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Welcome back to Monique’s Mobility, a column to answer your questions about mobility products as they relate to transportation solutions. Please let me know if you have any questions and I will be more than happy to answer them the best I can.
In October, I started volunteering for the first time with Miracle League of Arizona. The Miracle League concept began in 1997 to simply give children with disabilities the ability to play America’s favorite past time, baseball! The founders wanted to give children the opportunity to play baseball in a safe and fun environment. The rules are a little different than your typical baseball games, but that’s what makes the Miracle League so great!
•Every player bats once each inning (there are typically only 2 innings)
•All players are safe on the bases
•Every player scores a run before the inning is over (last one up gets a home run)
•Community children and volunteers serve as ‘buddies’ to assist the players
•Each team and each player wins every game
Sounds great, right? Well, organizations like this can only exist with volunteers. When my company, VMI, signed up to be a sponsor for Miracle League of Arizona this year, we were all excited to be a part of it and help out in any way we could. The Arizona league started in September and ends in November. There are games on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings which gives kids the opportunity to play twice a week, which most of them do.
Each volunteer gets matched up with a player; some need more help than others. The disabilities range from autism, down syndrome to more severe physical disabilities like Muscular Dystrophy and Cerebral Palsy. But at the Miracle League, all disabilities are checked at the door and we just play baseball. I have been a “buddy” to J.P. who has a personality that would light up any room. He and I quickly became friends as we waited in the dugout for his first at-bat. When J.P first started with the Miracle League, he couldn’t even swing the bat; whether it was physical limitations or fear, we don’t know. With a lot of encouragement and couching, he learned to master hitting the ball off the tee. Two months later, J.P. has ditched the tee and likes to get the ball pitched to him! Regardless of whether he hits it off the tee or swings away at a pitch, he doesn’t waste any time flying around the bases (well sort of), passing his teammates along the way before making it home. J.P. hasn’t yet mastered the touching the bases part of the game, which is perfectly fine. The crowd goes wild, as they do for every batter and player and the atmosphere is electric. His mother told me that J.P., and his two brothers who also play in the Miracle League, love to go there because they can be themselves and no one makes fun of them.
At the Miracle League of Arizona there is a concession stand, announcer, dugouts and stands, just like any other baseball stadium. The main difference is that at the Miracle League field, fun is the only ingredient necessary for a good time. However, without volunteers, wonderful organizations like this will cease to exist. Please do your part and seek out ways where you can help in your community. One hour a week goes a long way! Grab your husbands, wives, kids and make a family affair out of volunteer efforts, you will be rewarded greatly!
