Skippack 10-year-old All Stars join in special day

Lower Perk Challengers, Spring Valley Shooting Stars link up for a game at Skippack Park

It was a day where everyone involved walked away a winner.

The Lower Perkiomen Challenger Phillies baseball team joined the Spring Valley YMCA Shooting Stars sports team for a family picnic followed by a baseball game at Palmer Park in Skippack on Sunday, June 24. Members of the Skippack 10-year-old All-Star Team were the buddies for the game.

It was a great event for all the teams and athletes involved.

The smiles, laughs and cheers made it a memorable night filled with families and friends even once rain moved into the area.

The Shooting Stars sports team is a Special Abilities Program provided through the Spring Valley YMCA. The program is offered to children grades K-12 with special needs and typically gets together on Wednesday nights throughout the year where children learn about teamwork and friendship through sports.

The Lower Perkiomen Challenger team “provides boys and girls with disabilities the opportunity to experience the emotional development and the fun of playing Little League Baseball.” The league was designed to provide opportunities for children with special needs of all types, and is open to children 5 to 18 years old (21 if they are still attending high school). The non-competitive games are played on Sunday afternoons from the spring days of April through the summer month of June.

Shooting Stars coach Mary Shields summed up the day perfectly.

“Somebody had once told me and it’s so true. It’s reciprocity in action — each team gets the same things out of it,” she said. “The 10-yearolds get as much out of it as the Shooting Stars and the Phillies. It brings a community together and lets all the teams know that everybody is the same. We’re just out having some fun together.

“Watching the kids, the families, the players, it’s amazing.”

The Skippack 10-yearold All-Stars are coached by Rick McCabe while the Lower Perkiomen Challengers Phillies are coached by Thomas Butler.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Members of the Lower Perk Challengers, left, and Spring Valley YMCA Shooting Stars, right, joined the Skippack 10-yearold All-Stars for a picnic last Sunday at Palmer Park in Skippack.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Becca Wise, a member of the Spring Valley YMCA Shooting Stars, runs up the baseline while head coach Mary Shields and several fans cheer her on last Sunday.