Edmonton children and their families had a rewarding baseball season as the first program of its kind concluded at Kinsmen Field House.
Community Park Little League has partnered with Children’s Autism Services of Edmonton to enable children with physical and cognitive disabilities to play baseball during the winter months.
“We’re just trying to break down some barriers for children with disabilities,” said Tully Lutz, president of Community Park Little League.
The program uses a variety of exercises and games to encourage children with disabilities at all levels to be active.
“Basically, we’re doing all sorts of bucket drills out here and things that improve their hand-eye coordination — just increase their fun,” Lutz said.
Scott Wilson, family liaison at Children’s Autism Services of Edmonton, says that often when children are diagnosed with disabilities, the focus is on the clinical side of things, but limited to experience and community involvement.
However, the opportunity to start this community was jumped at when Community Park Little League approached Children’s Autism Services Edmonton last summer to help build the new program.
“They understand baseball. We understand autism. We understand supporting a child’s needs so that they can come and participate and have a good experience on the field,” Wilson said.
According to Wilson, the new program has brought a sense of community to many of his young athletes.
“You get a sense of belonging to a team and participate in the community,” Wilson said.
“Often they’ve gone to baseball games and watched their older brothers or sisters play baseball, and now they’re actually getting a chance to understand that this is a place for them.”
The indoor baseball camp ended its first winter program on Sunday.
Comments are closed.