Mid Island Vice President
Lisa Collette is the Vice President at Mid Island Babe Ruth at 322 Travis Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10314. Her husband Anthony Collette is the president of the league. Mid Island Babe Ruth is a baseball league with one field. Kids between the ages of 13-18 play for the Babe Ruth league. Starting the 2015 season there is now a Mid Island Mens League starting with the ages of 18. When I asked Lisa, why would you start to expand now to this mens league and this is what she had to say.
“We started the men's league because a lot of the boys who aged out still wanted to stay and play so now they can with the men's league, and because we are a family, we hate to see relationships go”
That is the kind of person Lisa Collette is. Lisa really cares about her family, not just her own family with a husband and her two kids. Mid Island Babe Ruth is a baseball family community that creates a lot of chemistry. Loving relationships, bonds and friendships that are made throughout the baseball years and it will only get better. I asked her, is it safe to say that everything you do for the league is out of passion for your players ? She responded
“Yeah you can Anthony, remember we donate our time to mid island and the families that play there. It's a home away from home. We try to make it as family friendly as possible.”
Wow
I knew Lisa Collette for about 7 years now and it’s great to hear that. I myself have been a baseball player for my whole life at Mid Island and I always have felt that. With my own personal experience, her and her family have always been a second family to me. She does more than just run the best baseball league on Staten Island but, she also takes her own time and her own heart to make sure everyone else in the community is affected. I asked Lisa if she donates any money to charities, and she said
“Well we had people donate toys for the Christmas toy drive to the school and we had enough toys to also give to a hospital, and we collected money to help families have a thanksgiving dinner”
This league ran by Lisa Collette and her husband is more than just collecting money for the teams, letting teams just play baseball and that is it. They donate toys to kids who really need it, especially to kids in hospitals and raised money so people can have a blessed thanksgiving dinner.
I asked Lisa about her future plans for Mid Island and she has a couple of things in mind.
“We are still trying to get a scoreboard because the one we had got hit by lightning. My son Andrew is fixing the bull pens, we added concrete and extra seating in the dugouts. I would also like to add a warning track. It would be a dream come true if we had the opportunity to pave the parking lot”
There is still much work be done to the field. She wants to have a better scoreboard, fix the bullpen and maybe add a warning track. Another big factor would be paving the parking lot which would be huge for the connivence of cars in the area.
The league is getting sponsors from all over the island. UFC ( Ultimate Fighting Competition ) is a sponsor they just got. That is a big sponsor to have because UFC is the biggest fighting professional sport in the world today and it brings such a great look to the league.
Mid Island Babe Ruth continues to build and expand mostly because of Lisa Collette. Lisa takes her time, dedication and love to make sure this league can be special. It is a baseball family community that can't be missed. Friendships, relationships and creating a special bond is something that needs to be recognized.
