Melissa Shaffer has been with Little League® in the Human Resources department for more than 15 years, but her start with the organization came long before her first day in the office in 2009.
Raised in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, Ms. Shaffer was first introduced to softball by her older sister when she was four years old. Along with her two sisters, Ms. Shaffer started her Little League career in Old Lycoming Little League, now part of the Williamsport Area Little League, at age nine and played every season through the Big League Softball division.
Continuing her career at the collegiate level, Ms. Shaffer played softball for Wilkes University, and after graduation, she carried her love for the game onto a slow-pitch softball team in a local community league.
“Something I learned from my Little League and basketball coaches was that how you played on the field is just as important as how you act off the field. We were taught to play hard and play well.”
Ms. Shaffer still uses those fundamentals to this day as a Human Resources Generalist based at the Little League International headquarters in Williamsport.
“Remembering the fundamentals and doing the little things has helped me grow professionally,” said Ms. Shaffer. “It’s been a long road, working in different professions and moving a couple of times, but it has actually instilled the teamwork, the integrity, and the character you are as an individual and a professional.”
While playing for Wilkes University, juggling softball and classes helped Ms. Shaffer learn skills such as organization and setting priorities, which she now uses in her day-to-day work, overseeing payroll processing, employee attendance, and recruitment activities. During the Little League Baseball® World Series each August, Ms. Shaffer can be found managing her usual duties in addition to wearing several hats to assist anywhere and everywhere she can. But at the end of the day, for everyone that comes out to Williamsport and plays in communities around the world, it all starts with Little League.
“Little League starts to instill in you not only what hard work is, but how it can pay off, be rewarding, and helps to build your character. It also teaches you how to be a teammate and how to win and lose gracefully.”
From working alongside Joe Losch, her league’s former District Administrator who went on to serve as the organization’s Corporate Secretary before his retirement in 2020, to having the softball that her team used to turn one of the first triple plays in the Big League Softball World Series on display at the World of Little League® Museum – Ms. Shaffer’s time with Little League has truly been full circle and has become a home alongside a family she will always remember.
This is the fifth in a series of Little League International Staff Spotlights that will focus on the Women In Little League (WILL) as part of the overall Girls with Game 50 Celebration (LittleLeague.org/GWG50). The #GWG50 celebration is proudly supported by DICK’S Sporting Goods, a long-time Little League partner that is committed to creating opportunities for girls and women in sports and will be activating around key events and milestones this year.