What began as a youth intervention program to keep kids off the streets and engaged in positive activities has grown into a program helping make the Greece Community stronger.
The Police Athletic League (PAL) program began in Greece in 1975 under the direction of retired Chief Gerald Phelan. Phelan began the nonprofit organization as a program to help foster positive community involvement between area youth and police. Retired Chief Phelan’s primary goal of the program was to keep children off the streets by involving them in organized sports, coached and mentored by police officers. Over the decades the program continued to evolve adding different sports ranging from boxing, bowling, basketball and softball. The program has continued for nearly half a century and is now under the direction of Chief Patrick Phelan and Sgt. Jared René of the Community Services Unit.
Participation this summer nearly doubled with more than 140 children on four teams organized by age group, ranging from 5 years old to 17 years old. The program is at no cost to the family and includes equipment, t-shirts and an end of season picnic banquet with trophy presentation. The Town of Greece and Supervisor Bill Reilich dedicated Badgerow Park to the PAL organization in 2017 and built covered dugouts for this community enriching program.
The Greece PAL program is the only completely free PAL program in New York State and is intended to be much more than simply learning a sport. It is created to help build good relationships and promote healthy youth activities in a positive fun environment. An Annual Fundraiser is done by the Greece PAL through a mail campaign where letters are distributed asking for donations from the community to keep the program running strong for another year.
This summer there was up to seven officers volunteering at the field, as well as assistance from the Greece Police Explorers and Greece Police interns. “This is a great opportunity to be outdoors coaching and teaching organized sports to kids of all skill levels. It helps show the officers in a different light. No uniforms or badges, just wearing t-shirts, shorts and smiles,” said Sgt. René.
Officer Eric Hughes is the PAL coordinator and has many years of experience working closely with area kids as a former School Resource Officer. Officers Mark Babcock, Matt Bachman, Bill Murray and Kirsten Leudke are the officers out on the field coaching, cheering and laughing with the kids. Most of the officers have School Resource Officer experience which allows for great cross over from being in uniform at the schools to being in softball gear and having fun on the field.
During this time when kids and parents are extremely limited in their socialization, this program has helped get them out of the house and having good healthy fun. What better way than sports to bring us all together and bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement. Many parents stay and watch their kids play. Occasionally, special treats are brought in by the parents.
Steven Smola, a parent of a PAL athlete, surprised the teams by generously hiring a Lugia’s Ice Cream Truck to come after practice. “This organization is good for kids and it makes sense to make their day even better by having ice cream afterwards,” Smola said. This is Smola’s son’s first year playing. He is 12 years old and had his Little League canceled due to the pandemic. He and his friends were excited to join the Greece PAL program to play sports and have fun with peers and police officers this summer.
For more information on PAL visit https://greecepal.com/
