The sound of the phone ringing or a visitor coming through the door of Jan Scotland's insurance agency does not necessarily mean a client needs assistance.

On this particular January day, roughly half the calls concern basketball. About 300 youngsters are signed up for the season with the Sleepy Hollow Athletic League that Mr. Scotland started in 1996.

"I kind of put the growth of my agency on hold," he says. "I know that I can start building my business anytime, but the kids will be gone before I know it."

Mr. Scotland, 47, a one-time Toledo city councilman and former purchasing supervisor with Owens-Corning, started his State Farm agency in 1990 so that his schedule would be flexible enough to allow him to spend time with his son and daughter. It was another young man - one he didn't even know - who prompted him to take another job, albeit unpaid, running a sports program for his own and many other kids.

Kevin Ellis was 18, fresh out of St. Francis de Sales High School and bound for the University of Toledo when he was shot to death in a West Toledo parking lot. Mr. Scotland took the random act of violence personally.

"What struck me was here was a kid whose parents did all the right things," Mr. Scotland said as he recalled the June 11, 1995 homicide. "…There were some 300 kids in that parking lot with nothing to do. I thought there ought to be a safe place for kids to go where they can play and know they'll be safe."

About 40 youngsters signed up that first summer to play t-ball for Mr. Scotland at Sleepy Hollow Park off Dorr Street near Richards Road. Eight years later, more than 700 kids ages 5 to 18 play t-ball, baseball, basketball, flag football, golf, and tennis throughout the year.

For his efforts, Mr. Scotland has been selected to receive a Jefferson Award from the American Institute for Public Service - a national organization that recognizes volunteers who make a difference in their community. He is the seventh of eight Toledo area residents who will receive such an honor this year in a program sponsored by The Blade, Buckeye CableSystem, WUPW-TV, and Cumulus Broadcasting.

Judi Ellis, whose son's death prompted the league's formation, said Mr. Scotland was one of many in the community who wanted to do things in Kevin's name, but he not only followed through with his idea, he has stuck with it.

"He gave his body and soul. He has taken that program from ground one to ground ten,'' Mrs. Ellis said. "He's done a tremendous job with it."

Laneta Goings, a friend of the Scotlands who nominated him for the Jefferson Award, said she is continually impressed with Mr. Scotland's commitment and patience.

"He's one of those guys who rolls up his sleeves and gets things done and doesn't look for a lot of fanfare," she said.

Her grandson played t-ball for Mr. Scotland and she enjoyed seeing him coach the children, run the bases with them, and, for some, teach them what it meant to run home. Some, she recalled, took the command literally.

"He demands respect," Mrs. Goings said. "He gives respect to the children and they give respect back, and I think that's so key to what he's doing."

Mr. Scotland said that when he started the league, he decided that "winning and competing was going to be secondary to these kids learning to get along, to have fun, and to respect authority. We gave that same message to the parents."

He said he hoped that the boys and girls would learn from an early age to get along with kids from other parts of the city, that they would know each other and know that they could talk and work things out rather than turn to aggression.

"We spend so much money on these kids after they get into trouble," he said. "…It seems so obvious that if you can take care of these kids before you have a problem, you won't have these kinds of problems. It's a long-term investment, not a short-term splurge."

The Sleepy Hollow league has rules: No one gets cut. Everyone plays. Parents are to cheer for everyone, not just their own children. No one yells at the referees. Players are not to show up with their pants hanging low or their attitude riding high.

"We want respect and I expect parents to support us," Mr. Scotland said. "This is about building young men and young women… Anybody can take a talented kid and have a good team. That's not what this is about."

Amazingly very few kids have walked away because they didn't want to abide by the rules. Amazingly, Mr. Scotland has never had to go begging for the 100 or so parent volunteers it takes to run the league.

For a nominal fee - it only recently increased from $15 to $25 - each child gets a uniform and, at the end of the season, attends a banquet and receives a trophy engraved with the words, "Sleepy Hollow Winners."

Tim Yenrick, executive director Greater Toledo Area Chapter of the American Red Cross, got to know Mr. Scotland when he became director of the East Toledo Family Center in 1989, and Mr. Scotland was president of the center's board. He also worked with Mr. Scotland to create the Toledo Community Recreation Board six years ago.

"He's hands-on. He coaches. He works with the kids. He works with the volunteer coaches. He does a great job of staying true to the mission that participation is more important than winning," Mr. Yenrick said. "… I really think the world of him. I think he has a lot of integrity, a lot of dedication, and he really cares about the young people of this city."

Mr. Scotland's commitment does not end at the basketball court or on the ball field. He and his wife, Margie, invite youngsters who want to attend church with them on Sunday to come to their house for dinner after the service. They always have takers.

One young man who wrote a letter supporting Mr. Scotland's nomination for the Jefferson Award said Mr. Scotland took him under his wing when his grandmother died two years ago.

"I care about Mr. Scotland a lot and I know he cares about me because he shows it in his actions by tutoring me in my school work when he sees I'm having a hard time," wrote Anthony Rayfus, 15. "He sits down and talks to me when he sees something negative in my behavior that he doesn't care for, and he tries his hardest to show me the right way to go and how to be a real man, the kind of man I see him being to his children, the kids on the league, also to me: genuinely real."

First Published January 25, 2004, 12:36 p.m.