For 45 years, kids’ smiles were Earl O’Brien’s only reward for the endless hours he spent coaching, refereeing and organizing youth sports leagues. For O’Brien, that was always more than enough. “I didn’t do the things I’ve done my whole life for an award,” said O’Brien said, a 1955 Muskegon High School graduate. “I did it for the kids.”

Since he first coached the Bluffton Elementary School softball team in 1964, O’Brien saw the profound effect team sports can have in shaping a child’s attitudes. In 1970, O’Brien took on his first big volunteer challenge when he established the Tri-Cities Family YMCA’s Youth Basketball League. The league he served as volunteer coordinator for until 1993 now has more than 800 participants. One of O’Brien proudest accomplishments is giving girls an opportunity to play in the YBL. A soccer and T-Ball coach and referee from 1970 until 1988, he remained a part-time soccer official until he turned 64.

In 2005, O’Brien organized a fishing tournament in Grand Haven to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. To date, the tournament has raised $104,000. Organizing this year’s tournament is going to be a real challenge, O’Brien says, due to the poor economy, but he’s not backing down.