The Miracle League At Town and Country has changed and grown since this article. But history always provides perspective!
The information below is an article from 2006 but
represents the history as is:
This article is reprinted in its entirety with permission from the February 2006 issue of
Positively Youth Sports, www.PYSports.com.
In 1997, Rockdale (GA) Youth Baseball Association (RYBA) coach Eddie Bagwell, invited the first disabled child to play on his team. In 1998, the RYBA formed a youth league to further its mission of providing opportunities for all children to play baseball regardless of their ability. The league began with 35 players on 4 teams.
It was decided that:
It was also decided that a special playing surface and complex needed to be created because of potential safety hazards for physically challenged players associated with dirt and grass. In 2000, a custom designed field with a cushioned synthetic special turf was built, with wheelchair accessible dugouts, restrooms, and concession stands... and the Miracle League was born.
A couple of years ago, Steve Brown, a long-time volunteer and new member of the Town and Country Optimist Club board of directors in Austin, was sitting in his office watching HBO's "Real Sports", when a segment came on about "The Miracle League". It was such a powerful story that at the next board meeting, Steve told the board "We're doing a great job serving the youth of northwest Austin but we're not serving ALL of the kids." At that time, the Optimists had a program called "The Buddy League", which had up to then served special needs kids with soccer and tee-ball programs, but the regular grass and dirt fields limited the kids who were challenged by walkers, wheelchairs, and other equipment. The T&C Board thought the Miracle League field would be a better option for these kids; however, because they were involved with a lot of capital improvements at the time, it got put to the side.
Meanwhile, across town, Adam Weisberg was watching the same show. Adam didn't have capital improvements to deal with at the time, and he was so moved by the feature about The Miracle League on HBO that he took time from his busy schedule as owner ofZen, a "food fast" Japanese restaurant, and took immediate action to see what needed to be done to bring this wonderful organization to Central Texas. Adam formed a small group of young business owners and entrepreneurs that eventually became the basis of the Miracle League board of directors.
This scenario has played out time and time again across the globe. There has been so much interest and demand that the goal of 500 fields across the country, and internationally as well, is being realized.
How did you get this started?
Adam Weisberg (AW), one of the original founders of the Miracle League of Austin: After watching that HBO story, and seeing what it had done for a young lady with a bone disease and a little boy who was born without eyes, I called the Miracle League (ML) headquarters, spoke to Executive Director Diane Alford, scheduled a trip to Georgia, and spent 36 hours with the young girl's family. That was all I needed. I came back to Austin and started to look for fields to play on. As luck would have it, Steve Brown of the T&C Optimists had also contacted Diane, and she got us together. We met out at the T&C Optimist Club's 96 acre facility, Steve offered the land, and the rest is history.
Who are the Town & Country Optimists, and what is their role in bringing the Miracle League to Austin?
Steve Brown (SB), T&C Optimist Board Member and the President of the Board and League Director for the Miracle League:The T&C Optimist Club is a non-profit organization which offers sports to youth in Northwest Austin, including soccer, baseball, tee-ball, softball, flag football, tackle football, volleyball, basketball, and even cricket and lacrosse. We have about 8,000 registrants per year and hundreds of volunteers. We have been in operation for 30 years and have grown from renting facilities to owning a 96 acre facility, making ours one of the largest privately held sports complexes in the state. Our first role in this venture was to provide the land for the Miracle League field. We merged with Adam's group and now The Miracle League is a sports association under the T&C Optimist Club umbrella, and is called The Miracle League at Town and Country.
How did the Round Rock Express get involved?
SB: The Miracle League is responsible for raising the money to build the fields. We estimated that the cost would be approximately $500,000 and our fund raising director, Kelsey August, thought that The Express would be the logical group to get as the field name sponsor. We had $250,000 as the figure in mind for naming rights, so we contact The Express and sent them a copy of the HBO spot. Dave Fendrick, who is the GM of The Express, called us and said they were very excited about the program and wanted to meet with us. Dave, along with Reid Ryan, President of The Express, Adam, Kelsey, and I met, and after some discussion, Reid said, "Okay, we're in." We almost exploded out of our seats knowing that this was the beginning of making the Miracle League a reality here in Austin. Reid indicated The Express had always donated to The Children's Hospital of Austin and to other local organizations, but they had always been looking for one charitable program to be their main charity. Soon after that, they had the Jackie Moore bowling tournament benefiting the Miracle League, which netted $5,000. Nicole, who is Reid Ryan's wife, is now an active member of our Miracle League Board. The whole Ryan family, including Reece Ryan and wife, Nolan and Ruth Ryan along with The Express front office are very excited about being a part of the Miracle League and we could not be happier or prouder to be partnered with such a fine group of people and organization. As a result of all this, the field will be officially named "The Round Rock Express Miracle Field".
How many special needs kids will you be able to work with?
SB: We hope to serve 250 - 300+ in our first season on the new field, and then grow from there. That sounds low and it kind of shocked me when I talked to other leagues, but you've got "X" amount of time that you can have a game. Weekday games take place on weeknights, and then you can't have a game on the weekend if it's too hot. There are about 11 - 14 kids for each team and you have to keep it limited because each kid has to have a batting opportunity in every inning and that takes a while. Each game usually runs about three innings. We have actually talked about potential demand for an additional field in the future.
These are some comments from the other key people who are contributing to the construction of the facility, all of whom are donating their time, equipment, and expertise:
Michael Antenora, AIA, who is known for designing unique custom projects, has designed this one, the rendering of which can be seen here. "This is a great opportunity to give back. There are many factors to consider when designing this project. It must be accessible to wheelchairs and ambulances, dugouts need to be wider, etc. Volleyball, 3 on 3 basketball, badminton, soccer, and floor hockey can be played eventually, in addition to baseball."
Reed Seaton, owner of Hellas Construction, has built sports facilities all over the world. He is donating all of the site plan labor, and will be contributing materials at an extremely reduced cost. "This is a nice opportunity to give back to kids who don't typically get a chance to play sports. The ultimate goal is to build a completely accessible facility for these kids to play on. We're honored to be a part of this."
It sounds like the community is really pitching in.
SB: We're getting bids on concrete, asphalt, and fencing. We're a non-profit organization that needs, and is getting, a lot of help. People want to be associated with a project like this and they know that the Ryan family wouldn't be involved with any project unless it was top notch. We currently have about $370,000 in pledged money. A couple of other foundations in the last month have pledged over $65,000 and we're just now getting the ball rolling on getting more funds together. We have a food service company donating lots of food for the concession as well. We feel that the more the word gets out, the more donations will come in.
What other ways are you raising money?
SB: We are trying to educate more people within the T&C "family." We're also going to have a continuing stream of public relations around the ground breaking ceremony, which will be near the start of The Express season. The Express are dedicating this season to help The Miracle League and will probably have an event out at Dell Diamond this spring. We may do other events, including the Jackie Moore bowling tournament and possibly a golf tournament. We also want to set up an endowment to take care of kids who can't afford registration fees, which will be $30 - $50 per season. Some of that goes toward maintenance and utilities of the field. We are a totally non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization.
When does registration start for the athletes?
SB: We are having a spring season out at T&C. The field will not be built so we will be playing on a softball field this season. Registration for the spring is now open and is online at www.bluesombrero/tcoptimist. Registration for the fall season will begin online in mid-July, with opening day on the new field near the first part of September. It will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis. Austin is very young and sports-oriented, so we think we should attract 250+ in our first season. The special needs community is very tight-knit and the word should get out.
What is a "Buddy" and who can be one?
SB: "Buddies" are volunteers who are typically over age 12, and their job is to help the special needs kids on the field and frankly become a "buddy" to them. We will try to have two buddies assigned per athlete, so we'll need about 500 buddies. It sounds like a lot, so we will be trying to partner with high schools and the middle schools in the T&C area, including Westwood, Vista Ridge, McNeil and others. We will be happy to take volunteers and buddies from all over the Austin area. All Buddies will go through the same background checks that we do on all other T&C coaches. They will be trained on their partner athlete's particular disability; they need no other qualifications, except enthusiasm and a willingness to help. We need to sign up these "buddies" by the end of this school year, because most are kids, and will be back in school when the fall season starts. We're playing ball the first weekend in September 2006 an school will only have been in session for two weeks. We feel the Buddies are just as important a part of the Miracle League as the players. These Buddies will learn that these kids are more like them than they may think.
Who else will be helping out?
SB: Other volunteers will be needed for coordinating the buddies from week to week. In addition, we need field commissioners, concession stand managers, and someone to manage the sale of Miracle League merchandise and apparel, among others. The money raised with these things will go directly to the Miracle League. Not counting the buddies, we're probably looking at a minimum of 25 additional volunteers on a structured basis. Then underneath them they'll need volunteers and some of them will come from T&C parents. This is an incredibly refreshing venture, and people are looking for this type of environment for their kids.