Sulphur
Springs, TX — (January 30, 2019)— Today, Bright Star Baseball announced a new partnership
with The Miracle League, an
organization that builds baseball and playground facilities for children with
special needs. With this new partnership, Bright Star Baseball will continue
its Celebration Field campaign to raise funds to provide transformative
experiences for youth and adults of all abilities through the magic of
inclusive baseball. With Miracle League’s help, Bright Star Baseball aims to
create an accessible baseball field where individuals with disabilities live
and play in an innovative, fully accessible sports space.
About Bright Star Baseball:
Bright Star
Baseball, (BSB), a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Sulphur
Springs, TX has served children with special needs and their families in Hopkins
and surrounding counties of East Texas, since 2014. Since its inception, Bright Star Baseball has provided a
baseball experience for its players in both a Spring and Fall season. The
program is assisted with youth volunteers from the local community.
About The Miracle League:
The vision of Miracle League is to remove the barriers that keep children with mental and physical disabilities off the baseball field and let them experience the joy of America’s favorite pastime. Miracle League teams play on a custom-designed, rubberized turf field that accommodates wheelchairs and other assistive devices while helping to prevent injuries. The first Miracle League field opened in Conyers, Georgia in April 2000. Word spread and by 2002, fields opened in South Carolina, Alabama, West Virginia, Illinois, and California. There are currently 305 Miracle League Organizations around the globe including Puerto Rico and Canada, serving 200,000 plus children and adults. Frisco and Longview have the only other Miracle League fields in North East Texas.
There are MANY benefits to our new partnership with The Miracle League. Bright Star Baseball sees the greatest benefit as the ability to expand the number of eligible players by increasing the age limit. Previously, Bright Star players had to be between the ages of five and 18. Under Miracle League, Bright Star will welcome players age 5 and UP! According to members of Bright Star Board “one of the hardest conversations we have to have is telling our players that at age 18, they are too old to play in our league.”
The second major benefit of partnering with The Miracle League is their vast experience in the design of the rubberized surface and its arrangements with experts in securing and installing the field. Bright Star’s goal has always been to build a specialized rubberized turf field for our players. With the support of City Manager Marc Maxwell, Bright Star has been raising funds toward that end for several years. Bright Star Baseball has already raised $120K of its $500K goal towards the construction of Celebration Field. Bright Star stressed that the new partnership with The Miracle League will not only bring the expertise to build the field but also will bring national name recognition that will help us achieve our dream of building, Celebration Field!
Miracle League Co-founder Diane Alford said, “A successful Miracle League is a community effort, and while BSB is leading the charge, we hope the community of Sulphur Springs will pitch in as donors, volunteers, coaches and supporters. We cannot change or cure the medical issues life has dealt children with disabilities. What we can do is provide them with an opportunity to experience the joy and benefits that come from playing our national pastime–baseball.”
Now that the partnership is in place, in order to raise sufficient funds to complete the project, Bright Star will kick off an expanded Fundraising Campaign in April 2019! Our hope is that you will join us in making this DREAM come true for The Miracle League of Sulphur Springs, Bright Star Baseball!
For additional information, contact a member of the Board of Directors, or to make a donation see www.brightstarbaseball.com or follow Bright Star on Facebook.
For additional information about The Miracle League, please visit their website: http://www.miracleleague.com/
