AJC article about Cherokee Challenger Baseball League

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Dear Families and Friends:

In this Thursdays issue of the AJC Cherokee section there was is a fantastic article about The Challenger Baseball League. The article does a great job on educating how important this amazing baseball league is to our children but also how the volunteers and our community has benefited.

Please take a minute to send reporter Aixa M Pascual a quick email thanking the AJC for highlighting a great program and how Challenger BaseBall League is making a difference in Cherokee County.

CHALLENGER BASEBALL LEAGUEHelped by volunteers, disabled feel 'like regular kids'By AIXA M. PASCUALThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 03/15/07

On Saturday Daina Holland's 7-year-old daughter, a, starts baseball season. Without a walker, a, who has cerebral palsy, falls a lot. Yet for an hour or so, with a helping hand to carry her, a gets to be a star.

"She's not able to run the bases, but she makes her way around," Holland said.

Tom /Challenger Baseball

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Burt and his teammates all bat two or three times, circle the bases and score.

Tom /Challenger Baseball

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Bryce Hall's grandmother says baseball gives him an alternative to movies and the TV.

Welcome to Challenger Baseball.

Now in its fifth year, the league for children with special needs starts its 2007 season Saturday. Founded by Canton resident Tom , Challenger Baseball pairs each child with a buddy and gives them all a chance to be part of a baseball team.

"It's an opportunity for them to feel like regular kids," said , who runs a women's and children's crisis center in Atlanta. "They all score and feel like they've won the World Series."

The players, who play alongside other youth baseball teams at the South Cherokee Recreation Association in Woodstock, wear matching orange caps and T-shirts emblazoned with their names and numbers. Their names, numbers and made-up stats are announced over a loudspeaker, amid cheers from the crowd. Music — such the soundtracks of the movies "Madagascar" and "Chicken Little"— blares in the background. Each child bats two or three times, and everyone circles the bases and scores.

There is no losing team — only winners.

"It almost has a big-league feel to it," said Steve , a youth pastor at Hillside United Methodist Church, who brings volunteers to help.

The team is open to kids ages 4-12, and it costs parents nothing. raises money to support Challenger Baseball.

, whose own children are grown, created the team for kids who can't play regular baseball because they have autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy or other physical or mental challenges.

, who participated in football, track and field and wrestling in high school, thought baseball would be a good sport because it is "more accommodating for kids with special needs." The sport, he said, requires less physical expertise than other organized sports and there's less propensity for injury.

"It's the all-American game," said , who coaches the team.

Collier's 7-year-old grandson, Bryce Hall, has been playing Challenger Baseball for two years. Before she found the league, there was not much for Bryce to do except go to the movies. But now he looks forward to playing baseball with his team.

"He loves it," Collier said. "There's not a lot for special- needs kids."

And playing gives Hall, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, a chance to spend time with other kids. "He just likes to be able to play and interact with other kids as well. He's not left out," Collier said. "He gets a big joy out of this. His world is wrapped around the TV, and when he gets to do other stuff it's absolutely wonderful."

Participating in Challenger Baseball is also a wonderful experience for the buddies that pair up with each of the kids. The volunteers, which include high school baseball players and youth from church groups, play with the kids in the dirt, help them bat and take them around the bases.

Mike Nayman, head baseball coach at Creekview High School in Canton, said his players can't wait to go to a Challenger Baseball game this spring.

"I wouldn't pass this up for anything," Nayman said. "It may have very well been the most rewarding accomplishment we had all last year."

For many in his team, he said, it's a memorable experience.

"My players get very humbled because the play comes very natural to them. With Challenger, they see how difficult life can be. It's real life," Nayman said.

, the youth pastor, said his kids feel energized by the experience. "It's such a blessing every time we go out," he said.

Seventeen-year-old Darby Herrington, who's volunteered as a buddy for three years, enjoys connecting with the kids. "I love it," she said. "I love being able to help, being a part of something."

The Challenger Baseball players, for their part, gain confidence and social skills on the field. Holland said that the game gives a, who will start her fourth year on the team, the chance to do something without her mom right by her side. "It's helped her all the way around," Holland said.

Parents also get a lot out of it. For an hour, they sit on bleachers and get a chance to relax, drink coffee and eat doughnuts and bagels, and talk to other parents while their kids have a blast.

"It is worth every minute of the getting up and getting going on a Saturday morning," Holland said. "If you ever need uplifting, you need to get up and be on this field at 9:30 a.m."

Thank you so much,Heidi Fernandez Parent and Advocate "Knowledge is Power" "To the world, you may be one person, but to one person, you may be the world."