The Green Ridge Little League (the “League”) was established in 1951 to provide the children residing in the Green Ridge section of Scranton, PA with programs of baseball instruction and opportunities for organized baseball competition. It has done so on a continuous basis since then, operating at its initial location off of Olyphant Avenue and Highnett Place. Annually, the league serves about 200 boys and girls, ages 4 through 16, in a variety of baseball programs. The League emphasizes these values: sportsmanship, honesty, loyalty, courage, and respect for authority.
On January 11, 1954, the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas accepted the League’s Articles of Incorporation and ordered its existence as the Green Ridge Little League Baseball Club of Scranton, Pennsylvania, a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation. Sixteen residents of the Green Ridge neighborhood were responsible for the League’s official incorporation. Among them were Thomas F. Kennedy and Chester C. Vola, for whom the Olyphant Avenue playing fields are named. Also among these organizers was Joseph R. Biden, father to a League player who is currently the 46th President of the United States of America. President Biden was inducted into the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum Hall of Excellence in 2009. He visited the field in 2012, when he was Vice President, meeting with several players and volunteers.
Presently, the League’s Olyphant Avenue property is the Robert P. Casey Baseball Complex. It is named to honor the memory of Mr. Casey, a Green Ridge resident who served as Pennsylvania’s Governor from 1987-1995. His son, Robert P. Casey, Jr., has served in the United States Senate since 2006. Senator Casey, a former League player, accompanied Vice President during his 2012 visit.
The League, which initially offered baseball programs for children age 12 and younger, now offers additional programs for teens, through age 16. These programs, known as the Teener Leagues, operate at a facility off of Amelia Avenue and Jadwin Street. This facility is also home to the Lackawanna College baseball team, which improved the property and maintains it under a lease agreement with the League.
The League is a charitable organization, exempt from federal income tax under IRS code section 501(c)3, having received its most recent tax status determination letter on August 14, 2014. As such, the League may receive tax-deductible contributions.
The League is a Chartered Member of Little League Baseball, Inc. and is part of Pennsylvania District 32.