After a decade caring and organizing, floor hockey and homework help, Wiffle ball and community service, Mike Flynn has been named executive director of the Ridgefield Boys & Girls Club.

“It’s exciting, very exciting,” said Mr. Flynn, a Bethel resident who began working at the Ridgefield club in 2002, his senior year at Southern Connecticut State University.

“It’s my passion. It’s been my calling,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to get an education on Boys & Girls Clubs, and the impact they have on kids growing up, at the tail end of college, so I knew what I wanted to do.”

The Ridgefield Boys & Girls Club board of directors conducted a nationwide search to ensure the club had the best leadership. A search committee reviewed more than 45 résumés, conducted interviews with numerous candidates and worked diligently to find the best fit.

They settled on Mr. Flynn, who’d been serving as interim executive director since the departure of former director Julia Hadlock earlier this year. He had been the club’s director of operations since 2006, after serving as program director and program coordinator before that.

“We are fortunate to have all the qualities we need to guide and grow our club right here at home,” said Don Romoser, the club’s board president.

“Mike has a passion for serving the youth in this town. As a board, we know Mike will continue to bring the club to new levels, and look forward to watching the club and its programs grow and develop under him in the years to come.”

In his new position, Mr. Flynn will be responsible for managing the staff and all volunteers as well as all aspects of the club’s programs and operations on a daily basis.

Mr. Flynn grew up in Bethel, and was a standout football and baseball player at Bethel High School in the mid to late 1990s. He also played baseball at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, graduating in 2002 with a degree in community recreation management and a minor in psychology.

His first experience at a Boys & Girls Club was in New Haven, where he was impressed with the work of program director DJ Nadau.

“I just saw the rapport and what he had going with the kids, and sort of knew that’s what I wanted to do,” Mr. Flynn said. “I felt that was a great impact, and having a positive effect on so many kids.”

Knowing he lived in Bethel, Mr. Nadau pointed Mr. Flynn to the Ridgefield club, where he began as a college intern under veteran club director Terry Hughes.

“Terry obviously was my mentor. I worked with Terry for eight years,” Mr. Flynn said.

“Terry was the one that gave me the opportunity and mentored me for many years. We shared the same passion and dedication to the kids.”

He worked under Mr. Hughes during the years when the club enlarged its building, grew its population, and expanded its programs to include programs not just for younger children but kids of middle and high school age.

Eight years ago, Mr. Flynn started the Torch Club for middle schoolers and the Keystone Club for high school-age students.

“We wanted to grow our programs, particularly our middle school and high school programs, where kids really do grow up here,” he said.

“Through middle school and high school, you have people that are there for you.”

The club has grown — both the breadth of its offerings and the numbers of kids it serves.

“Our total membership is 1,200, annually, between summer camp, after school and Torch Club and Keystone Club,” Mr. Flynn said.

“This year, we’re about 185 to 195 kids a day, as an average. We’ll have days we’re over 200 to 215 kids, and quiet days we’re 160 or 170.

“And summer camp we’ll be around 250 a day.”

Last year, Mr. Flynn was honored by Boys & Girls Clubs of America for a decade of outstanding service to youth.

He puts a lot of value on helping kids feel good about themselves, and giving them a sense that there’s someplace they belong.

“I think every kid needs to have a positive self-image,” Mr. Flynn said. “We work on building confidence. Obviously things like sportsmanship and fair play, and treating others the right way —all those core things. It’s important that kids are recognized, too.

“Our most successful piece is we give kids a place to belong to, where people care about them and want them to do well and dream big and be motivated,” he said.

“To thousands of kids we’ve been that place they have here in Ridgefield, out of the house, where they grow up and look at the club as their second home. That’s what it’s really all about.”