To help the athletes, Miracle League uses a buddy system, pairing each player with an able-bodied peer through community volunteers who provide assistance and encouragement.By Rubin E. Grant
Shay Hammonds wanted her sons to learn the value of volunteering while they were growing up, so she tried to become involved with the Moody Miracle League near Leeds.
But whenever Hammonds contacted the Moody league about her and her boys volunteering, she was told they already had enough volunteers.
So Hammonds decided to form a Miracle League in Hoover, where she lives.
“I didn’t want to give up,” she said.
It took three years of fundraising and organizing for the Over the Mountain Miracle League to come to fruition. Now it’s celebrating 10 years as a league, playing on a specialized field at the Hoover Sports Park East to accommodate children and adults with mental or physical challenges.
The OTM Miracle League baseball field has a custom-designed, rubberized turf field that accommodates wheelchairs and other assistive devices.
The league’s inaugural season was the spring of 2014 with Hammonds and her sons as volunteers.
“It’s so hard to believe it’s been 10 years,” said Hammonds, who is treasurer of the league. “It’s still a lot of fun. Each year we’ve been watching it grow. I can’t believe how big it’s gotten. I love it.”
Miracle League was founded in 1998 to provide children with mental and/or physical challenges an opportunity to play baseball as a team member in an organized league.
The first Miracle League field opened in Conyers, Georgia, in April 2000. There are presently 240-plus Miracle League organizations across the country and in Puerto Rico and Canada, serving 200,000-plus children and adults.
Matt Bearden, president of the OTM Miracle League, estimates 140 to 150 children and adults participate in the spring and somewhat fewer in fall.
The spring league began March 4 and will run through April 22.
“Our league has three playing groups and is available for anyone 5 years and up,” Bearden said. “Sometimes, we have players on the field who are 5 with players in their 50s. We also have a group from Glenwood that comes over.”
Glenwood is a nonprofit agency dedicated to serving children, adolescents and adults with autism and other behavioral health needs.
Buddy System
To help the athletes, Miracle League uses a buddy system, pairing each player with an able-bodied peer through community volunteers who provide assistance and encouragement.
“Our players may not be able to run the bases or hit the ball as well as some of their peers, but they have an equal amount of love and determination to play baseball,” Bearden said. “We want to help them achieve that dream because everyone deserves a chance to play.
“I think what makes it special is the blessing we get from the experience with the players and volunteers. We’ve got a strong core of volunteers, coaches, team moms, snack providers and PA announcers. Since we provide everything, it’s a joy to see the parents just sit and watch their children play.”
Rich Mandes’ son Micah has played in OTM Miracle League since its first season. Micah Mandes, who is autistic, had played in a league in Pensacola, Florida, before the family moved to Hoover in 2009, so he’s been involved for nearly half his life. He’s 34 now.
“He’s always had a love for baseball,” Rich Mandes said. “He watches historical films about the game and he’s a huge (Atlanta) Braves fan.
“The Miracle League is a way for him to participate and be a part of a world that normal kids participate in. He looks forward to it every spring and fall. It’s become a part of his life.”
It also has become a big part of Mandes’ and his wife, Jan’s, lives. Mandes served on the board of the league in Pensacola.
“It’s a huge blessing and fulfillment for both of us,” Mandes said. “It’s a double dose, volunteering and seeing all the smiles of the kids and young adults as well as the buddies and volunteers – and we get a chance to see our son play.
“It’s hard to describe what it’s like when he goes out and hits the baseball and comes back and yells, ‘I did it.’”
For more information about the OTM Miracle League visit: otmmiracleleague.org/new
English (US)