John DeYoung was appointed the Assistant State Commissioner for 16-18 Year-olds in 1998, was elected Assistant State Commissioner in 2001, and became Assistant State Commissioner, Baseball Operations, in 2007 when Virginia Babe Ruth combined its youth baseball and softball programs under one organization. He has more than 35 years of Babe Ruth experience as a coach, manager, League Vice President, League President, and State Board Member. He has been a member of the Herndon Optimist Club for over 30 years and is presently the Civic Programs Director on the Herndon Optimist Club Board. John volunteers for many community functions in Herndon, including the Friday Night Live! summer concerts and the annual Herndon Festival.

John also coached youth lacrosse, most recently for 8- and 9-year-olds. His lacrosse interest began when he was the team manager for Princeton’s 1967 Ivy League championship team. He played on club lacrosse teams while in graduate school at the University of Michigan and The Pennsylvania State University. Between his time at Michigan and Penn State, John served on active duty in the U.S. Army as a field artillery officer at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and Nha Trang, Vietnam. While in Vietnam, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

He is a Scientist Emeritus with the U.S. Geological Survey, where he was a mineral economist and then served as Director of the National Minerals Information Center prior to his retirement in 2014.

In 2018, John was inducted into the Babe Ruth Southeast Region Hall of Fame.