Challenger Division brings baseball experience to special needs
kids
The memories of Little League baseball are not memories that
quickly fade away
– the smell of fresh-cut grass, the crack of the bat making
contact with the ball and the joyful sound of cheering fans. A
special division of Little League makes it possible for all
children to enjoy the game.
Challenger Division brings baseball experience to special needs kids
The memories of Little League baseball are not memories that quickly fade away – the smell of fresh-cut grass, the crack of the bat making contact with the ball and the joyful sound of cheering fans. A special division of Little League makes it possible for all children to enjoy the game.
Challenger Division Little began nationally in 1989 as a separate division of Little League Baseball. Its purpose was to enable boys and girls with physical and mental disabilities, ages 5-18 or the completion of high school, to enjoy the game of baseball just like the millions of other children worldwide that participate in the sport every spring.
Challenger Division started in Hollister in 2001. Though it is available to all districts with Little League divisions, Hollister is the only city in the area with a Challenger Division, according to division officials.
The idea is that everyone plays regardless of his or her impairments. Teams are set up according to abilities, rather than age and can include 15-20 players. Players can participate in one of three levels: Tee-ball, coach pitch or player pitch.
The games are set up so each player gets a chance to bat. The side is retired when the offense has batted through the roster, when a pre-determined number of runs have been scored or when three outs are recorded. Score isn’t kept, so there are no winners or losers.
John and Ginger Mendez have been involved with Challenger Division since its earliest days. Their son, Mark, started as a player and the couple has stayed with the organization through the years.
“For someone to tell me my son would be able to play Little League, I’d never have believed it,” Ginger Mendez said. “Entire families come out in support of these kids. It’s incredible for the kids to have something they can claim as their own.”
Sometimes families get involved, too. If a child is in a wheelchair their siblings might run the bases for them or help them swing the bat.
Alyson and Jeff Noble’s daughter, R. T., has been playing Challenger Division Little League for three years and loves the game. Her favorite thing is playing third base because she has a good arm and likes the long throws it takes to make it to first base.
Each season of Challenger Division consists of eight to 10 games and every child who plays gets a uniform and is part of a team.
“The kids are so happy that they get to wear uniforms and be a part of something,” Mendez said.
All of the coaches and buddies are aware of the players’ disabilities so they can help them as much or as little as necessary. The important thing is that kids get to be kids and get the experience of playing on a team.
At the end of each season all the participants get together for a barbecue and everyone gets a trophy.
“We want to get as many kids that can and want to play out here so they can,” Mendez said.
Organizers sent flyers to all schools and are having two sign up dates. March 1, and March 8, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Roundtable Pizza, in Hollister.
For more information contact Ginger Mendez at 636-2865 or C. R. Gonzalez at 636-8123.
Patrick O’Donnell can be reached at
po*******@pi**********.com
.
