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The Story of the EYLL Troopers
The Elmora Youth League began playing on the new "Trooper Thomas J. Hanratty"
fields on April 26, 1998. A dedication ceremony that was attended by many local leaders, the NJ State Troopers and many families from the Elizabeth area. Click here for photos from that day. The Elizabeth City Council voted to name the fields after a former EYL player who became a NJ State Trooper.
Trooper Hanratty was killed in the line of duty on April 2, 1992.
In 2008, EYLL President Victor Alvarez nicknamed the team "Troopers" in honor of Trooper Hanratty. As an
ex-Marine, Alvarez wanted to honor the man who gave his life to protect and serve the citizens of our state. The baseball teams are play as the "Elmora Youth Little League" but the parents and
players have called themselves "Troopers" since that 2008 Little League district team. A few year prior, the softball teams had changed their name to the "Thunder" so President Alvarez thought that
the baseball side should do something similar.
In 1999, Elmora Youth League became the Elmora Youth Little League. Board member and League Vice President Dennis Cassidy suggested to the EYL board members that we consider chartering with Little League. The members were
inspired by a team from Toms River that made headlines when Todd Frazier led them to a LLWS Championship.
We are Elmora Youth Little League and we play our regular season games on the Trooper
Thomas J. Hanratty Memorial Complex in Elizabeth, New Jersey. "Trooper" is a nickname that some of our parents and players continue to use to this day.
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