Coaching career spans two decades
Summer is unofficially over, but Mike Anderson is likely still reeling from a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the Notre Dame campus courtesy of a scholarship to attend a sports leadership conference.
Anderson, a 1999 graduate of Cornwall High School, played football for six years, split between the modified program and varsity, as well as travel baseball. He resides in the town with his wife and their three children and works for Camo, the company which oversees the operation of Cornwall’s sewer plant.
In 2001, Anderson started coaching baseball to help out his brothers, but unable to get enough, decided to stick with it until his kids were old enough to join the Little League program. He currently serves as the Cornwall Little League vice president. He’s also been involved with basketball, football, and dodgeball.
“I love being around the kids,” Anderson said. “It keeps me young. I’ve seen just about 20 years worth of kids come through the system. I took a couple years off when I was the equipment manager. I wasn’t coaching because I was having my own kids. I’ve made a lot of good relationships, met a lot of good people in this town.”
One night earlier this year, Caimien Steiner, a Notre Dame graduate and member of the Notre Dame Club of the Mid-Hudson Valley, met with Anderson’s wife to write up a resume of all he’s done to help the community over the past 20 years and submitted it to be considered, along with five or six other candidates, to receive an all-expenses paid trip to South Bend, IN to attend the University of Notre Dame’s “Play Like a Champion Today” sports leadership conference.
“Mike is a beloved member of our community who has impacted so many lives over the past 20+ years through his work in youth and adult, recreational and club athletics,” Steiner said. “It is for this very reason that the Notre Dame Club of the Hudson Valley selected him for this scholarship out of a competitive pool of applicants.”
During a travel baseball tournament in New Jersey, Anderson’s team had just won two games and all parents started walking out on the field. The coach noticed his players in a huddle.
“I had no clue what was going on,” Anderson said. “Then Mrs. Steiner started talking about how I’m a big Notre Dame fan. I thought they got me tickets as a retirement gift. Then she presented me with the letter and took a nice team picture.”
The conference, held over a weekend in June, is an annual event which aims to bring together the national community to connect with each other, learn from a group of speakers, and be inspired. Anderson was one of about 125 participants in the “Play Like a Champion Today” conference.
“The conference celebrates the three pillars of connection, education, and inspiration, with each year offering a unique opportunity to interact in kinship with like-minded sport leaders while learning core elements of the Play Like a Champion approach. Attendees collaborated on strategies for building a brighter, healthier and more just youth sport culture where all children have the opportunity to participate and develop.”
Anderson said Cornwall Little League makes sure everyone is involved and that nobody is left behind.
“We scholarshipped five families last year and the Cornwall Lions Club also helps pay for those who can’t afford it,” Anderson said. “Nobody gets turned away.”
Anderson ended up missing his son’s middle school moving up ceremony, but he said the experience was well worth it. He likened it to visiting Yankee Stadium for the first time when he was seven-years-old.
Among the highlights was meeting and posing for a photograph with Mike Golic, host of “Mike and Mike,” a sports talk radio show. He was able to tour the campus and on the second night he joined the rest of the participants for dinner on the seventh floor of the football stadium.
“That was a dream come true. If there was a football game going on, it would have been 10 times better. They started playing old-time Notre Dame highlights on the big screen. It was awesome.”
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The following highlights Mike Anderson’s dedication to his community and love of sports.
Baseball
2002 – present: Anderson has coached Cornwall Little League. His first son, Michael, was born in 2008. He was coaching long before his sons and daughter were involved in the league as players. Anderson has always served as an All-Star Coach for the age group in which he coached, taking one team as far as the District Championship.
2002-2006: With his father-in-law, Anderson established and ran the Cornwall Corsairs American Legion Travel Baseball Team. During this time, he coached the younger team of 13-to 14-year-olds and continued coaching them until their final 17U season.
2013-present: Anderson has always served in a leadership position in Cornwall Little League by assuming the role of Director for whatever level in which his sons (Michael and Andrew) were playing.
2015–present: Anderson has served as vice president of Cornwall Little League.
2017 – Anderson started Cornwall Dragons Travel Baseball. It started with one team, expanded to three teams, and in fall 2022, Cornwall Dragons Travel Baseball morphed into Wheelhouse Marauders Baseball (Anderson is one of three directors/owners). Anderson coaches the 13U Wheelhouse Marauders team.
Basketball
2008-present: For 15 years, Anderson has been a coordinator of Town of Cornwall Recreation Basketball and referee for Town of Cornwall Recreation Basketball.
2015-present: Mike has coached a basketball team as part of Cornwall’s Recreational Basketball program. For two seasons, Anderson also served as coach for a St. Thomas / St. Joseph’s parish (now St. Marianne Cope Parish) CYO basketball team.
Football
2010-present (three seasons a year = 39 seasons): Anderson has been the owner and operator of Orange County Adult Flag Football League, in charge of all scheduling, refereeing, and coordinating of facilities.
2015-present: Anderson has coached eight seasons of flag football as part of Cornwall Youth Football (Flag Football Division).
2017-present: Anderson has been a referee for Section IX high school varsity and JV football games.
Dodgeball
For one year, after community members expressed interest, Anderson organized and ran an adult dodgeball league for the Cornwall/New Windsor/Newburgh community at New York Military Academy.
