When West Biddeford Little League kicked off its Challenger Division for Little League Baseball in late April, it began a tradition that will hopefully continue.
On April 30, the WBLL introduced two special teams to Biddeford. These teams were comprised of 19 children who are physically and developmentally disabled, but wanted the opportunity to play baseball. The teams, called Blue and Yellow, were the only two clubs to participate in the Challenger Division.
This division should be encouraged to grow and is a progressive step that Biddeford and York County should acknowledge as a program that opens doors for area children.
Children with special needs should always be encouraged to live their lives to the fullest of their potentials. The Challenger Division teaches that while they may face different challenges than others, they, too, can break through obstacles to success.
Joey Shortsleeves, for example, is the shortstop for the Blue Team. He has a condition called microlissencephaly, a disorder that prevents folds in the brain from forming. It severely impacts speech, growth and development. Shortsleeves is mainly bound to a wheelchair, but occasionally uses a walker. Prior to joining this baseball division, Shortsleeves would not have been able to play baseball in his home county. Now, he and other children who don’t have the opportunities for recreation that other youth have, can experience the thrill of rounding the bases, the dirt kicking up in the air, feel the apprehensive wait for the pitch and relish the crack of a bat.
After all, that is what playing youth sports is about, teaching life lessons and granting children opportunities for growth and exercise.
The WBLL’s Challenger Division, while new to York County, isn’t a new concept. It was previously introduced on the national level to allow disabled children a chance to compete in our national pastime.
Little League Baseball is one of the largest sports leagues in the world. Each year it has its own Little League World Series where teams from around the globe come to the United States to play baseball for a few weeks. Playing Little League Baseball is one of the true joys of childhood for many, and now disabled children can be exposed to this right of passage.
The Challenger Division and programs like it need to grow and prosper. We must continue to develop a society that gives equal footing to all of its residents regardless of disabilities.
If we continue to encourage this type of growth and awareness, it will benefit not only these youth, but our greater communities and our state. Promoting positivity and not negativity should always be applauded and the Challenger Division should receive some of the largest cheers of all.
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