After nearly two decades of leading the River Forest Little League Greg White has resigned as the president of River Forest Youth Baseball and Softball. White resigned his unpaid position effective Jan. 15. He notified the River Forest Youth Baseball and Softball community of his decision by email a couple of days before his resignation became effective.
White, 66, said he resigned for a combination of reasons, one of which was personal.
“I just realized it was time; it’s time to go,” White said. “It was time for somebody younger.”
But comments made by a couple of members of the River Forest Park Board at a Dec. 9 meeting also played a part in White’s decision to step down from the position that he has held and loved for 19 years.
The Park Board was discussing a proposed agreement that would allow the Dominican University softball team to use a field at Keystone Park for home games and practices, a move opposed by the youth baseball organization. Amid heated discussion at the meeting, White took exception to a board member’s comment that the River Forest Youth Baseball and Softball leadership had “ill served” its members.
“That was the straw that broke the camel’s back with me,” White said. “I felt 1,000% disrespected. … I was very upset after that meeting.”
Mike Goldberg, a former River Forest Little League coach and parent, called White “a wearer of countless hats” in the organization.
“We’ve heard Greg’s booming enthusiastic voice announcing little league games but only after … carrying the heavy speakers from the shed in 95 degree heat,” Goldberg said in an email. “We’ve observed Greg’s leadership at countless board meetings that covered everything from coordinating game schedules, ordering uniforms for the hundreds of players, assembling equipment, reserving umpires, meeting with coaches, fundraising, to making sure that no child was ever left behind when family finances were challenging.”
White has been president of the River Forest league since 2006 and has been on the organization’s board since 1998. His passion for Little League baseball is a family tradition. His father headed up the Little League in Arlington Heights, where White grew up, and his grandfather ran a Little League on the south side of Chicago.
“It’s something I love and I have a passion for,” White said. “My dad did it and my grandfather did it. My brother did it out in McHenry for a while, running a league. It’s kind of in the blood.”
White coached the Little League teams his daughter Meaghan and son Zack played on. He took a year off when Zack aged out of Little League but was then asked to come back and help out on the board in 2006. He said that he would do so but only if he was the president.
“Basically nobody wanted the job and, you know what, I enjoyed it so much,” he said. “It hurts to step away but I had to.”
His family’s passion for Little League extends to his son Zack who runs the River Forest league’s umpiring program and coached all-star teams including the combined River Forest-Elmhurst 13-14-year-old team that made it to the Junior League World Series in 2023.
Approximately 650 kids currently participate in the River Forest league, an accomplishment White is proud of.
“A lot of leagues have disbanded because of travel teams,” he said. “We probably lose maybe at the most a handful, at the very most, every year, but hardly even that. About 75% of kids who left last year for travel ball are back for this year.
“It’s a great community spirit and there’s nothing like going to Keystone Park and playing under the lights at night,” White said.
During White’s tenure, River Forest has hosted numerous Little League district and state championships. He said he is grateful to all the volunteers who have helped out over the past two decades.
“We’ve been very successful because of all the parental volunteers and everything else,” White said. “I just couldn’t do it without them. I’ve had a lot of great supporters over the years.”
Despite stepping down from his role as president of RFYBS White will remain involved with Little League at the district and state level. He currently is a district and state coordinator for Little League and will continue in those roles.
“I love doing that,” White said. “It doesn’t take the day to day operation crap that I gotta do now.”
Josh Przyborowski has replaced White as president of RFYBS and will head the organization this year on an interim basis.
“I’ve already met with Josh to start the transition and we’ve laid out a pretty good road map for him,” White said.
Bob Skolnik is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
