Re: Re: Little League Challenger Division for special needs childr...

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This is really great Gail! Beautiful website too! I'm so excited about this. Maybe we can get more families in our group to get together! What a wonderful oppertunity!

Yours, n

Here is the official link to Challenger Baseball:

http://www.littleleague.org/divisions/challenger.asp

In the Cleveland Heights program, kids range from 5-22 years old, though a couple are older than 22. There are kids with physical handicaps as well as kids with other types of special needs. One of the coaches is the pitcher, kids either bat from a tee, or from a pitched ball. Each kid is at bat until they actually hit the ball. There are no outs, the entire team bats for each inning. The last at-bat is always a "grand slam". The Cleveland Heights program starts mid-May and goes through most of July. The games are Sunday afternoons, at either 3 or 3:30, usually lasting about 1 1/2 hours. We usually start with some batting and fielding practice, with a ratio of close to 1:1 for players and volunteers. If I had to say a negative about the program, it's that there isn't enough emphasis on fielding. More of concern for Diane, as she is pretty good at fielding ground balls and catching fly balls, and doesn't get too much opportunity to use these skills. Everyone seems to have a great time, the coaches are very enthusiastic and encouraging. It's a great intro to baseball.

Hope this helps.

Gail

On 2/25/08, Pattison <egerpatt@...> wrote: Please! Thanks Gail!

"Gail B." <gailbuf@...> wrote: We've done Challenger Baseball in Cleveland Heights the last several years, with Diane and now with as well. It is a great opportunity for the kids. There are 2 other programs that I knoww about in the Cleveland area in Brecksville and Westlake.

I can post more information about the program if anyone is interested.

Gail

>

> I found this league at the Camp Fair! Here is a baseball oppertunity for our > children! This sounds so wonderful because the team is made for special > needs children and there is no fundraising obligations for this team! The annual > cost is so reasonable and will receive tea shirts for the team - no practices, > just baseball fun!!! > > Anyone want to check this out? I'm very interested and so glad there's this > oppertunity as I've been pondering what to do for my son. The school team > might be too much for my son at this point with all the practices.

> > I'll post everything on my website including a registration form. I'll send > the link after I get it all set up. This sounds like such a nice oppertunity > for our children.