Play ball! Miracle League scores home run on first day
Published: August 8, 2007
ALLOUEZ — The field of dreams became reality Saturday, when around 100 special kids played baseball at Allouez Optimists Resch Miracle Field and Favre Family Miracle Recreation Area, at the corner of Kalb and Libal streets.
“This is exciting, but it’s also somewhat emotional,” said Allouez mom Marcia Grunwald while watching the opening ceremonies. Her son, Matthew, 18, has a rare condition that limits his mobility and has rendered him nonverbal.
“This is the first opportunity we’ve had to be involved in any kind of sporting event,” she said.
Matthew wasn’t expected to live past his first year, Grunwald said.
Miracle League is a national, nonprofit baseball program for kids age 4 to 19 who have any kind of disability — nobody’s turned away. Because the main barriers to team sports for children with disabilities arise from the natural grass fields used in conventional youth leagues, Miracle League teams play on specially designed rubberized turf fields that accommodate wheelchairs and lessen chances for injuries.
Saturday’s opening games were the first official ones played on the new field. The day capped off around a year of fundraising and planning.
Opening ceremonies included short speeches by key donors such as Deanna Favre of the Favre Fourward Foundation, KI owner and philanthropist Dick Resch, and chair of the National Miracle League Association Dean Alford of Atlanta.
Bishop David Zubik of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay praised the program for its ability to foster healthy bodies and minds.
Alford said in addition to “giving every child the opportunity to play baseball,” Miracle League aims to establish 500 special-surface playing fields around the country.
Miracle League started in Georgia in 2000, and the program has spread to more than 140 communities nationwide. Around half have special-surface fields like the one in Allouez. Players are paired with “buddies” who help them maneuver around the field.
In the Allouez program’s first year — 2006 — 65 players on four teams played on the dirt diamond at Optimist Park. This year’s program has 10 teams and 100 players.
Favre said her family is passionate about helping special-needs kids because the parents of her husband, Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, included them in their lives. Brett’s mother taught special education, and his father coached American Legion baseball for 25 years. Those connections led to friendships that still endure.
“The team had a special batboy, and when the team traveled, Brett always volunteered to be his roommate,” Favre said.
The Favres keep in touch with the batboy, now in his 60s, as well as a former student of Brett Favre’s mother.
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