Duarte also served as the director of travel baseball for the PYA Legends from 2009-15, and helped revitalize the Legends team brand and shape the program into one of the most respected travel clubs on Long Island by playing in some of the most competitive tournaments in the northeast. He coached several players that have gone on to play collegiately in NCAA programs all over the country at all levels—Divisions I, II and III and the Ivy League.
Ronnie Henderson joined the PYA Board in 1987 and ended up as the longest-tenured executive director in PYA history. Under his leadership and supervision, over 21 years starting in 1994, the organization experienced a renaissance while enrollment in all sports more than quadrupled, as did program revenue, to become one of the top youth sports organizations in New York State. Similarly, under his watch, the organization redeveloped Lions Field into one of the finest youth sports complexes on Long Island.
Henderson’s involvement with PYA began long before he took a leadership role. He played for PYA predecessor teams in both baseball and football (the Port Tigers and Blue Bullets), as well as CYO basketball. He is a graduate of St. Mary’s High School and excelled on the school’s baseball, basketball and track teams. He moved on to Florida State, and then to C.W. Post (LIU) College, and after serving in the U.S. Army, signed a Minor League baseball contract with the Boston Red Sox. He also found time to referee high school and college basketball for 35 years, and is a 50-year member of the Port Washington Fire Department.
On June 17, these new inductees will join other Hall of Fame members Chris Callahan, Billy Omeltchenko, Nick DeMeo and Ron Rochester, all past PYA honorees. The celebration will kick-off with a cocktail hour at 7:30 p.m., and dining and dancing from 8:30 p.m. to midnight. There will be a silent and a live auction and raffles. The price is $175 per person (including open bar) in advance and is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. There are a number of sponsorships available to fit all budgets, plus a souvenir journal will also be published. Mark your calendars now, and direct any inquiries and reservations to Brandon Kurz, PYA program director, at 516-944-7921. You can also visit the PYA website at www.pyasports.org for more information about the celebration and souvenir journal, and to register to attend the event.
PYA is a nonprofit charitable organization formed to promote the exemplary development of local youth through participation in sports. PYA teaches teamwork and individual responsibility in an atmosphere of respect and sportsmanship. While PYA places emphasis on the development of sports skills, its primary mission is to develop character and an understanding of how participation in sporting events can prepare one for success in all endeavors.
