Challenger Baseball is returning to Cloverdale Ball Park April 7.
And while the program is back for another season, they’re in need of volunteers to make it run.
Jeff Sandes, coordinator of Cloverdale’s Challenger Baseball program, said he’s looking for “baseball buddies” to help the kids play.
“The program is designed for anybody who can’t play baseball under the conventional structure, or in some cases, younger siblings who join the field with their brother or sister,” explained Sandes. “Most of our athletes are players with cognitive or physical disabilities, and often both.”
Sandes goal is to have an able-bodied baseball buddy on the diamond with each Challenger player to both help them with some of the skills to play Challenger’s adaptive style of ball—which could include helping the player getting around the bases, or playing in the infield or outfield—and to be a companion and a friend to a player.
Sandes said the participants “rarely” have the opportunity to engage with able-bodied friends.
He noted recruiting baseball buddies has always been difficult for the program each year. Challenger grew in Cloverdale from 2016, the year it began, until last year in 2023.
“I used to go to all of the high schools in Cloverdale, but they were always a dead end with nobody promoting our program despite the availability of volunteer hours and several buddies earning $10,000 scholarships for their participation,” said Sandes. “Teenagers are our most valuable asset because our players see them as equals and crave to spend time with somebody their own age, even when it’s one hour on a Sunday afternoon.”
In terms of volunteering, Sandes noted the program is great for teenagers as the volunteer hours they earn as buddies through the programs also count toward scholarship opportunities.
That’s because the Challenger program is backed by the Rogers Media charity Jays Care Foundation. The foundation is a big supporter of Challenger Baseball.
“Challenger Baseball is Jays Care’s adaptive baseball program, run in partnership with Little League Canada and Baseball Canada, specifically designed to empower children, youth and adults living with physical and/or cognitive disabilities,” says a post on the foundation’s website. “The program teaches athletes living with disabilities the core life skills inherent to baseball, including: teamwork, communication, determination, resiliency, inclusion, support and courage.”
Sandes said more than a dozen buddies from the Cloverdale program have gone on to win $10,000 scholarships from the Jays Care Foundation after volunteering with Challenger.
He explained that the 2024 season is going to be different from each season that came before. The program has lost a few players who have moved away and they haven’t had new players to replace them. So there is still room for more participants.
“I’m hoping for a surge of new players in the next couple of weeks, but with that comes the need for (new) buddies,” Sandes said. “And while we have player families move away, we also see many of our buddies go to college or get jobs which take them away from Cloverdale. So we’re always needing to replace many of our volunteers.”
Sandes said all training for potential buddies is provided. He runs two orientation days and preps the volunteers on what to expect when they hit the diamond and on how to deal with different situations that may arise with the participants.
“We mostly focus on how to interact and communicate with our players when they may have a different method of expressing themselves, as well as give them confidence on how to physically engage with an athlete when they need it,” Sandes noted. “Mostly, it’s about being there to be a friend to a player.”
On game days, Sandes and his team divide the diamond into three separate stations. They run a baseball game on the infield. They run a hitting station in left field. They run an activities station in right field. The players then rotate through the different stations every 20 minutes and that constitutes their 60-minute game.
Sandes also runs a separate game on another diamond for more advanced game play. And at the end both groups come together for one big dragon race.
“As parents, they get to sit in the stands and watch their kids play and succeed in a game they wouldn’t be able to under the general structure where baseball is played.”
Sandes doesn’t charge anyone to play. He said the no-money commitment offers families the chance to try Challenger without the additional concern their child might not like it or adapt to it, or that they may not be able to make all of the Sunday game days.
Sandes added the hardest thing for him is explaining to potential volunteers just how rewarding being a baseball buddy really is.
“Obviously, our players run around and play the game like it’s Game 7 of the World Series, but the families who get to watch their kids participate in something which brings them so much happiness and friendship can’t be measured,” explained Sandes.
“And one of the remarkable outcomes is our volunteers make friends with our players too, which is also life changing.”
Challenger Baseball is free and runs Sundays at 1 p.m. at Cloverdale Ball Park. The season starts April 7 and runs until June 16. The provincial jamboree is tentatively set for June 22 in Burnaby. Cloverdale hosted the jamboree in 2023, which included more than 450 players from across B.C.
To register for Challenger, visit go.teamsnap.com/forms/409267. For more info on the program, visit cloverdalebaseball.com/program-info/challenger.
To register as a baseball buddy, or for more info on becoming a buddy, email Sandes at jeffsandes@shaw.ca.