Challenger League Finishes First Season

By Misty Cryer

Carlsbad’s first-ever special-needs baseball league just finished its first season. Currently consisting of six teams serving children from age four through high school, the league started due to a mother’s wish.

“I have four children. My oldest is autistic, non-verbal, special needs,” said Victoria Gomez. “My three younger children always play sports,” she said, adding that after games, they would find an empty field to take her oldest son to pitch him some balls, let him hit, and try to catch. She said she posted a video on her Instagram story, wishing that Carlsbad could create something for her son.

Chance McMillan and Destry Vick, board members of the Shorthorn Little League, saw Gomez’s video and helped her get this started for the special needs community in Carlsbad, said Gomez. “It’s the Little League Challenger Program, and our team’s name is the Conquerors,” she said.

Ervie Ornelas, whose grandson Braxton Grant participates in the league, said, “It is amazing.”

After sign-ups this year, Gomez said she received a call that the league would be started through the Little League Challenger Program, and she was asked if she could help since she has experience working with children with special needs. “My prayers were answered. ‘Yes, all in, let’s do it,’” was her response.

Gomez said she helps with many other events in Carlsbad, especially at First Methodist Church, which does a lot for the special-needs community.

When they started, Gomez said they had 46 special-needs children sign up. “That allowed us to make six teams, so we divided them by age,” she said.

The league has divisions that include junior high/high school, a middle-age division for six- to nine-year-olds, and the little division, for four- and five-year-olds, said Gomez. “There are two teams per division, and they play each other. It was amazing,” she said.

“We want parents to be able to watch their child,” said Gomez, explaining that they recruited some of the older players who are neurotypical to be buddies of the players in the Challenger League to help them bat, to help them field the ball, to run bases, and to help them in the dugout. “Each child has a buddy,” she said.

One of the biggest things they wanted, said Gomez, is a place where the children feel they belong. “We are super excited to have them, I guess, belong somewhere, a place where they can feel celebrated,” she said.

The experience has been so incredible to witness, said Gomez. “From the players to the coaches to the buddies to the parents, like hanging on the fence,” she said, “It is the first time for me that I’ve been able to watch my child in a sport.”

It is meaningful to witness the inclusion, friendship, and confidence that come with the buddies, said Gomez. “Some of those kids really cling to their buddy, and you can see them out there giving high-fives and loving on them, helping them put their helmets on; it is just really super awesome to see that,” she said.

Gomez said she recruited coaches, including some special needs teachers, and an umpire she said is amazing. In the first game, when the kids ran across the home base, he would yell “Safe!” she said. “For some reason, that made me so emotional. It was like incredible to see what I thought would never happen, actually happen.”

With plans to continue the league next year, Gomez said, “The stands have been packed. It’s really cool to see how many people come to support them.”