Joan Colgrove really, really loves baseball. As a kid growing up in Hoboken, she watched the Yankees play on television, and had a huge crush on Bucky Dent, famous for his three-run homer against the Red Sox that clinched the division title for the Bombers in 1978. But her true love is for the game. Today, as Hoboken Little League’s first female President of the Managers and Coaches Association, Joan helps hundreds of kids every year to have that quintessential American experience: the team spirit, hard work, and community of Little League baseball. We caught up with her recently, in the bleachers at Hoboken’s Little League field.
As with most things here, there have been a lot of changes over the years at the field, which is midtown in Sinatra Park, with a spectacular view of New York City. “I learned to play right here,” Joan says. “Back in the day, it was gravel, with a lot of potholes. You had to be alert! We didn’t have any facemasks, either.” She played on Hoboken High’s girls’ softball team from 1982 until graduating in 1985. In 2003, when her son Anthony turned seven, he naturally wanted to play Little League. The league needed volunteers to coach, and Joan stepped up to the plate, as a few other moms have done when their kids were in the Minor bracket. But when Anthony moved up to the Majors, she did as well, becoming Hoboken’s first female assistant coach in that bracket.
Was it hard to coach her own son? “It was horrible!” she said. “Actually, we figured out pretty quick that the manager, Mas Forte, would work with Anthony, and I’d work with the other kids.” Anthony now pitches lefty for Elmira College in upstate New York, and Joan still coaches the Mas Demolition team.
Tradition of Trailblazing
Joan is not Hoboken’s first female to make baseball history. In 1972, at age 12, Maria Pepe became the first girl to play Little League in Hoboken. She was asked to leave the team after the Little League organization threatened to revoke Hoboken’s charter. The New Jersey Superior Court decided that the Little League must allow girls to try out, but by that time, Pepe had passed the age limit. However, her groundbreaking fight opened the door for others. Anyone who watched Mo’ne Davis pitch in the 2014 Little League World Series would wonder why girls were banned from Little League in the first place.
Joan’s day job is working in the Tax Assessor’s office in City Hall. But with her son away at college, she has more time to devote to the organization and has taken on more responsibility. Which is a good thing because coordinating the program became even more complicated this year when signups skyrocketed to nearly 450 kids. “We have 12 teams of 12 in the majors, 13 teams of 15 in the minors, and six teams of about 15 in the program for seven-year-olds,” she says. There are about 100 more than last year, and every practice and game has to be scheduled on one field. “Every time slot is filled, from April to June,” she says. In addition to scheduling the season, the league also organizes a family barbecue, the end-of-season tournament, and a trip to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the national headquarters of Little League. Joan also works with local businesses that sponsor teams and buy banner advertising at the field, and with City Hall, which does facility maintenance and provides funding for the umpires.
It’s a lot of work, but Joan is happy to do it, taking evident delight in a tradition in the Major bracket. “When a kid gets their first hit, they stop the game and give the kid the ball,” she says. “To see the parents so excited, and the kid with a big smile on his face, there’s nothing like it.”—07030