Hello HBCR Families!

Now that summer is winding down, and fall ball is kicking off, the HBCR Board is beginning to prep for closing up shop on the 2023 baseball year. 

Our all volunteer board strives to put together a program that members of the HB community can be proud to be a part of.  It takes the combined efforts of our entire board to make the program run smoothly.   Every few years, we have to say goodbye to some of our wonderful board members as their players have either aged out of the program, or they simply have put in more time than we could have ever hoped.  We will have some large shoes to fill with some of the openings we have coming, and we are putting out a call to action to solicit the next wave of leadership for the HBCR Board.  As of now, we will have 4 voting member positions open for the 2024 season (term starts in November) and 2 non-voting member positions. 

Matt Ciardelli – Matt has served as President of the league for the last several years after having served as co-President prior to that.  Matt has been instrumental in leading the program and making sure that our fields are always game ready.  Without fail, if something is needing to be done to make it possible for kids of Hollis & Brookline to play baseball, Matt has always made it happen.  While Matt will remain involved with the board in some capacity for the 2024 season, Matt will be stepping out of the President role at the end of this current term. 

Jon Juchnevics – Jon has served along side Matt as VP of the league for the past few seasons after previously serving as a Division Coordinator.  Jon has spent countless hours behind the scenes upgrading our HBCR website, relaunching our social media page, upgrading our team uniforms, league logo, and overall player experience.  Matt and Jon have partnered together and overseen the annual Cam Ricard SVI tournament which brings in hundreds of players from all around NH and MA which requires almost as much work as our entire spring program, packed into 1 week.   Jon will be stepping out of the VP role at the end of this current term.

Matt and Jon have made tremendous impacts and improvements to HBCR over the years, and we can’t thank them enough for all that they have done.  Both Matt and Jon are confident that there are others in the HB community ready to step up and be the next stewards of our amazing league.  It is not common for us to have both a President and Vice President opening at the same time, which is why we are sending this out now, several months before their current term ends. 

We would also like to thank Bob Desrosiers who joined the board last year as our Treasurer.  Bob has put in a ton of work to get our books reconciled and made our reporting very easy to understand.  Bob has also dedicated tons of his time and energy to helping prep fields and was instrumental in making our SVI Tournament take place.  Bob will be stepping out of the Treasurer role at the end of the current term. 

Eric Penniman has served as our TBall and/or Rookies Coordinator for the last few seasons but has been involved with the HBCR board for many years before that.  Eric brings life to the fields and makes the experience for the kids so enjoyable.  While we look forward to seeing Eric remain a coach with the league, he has stepped down from his Rookies Coordinator role.   Ralph Sullivan is taking over as our Rookies Coordinator, and as such, we will be seeking a new TBall Coordinator for the 2024 season. 

Kim Orr has been instrumental the last several seasons with our fundraising efforts.  Kim helped us move from a physical fundraiser to an all digital program.  This new process that Kim brought to the league saved the league and its players and parents, many hours of time while also proving to be financially beneficial to the league.  Kim will be stepping out of the Fundraising Coordinator role at the end of the current term. 

The HBCR Board would like to express our sincere appreciation and thanks to Bob, Eric, and Kim for their years of service and countless contributions to our program. 

Therefore, we formally announce that the following six (6) roles are open for nominations/volunteers.  Volunteers should be prepared to commit at least two (2) years to the role to minimize the impact that turnover causes to the board and the program. 

Voting Roles:

• President
• Vice President
• Treasurer
• T-Ball Coordinator

Non-Voting Roles:

• Fundraising Coordinator
• Concessions Coordinator

If you are interested in any of the positions listed, please email the league at playball@hbcalripken.org to express your interest.  We are available to answer any questions you may have regarding any of these positions.  You can use the same email for these questions or you can contact any of the current board members directly.  You can find the directory and contact links for our board members on our website, hbcalripken.org. 

We thank you in advance for you time reading this post and for considering stepping up and taking our program into the future. 

• HBCR Board of Directors