CONGRATULATIONS TO Gary Brown FOR WINNING THE 2023 JACKET AWARD!

The North Ridgeville Baseball League, Inc. recognizes an outstanding volunteer each year by bestowing "The Jacket Award." It takes an army of volunteers each season to make the league a success and the leagues wishes to honor those who go above and beyond in making that a reality.

We are proud to announce that this year, Gary Brown! Congratulations to Gary for winning this year's award!

Here is Gary Brown's winning nomination:

Gary has been part of Palmer Field for over 15 years. When his older son decided not to play years ago, Gary continued to coach. When his youngest son was born, Gary stepped right back into coaching and has for the past 5 years. Gary is an exemplary coach. He focuses on positive encouragement, fundamentals and playing the game the right way. He has some challenges with his own son at times but is never flustered and always puts the team first. When his family relocated to Brunswick, Gary still kept his role as manager without missing a beat. In addition, Gary owns his own cleaning company that has him on the go for sometimes 20 hours a day, 7 days a week. Regardless of how busy or tired he is, he still manages to come up to Palmer every other week and deep clean the restrooms, free of charge. He even sponsors his team! Gary Brown has given selflessly to the league for many years and is the perfect example of what the Jacket Award is all about.

Here are the other 5 nominees, along with their nominations:

Terry Banks

• Terry was a great head umpire for many years. In addition to his primary role, he was always willing to jump in and help wherever it was needed. After stepping down this season, he was a great mentor and advisor to the new head umpire through the entire season. He was instrumental in the successful process of how umpires are scheduled and has given NRBL the best umpiring crew anywhere. He didn't have to help out but he chose to and continues to give back to the organization.
• Terry has went above and beyond as the former head umpire to help the current head umpire fulfill his duties this year and was even around to help out at the stand during tournaments. He has been a valuable asset to the league and more than deserving of this honor.

Mindy Kaminski

• Mindy is incredibly generous. She works full time, has 3 sons, and does all the team photos for the league. She is always taking an incredible amount of quality pictures of not only her boys and her boys' teams, but of all the other north ridgeville teams as well including making a weekend trip to States when neither of her son's teams were even participating. She then shares those for all for free to enjoy and does a phenomenal job in doing so. She lost her sister and mother within a 2 month period at the beginning of the season and still managed to volunteer her time and energy for the betterment of the league and the families of the players. I am sure everyone in the league is aware of who she is and will also agree with how much she deserves the recognition to show our appreciation for her.
• I would like to nominate Mindy Kaminski because she has gone above and beyond for so many families in the league.  It isn't even about her boys, its about all the boys and and girls playing at Palmer.  She shows up takes amazing photos and always has a smile to allow other parents to smile and show of the talents of their children through her amazing photos. She traveled to states to show her support and give these families a lifetime of memories through her work.  Mindy is truly a stand up woman, but more specifically a human.  She deserves to be recognized for not only her talent, but her heart as well.  

Mark Rumancik

• Mark is an outstanding coach and mentor for the kids on the baseball team.  He provides not only baseball coaching but helps to give everyone the opportunity to grow as a leader while developing their skills.  He represents what Hot Stove is and should be now and into the future. 

Adam Workman

• Adam goes above and beyond in teaching young athletes the basics of the game while creating a positive atmosphere of learning and growth. He is encouraging and uplifting and recognizes that the most important thing at this age (6-7 year-olds) is not winning at all costs - but developing fundamentals in an environment filled with camaraderie, friendship and inclusivity. He sacrifices a great amount of time and effort and truly cares about these boys, not just as athletes and players, but as people and individuals. Being on his team has been a great experience and we appreciate all he, and his family, does for our son.

Pat Anderson

• Pat was an incredible coach for our state champion Rays team. He balance his work with us along with being a board member and volunteering his time all over the place. As a parent coach in other sports I know how difficult it can be to balance everything and I have a son I’m coaching for. Pat does all of this for the love of the kids and the game. We are so lucky to have him mentoring and coaching our kids.
• For all the time and effort he put into the season
• He goes above and beyond supporting the league at large and gives his whole heart to his team. He is a great role model for our players when it comes to having heart for the game of baseball. 

Please take a moment to congratulate Gary Brown, as well as all those who were nominated!