His wife, Michelle, had always described it as his “little baby.”

And, really, that’s probably the most fitting way to put it.

After all, Jeff Henning co-founded the Olean Synergy softball program after his actual daughters became old enough to play the sport competitively. He coached all three of them and watched as they developed within the organization from excitable youths to high school standouts.

Henning started the Synergy outfit with Lenny Anzivine in 2010, “when nobody really knew us.” Fifteen years later, it’s grown into an operation of which he and everyone involved can be tremendously proud.

In that way, it truly has become his fourth child, his “little baby.”

“It was a little idea that we had,” Henning said from the bleachers at one of Forness Park’s four youth softball fields on Thursday night. “We didn’t want to travel to Buffalo, so we decided we’d do it here.

“We knew it would be hard work; my wife’s supported me for the last 15 years of doing this and it’s just … grown into a very big thing. Now teams know us. They know when they see us that we’re an established program.”

OVER THE last decade-and-a-half, Synergy teams, ranging from 8U to 18U, have claimed dozens of tournament championships.

The program, impressively, has helped guide over 105 players to the collegiate level (one recent example is Olean High pitcher Emma Edwards, a current Synergy pitcher who recently signed with Division I Tarleton State).

But the former isn’t why Henning and his coaches continue to do it. And the latter isn’t something you’ll ever hear them brag about.

“We’re not out here chasing titles,” Henning said. “We started the program just to give kids in this area an opportunity without having to travel to Buffalo or Rochester, kids who might not have had the opportunity otherwise. … We take what we have and we develop what we have in the area, and we’ve succeeded (in that). I think the results kind of speak for themselves.”

Yes, Synergy teams, each summer, can often be found holding their trophies or medals in the newspaper or on Facebook pages.

But that’s always been secondary to what it accomplishes internally.

The program boasts 80-100 players annually, from the Olean area and beyond. Over the years, Henning has developed several college contacts and each year holds a “Prospect Day” for area coaches. Typically, that had always been for his own teams, but a year ago he opened it to the entire region. That day, 45 kids from all over Western New York came to the St. Bonaventure Fitness Center to display their skills to 15 coaches.

“It was just something that we liked to do for our own kids, but then we opened it up to everybody else,” he said. “It’s just something we kind of care about down here. It’s about helping everybody, not just our own kids.”

And that, more than anything else, is what Synergy seeks to do: Help kids get better.

“I like to teach kids the game and just help them get to the next step,” said Henning, a sales representative at Kecks Food Service. “We try to do what’s best for the kids. We’re realistic with them (about their future), and we make them understand, when you’re going to college, it’s education first.”

OF COURSE, going out and playing is pretty great too.

From June through August, Synergy teams compete in a handful of tournaments across multiple states.

And while all are fun, their favorites are the ones that happen at home.

Synergy held a joint 10U-12U tournament last weekend and will stage an 8U and combined 14U-18U event in July. The biggest, however, is its 16U tournament, taking place this weekend at Forness Park.

This year’s event features 24 teams — its largest field to date — including squads from Buffalo, Rochester, Elmira, Binghamton, Williamsport, Pa., Erie, Pa, and Canada. Ten to 15 college coaches are also expected to attend.

These tournaments, naturally, require an incredible amount of work from both coaches and the many volunteers. But for Synergy, these, too, have been rewarding; the organization typically welcomes around 80 teams between June and July, a boon not only from a competition standpoint, but also for the local economy.

“It’s a lot of work on us, on the parents, too, because everything’s volunteer,” he said. “They’re doing the concession stand; we manicure the fields after every single game, so it’s a big thing. But the girls really enjoy it. Usually, as the host team, we play the late game under the lights, which is kind of a cool thing.

“But we’ll occasionally let other teams have that game, too.”

FOR HENNING, it’s a big year for the program because it’s a round one.

But it’s also significant because it’s his last as a coach.

Like a proud parent, he’s already begun to look back on what his myriad kids have accomplished over the years. “It’s just nice to see the kids develop,” he said. “That’s why we call this our program — because a lot of our kids started in 8U and they stayed all the way through.”

He’s also spent as much time with his Synergy family as his own family.

“I’m running around all day long,” he said of home tournament days. “I want things running on point and I want fields manicured because people are coming here. I want to give them what they deserve. Kids deserve to be playing on a nice field every game. I (also) want to stay on time.”

Still, this won’t mark the end for Henning and his “little baby.”

He plans to continue running the program from an administrative standpoint and teaching the game at Synergy’s indoor facility over the winter.

Because, at this point, the program has also become his passion.

“Everyone who puts the work in, they just … there’s a lot of pride in it,” said Henning, whose organization also holds fundraisers and donates to several charitable causes. “And we’ve done it the right way. That’s what we do, is try to teach kids how to do the right things to get things done.”