It’s a miracle!
Published: March 26, 2006
Tampa Bay Devil Rays President Matt Silverman threw out the first pitch opening Pinellas County’s newest ball park Saturday, Violet’s Field.
But this field is different than most. For one, it’s made of rubber. it’s also barrier-free and trip-proof designed specifically for special needs children like 9-year-old Matthew Walker.
“This is the first time he’s ever been able to play his baseball in his gate trainer where he can walk,” Matthew’s father, Steve Walker, said. “Before this, he always had to do it in a wheelchair because of the way the fields are constructed.”
With children like Walker in mind, the Kiwanis Club of Gulf Beaches decided to take on the project and build a Miracle League field. Community donations big and small made the project a hit.
“You got to have about a quarter of a million dollars to do this,” Eddie Lee of the Kiwanis Club said.
The project allows kids to participate in a team sport without being singled out for being different.
“One of the things people forget about this is it builds self confidence,” Lee said. “Watch these children when they start playing, they will feel for the first time in their lives that they are part of something as opposed to always being set aside.”
Smiles are everywhere as kids run the bases. Even walkers and wheelchairs don’t slow them down on the smooth surface.
The rules are a bit different in the Miracle League, with every child getting to bat, every child getting a hit and the last batter of each inning hitting a home run.
The Miracle League field is located near Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg. It’s estimated 20,000-25,000 children in Pinellas County will be eligible to use the field.
Plans are already underway to build a similar field in the northern part of the county.
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