Vernon partners up to get Miracle League field
Facility will be one of three in state suited for Challenger baseball
Vernon officials announced Wednesday the town has partnered with the Miracle League of Northern Connecticut to build a handicapped accessible sports field at the Northeast School.
The only two Miracle League fields in the state are in West Hartford and East Lyme and those serve thousands of athletes throughout the state who play Challenger Baseball, a division of Little League. The West Hartford field, which opened 12 years ago, was the first such field in New England.
There are approximately 300 Miracle League fields nationwide.
“West Hartford and East Lyme draw from 45 different communities and the kids travel up to an hour to play on these fields,” said Steve Leibowitz, the president of the Miracle League of Northern Connecticut. “It’s a half-inch low turf field, the ball bounces uniformly, you can get wheelchairs on it. You’re not worried about pesticides or a puddle at first base. “There’s a need for these fields.” The fields are constructed with artificial turf with the bases painted on, not raised, so the players in wheelchairs have an easier time negotiating them. The dugouts are handicapped accessible and the fields are also fenced in for safety.
The Vernon field will also be able to be used for soccer and lacrosse.
The field will cost approximately $600,000 and the money will be privately raised, Liebowitz said. The organization has already raised $270,000.
“That’s why today is exciting, we have a location,” said Leibowitz, who coaches a Challenger team in Tolland with his wife, Laurel. “Now we’ll be able to do our major fundraising.”
The field will be on school property so the school and the town had to sign off on the project and the school will be able to use the field for gym classes and other activities. The town can use the field for T-ball.
“They came to us, they were looking for a home for this,” Vernon Mayor Dan Champagne said. “Any time we can do something to help disabled athletes, why wouldn’t we step up? They’re going to do the fundraising for it. It’s a great location.”
Leibowitz hopes that the groundbreaking, if the majority of the funding is in place, will take place next June. The field will take about four months to complete.
Lisa Daniel and her husband, Roy, of Coventry have a daughter, Rachel, who is autistic and played Challenger baseball in Tolland until she aged out
of the program. The Daniels are assistant coaches in Tolland.
“One day we were at a field near a railroad track and one day a train came through, whistling the whistle and my poor child had no idea what was coming at her or where; she was panic-struck,” Lisa said. “We realized the importance of a suitable field. Many of the fields are not handicapped accessible — as the children get older and their parents get older, their parents are trying to push a maybe 200-pound young man uphill — it’s hard.”