By By BEN RAYMOND LODE / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Being a volunteer for the Brandywine Cal Ripken Babe Ruth Baseball Little League could almost be described as having a full-time job.
Except, regular full-time jobs are usually paid.
But it's not about money for three women who volunteer their time to the little league that this season had 16 teams and 200 registered players playing baseball.
Schoenleber, along with board members Joanne Bell and Angie Searles, do something for the little league almost every day of the week, especially during the baseball season.
Friday afternoon was no exception as they prepared for the little league's "World Series" play-offs, that took place at the Firemen's Youth Park in Niles Township over the weekend.
The youth park is also the little league's home ground.
The three said their tasks include, amongst other things, advertising, registering new players, maintaining the league's website, fund-raising for the league, scheduling, keeping the park clean and organizing other volunteers.
It also includes keeping minutes at the monthly board meetings, contacting old and possible future sponsors, running the concession stands and making sure the coaches are getting the information they need.
Bell said the work she does pays off because she knows it makes a difference in the lives of children in our community. Her son, Dustin, is a player in the league.
Bell is in charge of the concession stand, scheduling and organizing other volunteers.
She became a volunteer to continue the effort to make the little league a good place to be for all children.
The three, however, said it's also important to keep the little league moving forward and ensuring it continues to be a respectable place for children of the community to play ball.
Searles also said it's important to be there for her own children, as did Bell and Schoenleber.
The three feel many people think the board members are getting paid for the work they do, which is not true, they said.
The little league board has two male members.
Jamie Stover is the president and Mark Zache is the vice-president.
Zache is also the little league's head umpire.
But although the board members volunteer much of their own time to the little league, they said it would be hard to keep things going if it wasn't for the help they receive from coaches, volunteers and parents who come to watch the games and help out whenever something needs to be done.
The little league will host Michigan's Cal Ripken State tournament from July 10 to 12.