Danny Bernstein (Executive Director) learned to love all sports right in his own neighborhood. Raised on Long Island, Danny played in the schoolyard, driveways, and backyards of suburbia. He attended Amherst College where he played goalie on the varsity soccer team and was elected captain his senior year.
Backyard Sports was created to bring these powerful youth sport experiences to today’s aspiring young athletes. In 2012 Danny received a Master’s Degree in Physical Education from Manhattanville College.
In 2010 Danny launched Backyard Sports Cares, a not for profit 501(c)(3) which brings youth based sports development programming to at risk and special needs children in the Westchester community.
In 2011 the programs received the Rosemarie Siragusa Award for Youth Activity Achievement from the Westchester County Youth Board. In addition, the activities have been recently cited by the cities of White Plains, Elmsford, and Mt Vernon for contributing to community life and the advancement of young people through sport and play.
Henry Chapman (Board President) has always been a jock at heart. He was raised in Brooklyn, NY and could always be found with a book or a ball in his hands. Henry has said in the past that, “Too many of our children are still unable to participate in this fertile learning experience. If not for sports, my life would not have turned out as it has.”
Henry is an active member in his community as well in both civic and athletic roles. He has served on the Special Needs PTA and NACME (National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering): the nation’s largest provider of scholarships to underrepresented minorities in engineering. His love for sports led him to become a multi-sport participant in college. Over the years Henry has continued to remain active in sports. He has also coached a myriad of junior and senior sports teams throughout the communities he’s lived and currently coaches tennis for Pelham Memorial High School. In late 2016 he joined the athletic staff at Westchester Community College while wrapping up his master’s degree in Athletic Administration.
He lives in White Plains with his college sweetheart and has three children.
Angel Rodriguez (Board Treasurer) is a Senior Tax Manager at Clarfeld Financial Advisors, LLC. Angel has more than a decade of experience identifying, understanding, and managing federal and state tax issues related to complex individual, business and financial transactions. Angel is an avid NY sports fans, specifically Yankees, Knicks, and Giants. He lives is Westchester County, NY with his fiancée and two young children. On his spare time he enjoys playing Golf and going to the batting cage.
Moshe ArensteinMoshe Arenstein (Board Member) is a Journalist and TV Producer, currently an Executive Producer with NBC News/MSNBC.
A passionate sports fan, Moshe plays soccer, basketball and tennis - and watches football as much as time allows. Moshe lives in Scarsdale, NY, with his wife and 3 children, who are lucky to be driven from one activity to the next. He wants at risk and special needs children in the county to have a similar experience, and believes Backyard Sports is the one organization that can provide that service.
Moshe still has a dream of one day play - and score - in the football World Cup.
Richard Gersten (Board Member) has been a Brant Laker all his life. Formerly a camper, counselor, area head and then Director, Rich comes from a strong sports background as both a player and coach. In high school he was a 5-sport varsity athlete and in college played on the freshman basketball team at the University of North Carolina. He has been a teacher and Dean of Students and coached more than 50 seasons of high school sports, including 30 years in basketball. Rich now works year round for Brant Lake Camp and is responsible for all decisions involving campers, counselors and the program at BLC. Rich is married and has two children. He resides in Brant Lake and New York City with his wife Mieks Gersten, the Co-Director of Dance Camp and an Associate Director of Brant Lake Camp.
Nesta Felix (Board Member) is a native of St. Lucia and is currently the Executive Director of New Flex Foundation, a dynamic organization that provides mentoring services to underserved youth in Mt. Vernon and Westchester County. Nesta also serves as the head varsity basketball coach for the Yeshiva University Women’s team. Nesta has been involved in building youth leaders since her undergraduate years at Iona College where she worked for the local YMCA as an on site program coordinator. In 2009 as part of her MBA thesis Nesta launched the New Flex Foundation.
Geoff Fitzgerald (Board Member) is a financial consultant, currently advising Lehman Brothers Holdings. Geoff brings over 30 years of finance and capital raising experience as well as a life-long interest in athletics to the Board. Geoff and his wife Carol have two college-age children, both of whom were active in high school sports. His son, Geoffrey Jr, also spent four summers as a counselor with Backyard Sports and Geoff looks forward to experiencing a similarly rewarding experience with Backyard Sports Cares.
Scott McKay (Board Member) is a Portfolio Manager at Littlejohn & Co, an investment firm located in Greenwich, CT. Scott has been active in sports his whole life having been a three sport athlete in high school, and a collegiate football player at the United States Air Force Academy. Scott is active in the community of Westchester County as a youth sports coach in the town of Rye, NY. Scott is excited to be a part of Backyard Sports Cares as an opportunity to work with a tremendous group of athletes, professionals, and volunteers. Scott lives in Rye, NY with his wife, Suzy, and their four young children.
Michael Moser (Board Member) is a shareholder and Co-Chair of the Real Estate Finance Group at global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Michael’s love of sports and working with children has led him to remain active and involved with sports programs throughout every stage of his life. He and his wife Nicole have two teenagers and Michael has enjoyed coaching them and their classmates in various sports. Michael has served as a director on several nonprofit organizations in Westchester and is excited to be working with Backyard Sports Cares to help build on the outstanding programs and visions of this organization.
Zach Sawyer (Board Member) is the Regional Director of Business Development at LeChase Construction and a CrossFit Coach. Zach is passionate about helping people meet their goals. At work that consists of helping pull teams together to meet client goals, and at the gym it is helping people have better general health and fitness. His experience with project execution, team building and coaching were a natural fit for the Board. Zach is looking forward to bringing his skill sets to the Backyard Sports Cares team.
Dave Shuster (Board Member) is a principal at Friedman LLP, where he represents taxpayers in their controversies against the Internal Revenue Service and the various state taxing authorities. Although Dave played soccer competitively throughout middle and high school, his fondest sports memories from his youth are of playing pickup street hockey and touch football for hours on end with his friends after school when soccer season ended each fall. These experiences have inspired his participation in Backyard Sports Cares, where he has been a board member since BYSC’s inception in 2011 and its treasurer from 2011 to 2018. He and his wife Karen have raised three children, all of whom have worked for BYSC’s programs serving young athletes. Dave has also served as a board member and treasurer for other nonprofit athletic organizations, including the Scarsdale Youth Hockey Association, the Scarsdale Baseball Club, and Maroon and White (a parent booster organization supporting Scarsdale High School athletics). He is also a founding board member of the Scarsdale Schools Education Foundation and its treasurer since its inception in 2011. He has also served on Scarsdale’s Advisory Council on Parks and Recreation, was a Scarsdale Little League grade coordinator for four years, and has coached his children and their friends in basketball, baseball, ice hockey, and soccer. Dave holds a BSEE from the University of Michigan and a JD and LLM from the New York University School of Law.
Jocelyn Sontag (Board Member) is a Travel Consultant affiliated with Valerie Wilson Travel, Inc. Formerly an attorney, specializing in executive compensation and employee benefits, Jocelyn now focuses her efforts on her travel business and not-for-profit organizations in her community. Jocelyn enjoys playing bridge, tennis, skiing, theater and absolutely loves to travel. Jocelyn is married and has two children attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Kevin Stahl joined the Board of Backyard Sports Cares in 2014. Kevin is President and Managing Principal of Skyhawk Capital Advisors, a boutique real estate capital markets and M&A advisory firm. Mr. Stahl is a seasoned real estate investment banking and finance professional with 24+ years experience in the industry. He enjoys tennis, skiing, playing the drums and traveling. Kevin has three kids, ages 20, 17 and 12, and his son, Jake is a former volunteer for BYSC.
Noel Muyskens (Board Member) is retired and living in Rhode Island with his beautiful wife and two somewhat delinquent cats. Noel has been a retail pharmacy executive, a director of the Westchester-based non-profit MVP Basketball Camp, a ski instructor, and a professional musician.
While running MVP from 2005 – 2019, Noel kept the organization true to the vision of founder Stan Greene. He consistently increasing the number of camp scholarships to over 300 per summer, so that less entitled children from cities like Mount Vernon and Yonkers could share an empowering basketball camp experience with children from affluent communities like Scarsdale and Rye. During the expansion of MVP’s scholarship program, Noel began a collaboration with Backyard Sports Cares that led to the merger of the two non-profit organizations in 2022.
Ben is a Vice Chairman at CBRE, the world’s largest real estate company. He loves playing basketball and tennis and does so as much as his body allows. A husband and father of three (Samantha, Jacob, Rebecca) Ben is passionate about providing opportunities to underserved and special needs children. As an active member of several philanthropic causes, Ben feels privileged to be a part of such an amazing organization as Backyard Sports Cares.
Quentin Ball is an active triathlete, having competed in over 50 events in the past 15 years. Quentin also coaches girls softball, and loves the impact that sports can have on confidence, commitment, and teamwork. When not doing something sporty, Quentin works in nonprofits, most recently at the Whitby School in Greenwich. Quentin has a wonderful husband and two young children, and resides in Greenwich
Please call (914) 304-4052 or Click Here to contact us if you would like information on our community partnership opportunities and programs, or if you would like to volunteer.
Backyard Sports Cares
75 South Broadway, Suite 453
White Plains, NY 10601
Copyright © Backyard Sports Cares - All Rights Reserved
Backyard Sports Cares is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Gifts to BYSC support programs that strengthen and enrich the development of Westchester children and are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.
