"Bird” Witherell has been coaching the youth of Warren in one way or another for the  past thirty years.  Prior to his coaching career "Bird" played for the Little League  Yankees.

His coaching career started in Little League Baseball, where he was the assistant coach of the Champion Yankees in his initial season of 1980. He has performed a variety of roles: Yankees manager, coach, and assistant coach; Tigers manager; Majors All Stars manager and coach; Juniors All Stars coach; and Tens All Stars manager. 

He did coach a few teams to championships, but that wasn’t why he showed up every year. 

    Picture:   1982 Little League Yankees   ( Mike "Bird" Witherell in back center )

In 2006 the league recognized his service by asking him to throw out the season’s first pitch.

The winter after "Bird" got involved in youth baseball, he volunteered as an Indoor Soccer League coach and over the next nineteen seasons, coached Redskins and Uniteds teams to five titles.

In 1982, having nothing to do between summer and winter,  he joined the Youth/Pop Warner Football League, which he continues to serve to this day.  Among his football roles have been: Midgets assistant coach; PeeWees head coach (Northeast Division Champions of 1992); Junior Midgets head coach; Mitey Mites assistant coach; and Junior PeeWees assistant coach.