Technology Director of Applications Services John Berardi (center) was presented with a 2017 Red Sox Foundation Volunteer of the Year award at Fenway Park in August.
Little League has been an ever-present element in the life of John Berardi, technology director of applications services at 电子游戏软件. 他是少年棒球联盟的球员, 一个裁判, 教练和, 过去的六年里, has served as Massachusetts Little League District 13 Administrator, overseeing Little League operations for 13 cities and towns, 包括550个团队和超过6个,500名球员. He also volunteers on the Little League International Advisory Board.
四年前, Berardi and Mike Egan of the Red Sox Foundation co-established a formal partnership between Mass. Little League and the Red Sox Foundation that provides financial support and other assistance to the nearly 200 leagues in the state. 除了为每个联赛提供500美元的赞助之外, the Red Sox Foundation also sponsors the state finals for 12-year-olds and underwrites leadership and instructional skills training for coaches. The initiative has proven so successful it is expanding to Rhode Island and Maine.
以表彰他对55人的贡献,000 girls and boys across Massachusetts who play in Little League – and the 5,000年的教练, Berardi was named 2017 Red Sox Foundation Volunteer of the Year.
“这是一种荣誉. 我很惊讶, 但真的很荣幸,贝拉尔迪说, 在8月份红袜队的比赛中领奖的人.
“John volunteers many thousands of hours of his time to make Little League a great experience for all involved,” said Information Technology Services Vice President Michael Bourque, who has worked with Berardi at BC for 15 years and knows of Berardi’s commitment to Little League through his own involvement with the program in his hometown of Wakefield. “对约翰来说，一切都是为了孩子们.”
“Winning is nice, but it’s not what really matters,贝拉尔迪说. “学会支持你的队友, whether they had a great game or a bad game is what it’s all about. Little League isn’t about building better athletes, it’s about developing better citizens.”
In 2009, Berardi established “Little League Days” at 电子游戏软件. 每年春天, Little League baseball and softball players are invited to attend a BC baseball and softball game. Not only do the youngsters get to see the sports played at the collegiate level, there is a meet-and-greet with the players on the field after the games.
To understand Berardi’s passion and commitment to Little League, 其中一个要追溯到贝拉尔迪的父亲, 乔治. 老贝拉尔迪, 谁在2011年去世了, was an amateur baseball player who first became involved in Little League as 一个裁判 in 1952. He was even tapped to be 一个裁判 at the Little League World Series. 乔治 Berardi became a Little League official, serving as Mass. District 13 Administrator for 50 years and state director of Massachusetts Little League for more than 40 years.
So it’s not surprising that John Berardi grew up playing Little League baseball— pitching and playing first base and the outfield. 十几岁的时候，他当过比赛的裁判. He volunteered as an assistant coach on each of his three children’s teams. 在20世纪90年代, he started assisting his father in Little League official business, using his computer skills to help advance the work his father was doing as District Administrator.
“这是一个很好的合作关系. He had all the experience and I had the technology skills,” recalled Berardi. 两人合作起来很容易, 他们不仅都喜欢棒球, 他们是隔壁邻居.
棒球提供了持久的人生课程, 这就是团队合作的重要性, 体育精神, 和毅力. 对贝拉尔迪来说，少年棒球联盟意味着社区.
“我们镇上有很多不同的小学. Going to middle school, all of sudden you were with all these new kids. But I had connections to a lot of them because I played Little League with them. 你们是队友，这是有意义的. 直到今天, I still see two or three of them around town and we refer back to the 1971 minor league team. 成为队友是永恒的.”
Winning is nice, but it’s not what really matters, added Berardi. “学会支持你的队友, whether they had a great game or a bad game is what it’s all about. Little League isn’t about building better athletes, it’s about developing better citizens.”
贝拉尔迪和他的六个兄弟姐妹在沃本长大, 不仅要学习关于棒球的一切, 还有另一个家庭传统:志愿服务. In addition to the 60 years of volunteer service his father devoted to Little League, 贝拉尔迪的乳白色的母亲, 安, volunteered as a religious education instructor in their parish for 45 years.
A particular passion for Berardi has been the Jimmy Fund Little League, a program founded by the elder Berardi and Red Sox players Rico Petrocelli and Mike Andrews which gives children the opportunity to play ball over the summer after the end of the regular season while also raising money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund.
Berardi is the program coordinator for the Jimmy Fund Little League, 这涉及到5个,000 Little League baseball and softball players in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He works with the Jimmy Fund and the teams on incentives and fundraising strategies, 哪个系列的罐头, 车洗, 烘培义卖到全垒打德比和商业赞助. 去年夏天, 少年棒球联盟筹集了250美元,为丹娜-法伯癌症电子游戏正规平台所和吉米基金捐了000美元. Since the program’s inception in 1987, more than $5 million has been raised.
Berardi said the program is special because the players are helping other kids and it shows the patients and their families that they are not alone. Their efforts were highlighted earlier this year during a segment on ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight.”
“A large part of this program’s success is due to John's personal dedication. 就像他在bbc的工作一样, John keeps the program goals in the forefront while attending to the details,”布尔克说. “这是对他父亲遗产的伟大致敬.”
——凯瑟琳·沙利文|《大学传播