League Commissioner (Polo Grounds Cornerstone)

Police Athletic League, Inc.; New York (NY); On-site; USD 34,000 - 37,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Flexible spending accounts

Tuition reimbursement

Paid time off

Retirement savings

Job summary

Police Athletic League, Inc. seeks a League Commissioner to lead youth sports leagues across NYC, coordinating schedules, tournaments, staff, and facilities to deliver safe, high-quality programming.

The role emphasizes strong organizational and communication skills, partnership-building with public agencies, and the ability to work evenings, weekends, and travel to PAL locations across five boroughs.

Qualifications

• Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Physical Education, Sports Management, Youth Development, Education, Social Work, or related field preferred.
• Minimum of 2 years of experience coordinating youth sports leagues, athletic programs, or youth development initiatives.
• Experience planning and managing league operations including scheduling, tournaments, and registrations.
• Knowledge of youth sports rules, safety standards, risk management, and positive youth development.
• Willingness to learn mental health, SEL, and inclusion skills; proficiency with Microsoft Office.

Responsibilities

• Plan, coordinate, and oversee all aspects of league operations including scheduling and game-day logistics.
• Ensure safe, organized, and high-quality programming with trained staff and volunteers.
• Develop partnerships with NYPD, NYCPS, DYCD, DOH and others to expand opportunities for youth.
• Collect program data and provide data-driven recommendations to PAL leadership.
• Support mental health and inclusion initiatives within PAL programming.

Skills

Coordinating youth sports leagues

Communication skills

Microsoft Office

Bilingual (Spanish/French/Chinese)

Teamwork

Education

Associate’s or bachelor's degree in Recreation/related field

Tools

DYCD Connect

Job description

League Commissioner

The Police Athletic League (PAL) of New York City is an independent youth development nonprofit organization and has been a vibrant and vital institution, serving as an effective, critical bridge between police and communities across all five boroughs of the City since 1914. PAL operates diverse programs for children as young as 2 years old to young adults. Programs include Head Start, after-school programs and summer day camps for elementary, middle and high school youth, and summer Playstreets. PAL also runs evening teen centers and college readiness programs, youth employment, and juvenile justice programs. Staying true to PAL’s roots, a cornerstone of our youth development strategy includes offering competitive and recreational sports for children of all ages. At PAL, we’re devoted to empowering communities and building the best places to work, and that goes for our own teams too.

In its 110th year, PAL continues to reimagine the agency’s leadership structure to ensure the next 110 years are nimble, strategic, responsive, and efficient. We are looking for COMPASS School Program Assistant Directors to elevate our out-of-school programming embedded within a New York City public school or PAL Center. Locations may serve Elementary through High School youth through SEL, STEM, Literacy, Sports, Arts, Mental Health, and College and Career Access Programming.

This position reports to the Youthlink Director.

Responsibilities

League Commissioners are key leaders responsible for planning, coordinating, and overseeing high-quality youth sports leagues and tournaments while ensuring a safe, organized, and positive experience for participants, coaches, officials, and spectators. League Commissioners must be strong organizers, effective communicators, and skilled relationship builders who can manage league operations, enforce rules and policies, resolve conflicts, and foster sportsmanship. We are looking for individuals who can listen, problem solve and build bridges to partnerships that expand opportunities for NYC’s youth. As such:

• Candidates must be dedicated to learning and implementing Best Practices in the field of youth development.
• Candidates must be able to support programming that happens during the day, evenings, and weekends.
• Candidates must support the ideas and opportunities of the youth, staff, and community.
• Candidates must possess excellent communication and listening skills.
• Candidates must work together as a team to support PAL’s programming throughout the entire City.

Major Duties & Responsibilities

• Foster social and emotional competencies and mental and physical well-being in a safe, welcoming, inclusive, and nurturing environment.
• Plan, coordinate, and oversee all aspects of league operations, including scheduling, game-day management, tournament logistics, officials, facilities, equipment, and participant registration to ensure safe, efficient, and high-quality programming.
• Ensure leagues are aligned to PAL’s mental health and inclusion supports. Use identified resources to support youth with special needs and/or mental health needs, complete mental health referrals, and/or activate inclusion resources.
• Ensure the program is aligned to strategic objectives of PAL, policies and procedures, agency programming calendar, SACC regulations, and the contractual obligations of government and private funding sources including fire safety certification.
• Develops a strong Youth Development culture within the Center ensuring voice, growth, and advancement for all youth and staff. Train, conduct observations, and coach across all programs ensuring SEL, mental health, and inclusion policies are being implemented as designed.
• Coordinates with the Director, Regional Director, SYEP Director, and Head Quarters staff to grow creative programming opportunities unique to the Site.
• Collects program data, analyzes and drives PAL forward with data driven recommendations.
• Ensure strong reciprocal partnerships with NYPD, NYCPS school partner, DYCD, DOH and other Community partners aligned with PAL’s mission.
• Plans and coordinates various citywide programs, activities, and special events.
• Provides mediation and troubleshooting for on-site issues.
• Respond appropriately when time-sensitive mental health services are needed such as suicide prevention, grief, and loss due to death or incarceration of a family member.

Qualifications

What You Bring:

• Associate’s or bachelor's degree in Recreation, Physical Education, Sports Management, Youth Development, Education, Social Work, or a related field preferred. Equivalent combination of education and relevant experience will be considered.
• Minimum of 2 years of experience coordinating youth sports leagues, athletic programs, recreation programs, or youth development initiatives, including coordinating coaches, officials, or volunteers.
• Demonstrated experience planning and managing league operations, including scheduling, tournaments, participant registration, facilities, equipment, and game-day logistics.
• Strong knowledge of youth sports rules, safety standards, risk management, and positive youth development practices.
• Open to learning and growing. All staff will be learning mental health, SEL, and special needs inclusion skills and expected to integrate them into programming.
• Knowledge of DYCD Connect preferred. Microsoft office skills are required.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and ability to work collaboratively. Bi-lingual in Spanish, French, or Chinese preferred.
• Able to travel to any PAL location in the 5 Boroughs for training.
• Work Schedule: This is a part-time position averaging 15 hours per week. Work hours will vary based on league schedules, games, tournaments, and special events, and will include evenings, weekends, and occasional holidays as needed
• Able to attend 15 hours of orientation prior to the beginning of programming and complete 30 hours of Building Resiliency in Youth training.

Compensation: The salary for this role is $25.00-27.00 per hour.

Benefits: PAL offers a comprehensive benefits package which includes health insurance, flexible spending account options, an employee assistance program, tuition reimbursement, pet insurance, life insurance, retirement savings options, a generous paid time off policy, training and more!

Location: Polo Grounds Cornerstone - New York, NY

Start Date: September 7th, 2026

At the Police Athletic League, we seek people who are talented, creative and passionate to help create a more inclusive city and better futures for our youth. We’re devoted to empowering communities and building the best places to work, and that goes for our own teams too.

The Police Athletic League is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected characteristic including, but not limited to, an individual’s sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy

Employment with PAL is contingent upon successful completion of all the Agency’s lawful pre-employment checks, which may include a background check.