Miracle League on track to play ball in September
Children with special needs will have baseball league, field of their own in Lakeville
Lakeville’s King’s Park will be home to a Miracle Field, a field where children with special needs can play baseball. The Lakeville Baseball Association is seeking donations for the field which could be built as soon as this fall. The field’s rubberized playing surface is wheelchair friendly. Photo submitted
by Derrick Williams
Thisweek Newspapers
Organizers for the South Metro Miracle League, a Lakeville-based baseball program for children with disabilities, said they have the money to start construction on their new field after four years of fundraising.
Brian Roseen, who organizes the Miracle League project for the Lakeville Baseball Association, said they’re ready to break ground at King Park in Lakeville.
“It’s exciting. There’s a need — I know there’s a huge need — and it’s exciting to finally be here, ready to move dirt,” Roseen said.
On Sunday, Sept. 12, Roseen said the league will take a huge step.
Not only will ground be broken on the new field during a ceremony, but the league will kick off and hold its first games that day.
“The fall league will be free to players and it’ll allow us to raise awareness across the south metro that the league is ready,” Roseen said.
The Miracle Field will be built at King Park, located at Dodd Road and 185th Street, on one of the eight existing fields which the Lakeville City Council donated to the Miracle League in 2006.
And while ground breaking is set to begin, fundraising is still ongoing.
Roseen said they have roughly half of the $400,000 needed to construct the Miracle Field, but have enough to get the field up and running before next spring’s league begins.
Miracle Fields are different than a regular baseball fields because they’re designed with a cushioned, rubberized surface, wheelchair access to the field and dugouts, and a flat, barrier free surface to help visually impaired players or players in wheelchairs.
With fundraising efforts ongoing, M&I Bank and Lakeville’s Parks and Recreation Department are teaming up for Movies in the Park on Saturday, Aug. 14, with proceeds going to the Miracle League.
Andrea Novak, a regional marketing manager with M&I Bank, said the event, held at North Park, located at 17100 Ipava Ave., will begin around 7 p.m. with free activities and games for children and families.
At dusk, Novak said they’ll show Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.
“We do the event as an opportunity to give back to the community,” Novak said. “And we try to team with non-profits, and the Miracle League is such a great cause.”
Novak said people should bring blankets and lawn chairs for the movie, and concessions will be sold during the event.
Roseen said the South Metro Miracle League has roughly $150,000 in hand with another $55,000 of in-kind donations, but $200,000 is still needed for bleachers and other parts of the project.
“So many people want this to happen,” he said. “Like M&I Bank and all of the other donors to the project.”
Roseen said he became interested in the project four years ago when he and his 13-year-old son were playing catch at Quigley-Sime Park in Lakeville.
While playing, a young boy in a wheelchair rolled up to their field.
“We tried to find a way for him to play with us,” Roseen said. “The field, though, just wasn’t made for it. My son said, ‘That’s not fair.’ I agreed.”
That experience prompted Roseen, who was already active with the Lakeville Baseball Association, to begin searching for information about baseball fields for children with disabilities.
He soon stumbled upon the Miracle League of Minnesota, a nonprofit group providing opportunities for children with disabilities ages 3 to 19 to play baseball.
“It’s something all kids can do,” he said. “Everyone is welcome.”
Roseen said any child with special needs is welcome to play.
For more information, visit www.lakevillebaseball.org and click the Miracle League tab.
E-mail Derrick Williams at:
lakeville.thisweek@ecm-inc.com
