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Challenger ballplayers enjoy fun-filled festival
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Baseball games filled nearly every inch of the green fields at the Lee County Sports Complex on Saturday.
Twenty-four games involving 24 teams.
A sampling of the day’s menu found the Red Sox against the Indians, the Diamondbacks took on the Blue Jays and the Devil Rays squared off with the Rockies.
Final scores?
That’s tough to say because these games carried significance beyond what is found on scoreboards.
Who won?
That’s an easy one.
Everybody.
Two-hundred and sixty-five kids with special needs participated in the sixth annual Bob Wagner Florida Challenger Baseball Festival. With a mixture of local teams and some from as far away as Merritt Island, Plant City and Broward County, it was evident the only need they had on a sun-drenched afternoon was to play baseball.
No matter how many swings it took to make contact, all the players enjoyed a perfect day at the plate.
“Everybody hits. Everybody scores,” said tournament director Tom Giffen.
And everybody has fun, including the parents. Moms and dads are a big part of the festival’s equation, too.
“When we do something like this, we want the parents to come and sit back and have a hamburger and watch their kids play, cheer for them, laugh with them, pat them on the back, congratulate them and say, ‘Did you have fun? I had fun,’” said Giffen.
“There’s nothing you and I could imagine of what it would be like to be pregnant and have someone tell you before the child is born that your child is going to have Down’s syndrome or your child is going to be autistic or your child is going to have cystic fibrosis. That is a life changer. Those of us who don’t experience that have no concept what’s going on with their lives.”
The festival included an impromptu autograph session next door with the Fort Myers Miracle, a dinner break sandwiched between doubleheaders, a disc jockey and an evening dance. Players capped off the day by watching a fireworks show at the conclusion of the Miracle game. All participants received a medal.
The festival was named in memory of Bob Wagner, who played a key role in the development and growth of the local Challenger program, which is now part of Little League Baseball.
“He got involved in the program in the early 1990s when there was just a handful of kids,” recalled Bob’s son, Greg. “He’d wear his baseball uniform and pitch to the kids and work with them. He got so involved.”
Shortly after Bob passed away, the festival was born bearing his name.
“It’s a tremendous honor,” said Greg.
Saturday marked the fourth time the festival has been held in Lee County.
“The Lee County Parks and Rec, the Lee County Sports Authority and the Lee County Sports Organizing Committee all stepped up,” Giffen noted.
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