2020-21 Rod Borba
Community Volunteer Awards
2020-21 Honoree
Rancho Cordovan of the Year
Rod Borba
When the new softball complex at Mills Middle School finally welcomed players this spring, Rod Borba must have had stars in his eyes. Because that is what happens when you watch your vision become a reality.
Rod says he has always been something of an underdog. He grew up in Oakland, not San Francisco. He went to Chico State, not Harvard. He joined the Animal House of Chico, not the silver spoon fraternity. He credits all this for giving him the tenacity to go the distance -- the underdog role he endures as a died-in-the-wool Raider fan.
Rod has been president of Cordova Girls Softball for more than a third of the organization’s 57-year history. He describes himself as “just another person in this community trying to pay it forward.”
An avid sports fan, he and wife Marie decided to raise their young family in Rancho Cordova, and the sports they both love would be part of their life. As his four daughters were growing up, it seemed natural they would play softball and Rod would be involved.
Eventually, his daughters grew out of the league. Rod did not. Becoming an expert in turf care, coaching and so much more, he became president of the league, a job he has held for more than 22 years. During that period, he logged thousands and thousands of hours along the sidelines, on the mower, and on and on and on. Rod’s Tri-Tip sandwiches served at the snack bar became known as the “Best in the West.” It is hard to imagine the league without him.
Rod’s a big-thinker, and somewhere along the line he began to imagine a day when Rancho Cordova would have a state-of-the art complex that girls playing softball in other cities already enjoyed. He lobbied anyone who would listen to him about this idea and saw an opening when the Folsom Cordova school district began talking about a bond measure to continue facility improvements in Rancho Cordova. That was 2012.
Rod figured that the time was ripe.
- He lobbied to have the softball complex included on the project list
- He engaged softball parents to participate in phone calling in favor of the measure, which eventually passed with 71 percent of the vote
- He continued lobbying when it appeared the project might fall of the worklist, continuing to exert pressure to keep it on
- When it appeared the project was short millions of dollars, he successfully worked with the City of Rancho Cordova to commit Community Enhancement Funds to fill the gap
- In addition to his regular day job and running the softball league, Rod volunteered hundreds of hours over the next few years to assure the design would meet the unique needs he knew so well
- Next, he masterminded an interim solution so the league could survive the construction period, working with the Rancho Cordova Athletic Association in a big effort to rehabilitate the old Mills League fields for use
It would probably be enough for this award to have kept the league alive for Rancho Cordova girls for the past 22 years. It might be enough that he was able to keep the pressure on for nine years to bring us to this point. It may not have happened at all, had Rod not been a consistent champion.
Pull it all together, and these are the makings of a lifetime achievement.
Rod is also an active member of the Cordova Community Council Board of Directors, serving as Treasurer. He helped restart the community Christmas Tree tradition as it moved to its current location at Village Green Park. He is a leader among leaders at the Rancho Cordova Athletic Association. He is the president of the regional NORCAL Softball.
Ask him what he is most proud of, and he will say “being a good Dad and husband and family man.” He is proud of his extended career in healthcare, his loyalty and attention to small details that lead to success. Also on the list is that every girl in Sacramento Area Fastpitch softball for the last 22 years has attended the Stars of Cordova tournament at Mills Middle School and will have those memories for a lifetime.
Rod believes in doing the right thing for the right reason, a sense of fair play and working hard for opportunities for all in our community. He believes it, and he lives it.
Rod, two generations of female athletes have you to thank for maintaining their league, in spite of many hurdles. And generations to come will have great new facilities, because of the long view and never-give-up attitude of Rod Borba; Underdog -- and 2020-21 Rancho Cordovan of the Year.
Sir, you rock!
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