Together with Frank Motors Group, 101.5 KGB is proud to announce our latest Community Heroes recipient, Matt Guiliano. Matt has dedicated countless hours to starting an official Little League team in Valley Center, maintaining its playing field and volunteer coaching.
Matt was nominated by Ashley Barajas, who wrote:
This amazing gentleman is the volunteer Valley Center little league president. He spent sleepless hours getting our children and his city to allow our league, in a rural low income city, to highest standards and a successful opening during Covid. He takes care of all the baseball fields, from maintenance to chalking the lines, and somehow manages to find time to still volunteer coach. He and his lovely family spend every day at the fields to make sure our rural community children have a fair shake at quality sports and learning America’s greatest past time of baseball tradition. He never hesitates to participate and support our youth in these tough times. My son needed this opportunity and our community needed this positive event to move forward. This man is a soft gentle spoken amazing resource our small city depends on a daily basis.
Matt moved to Valley Center when he was 10 years old, and played where the Little League fields are today. After growing up and pursuing a career elsewhere, Matt returned to Valley Center six years ago after being named Head Baseball Coach at Cal State San Marcos.
As President of Valley Center Little League, Matt saw first hand that giving the kids an outlet to get on a field to play after the COVID lock down made a huge difference. He made it his mission to work with others in his community to renovate the fields and bring baseball back to Valley Center.
Here's what Matt had to say about the award:
"This is not an individual award. I appreciate the kind words and the nomination, but this award is shared and belongs to everyone involved. To ALL of the past and present board members, the individuals who had the initial thought to start up Little League in Valley Center, to the kids who make this all worthwhile, and to ALL of the volunteers, and many more people that make Valley Center Little League a positive experience for our youth, THANK YOU!
I am thrilled to be part of this Valley Center family, proud to call VC home, proud to give back, and extremely proud that our hidden gem of Valley Center is being talked about!"
The monetary award associated with the Community Hero Award is being donated to Valley Center Little League to help purchase proper equipment and apparel for the kids in our league.
Frank Motors presents the “Community Heroes” program which highlights the positive changes individuals are making in our community.