Special needs youth, ‘buddies’ bond through baseball at inaugural East Dublin rec event

For many kids – whether future athletes or not – some of the most irreplaceable childhood memories are ones shared with friends on a youth baseball field. 

About 20 special needs players who don’t often get the opportunity were able to make some of those this past Saturday as the East Dublin Recreation Department sponsored its first-ever “Buddy Ball” event at Dewey Warnock Park. 

Each, paired with a volunteer companion for the day, enjoyed a few hours of fun on the diamond while being cheered on by family and other spectators from the stands. Looking across the complex, you’d be hard-pressed to find a face that wasn’t wearing a smile at some point during the course of the morning. 

A highlight for Sadie Jo Alligood, one of about 24 “buddies” who signed up to help out, was playing shortstop piggy-back style for a few pitches after Cory King, her assigned player, jumped on her back and hung on tight as the two took their spot in the field at the start of an inning. 

“I couldn’t get him down,” she said. “His mom was telling him to get down, and he was just like, ‘no.’ That was fun.” 

The expressions of both were priceless in a snapshot of the scene that painted a perfect picture of how great a time it was for all. 

“I just liked being out there and see everyone have fun,” said Alligood, a rising junior on the West Laurens High School softball team whose mother Erica joined her in volunteering for the event. “When I’m older I want to do something with special needs and all that. When mom had mentioned it, I knew that I really wanted to do it and come out here.” 

Similar versions of Buddy Ball have been played locally in the recent past, but Saturday’s was Laurens County’s first edition since an event put on by the DLCRA as part of its opening day festivities in March of 2020. 

Bringing it back had been a priority for East Dublin Recreation director Dawn “Mammawood” Wood since signing on to help the city re-start its parks department last year, with a stated purpose of helping provide underserved kids – those with special needs included – an opportunity to enjoy everything organized sports has to offer. 

“These are the children that are never included in sports because of their various disabilities, and it’s always been laid on my heart to have a Buddy Ball league, to give them a chance to do what other kids get to do,” she said. 

Exactly who came up with the concept and where it originated is unclear, but Buddy Ball has grown to become an unofficial trademark for all types of adaptive sports that are tailored to children and adults with disabilities, its name deriving from the “buddies” who are matched one-for-one with each participant. 

The effort, usually undertaken by charities and athletic organizations, often takes the form of a single-day event similar to this one, though you’ll find many places where the offering is a full-scale program spanning multiple weeks, or an entire season. 

“There’s three or four or five buddy ball leagues in Georgia,” Wood said. “For me, a league is too long, so I thought we’d just do a day, that way they’ll play, we’ll feed them and they can have fun.” 

There was neither scorekeeping, nor outs. Just a chance for everyone to bat each inning, and have fun running the bases and playing the field, as games took place on two separate diamonds. 

Older kids played with some light pitching on the park’s main field, while younger ones were concentrated to the smaller one next door, hitting exclusively off a tee with more loosely-defined divisions between the offense and defense, as many players moved fluidly between hitting and fielding (in the case of one, both in the same at-bat as he took off up the middle of the infield after his own ground ball). 

“Buddies” of all different ages joined as much to lend a helping and guiding hand as to provide a voice of support.  

“It’s been really great,” said Savannah Haworth, whose son Avery was among players participating. “It just felt really nice to have him included. It’s always a struggle sometimes to know where he fits in. Everyone was so encouraging, I really loved it. It was a really good time.” 

Avery chimed in to add that his most enjoyable experience was “winning the game and trying my best.” 

Sports, for youth with physical or mental disabilities, can carry the same extracurricular value as for any other student in its ability to impart tangible lessons and offer practical learning opportunities. For events like these, those benefits go far beyond simply the joy of getting a chance to play, and are often greater than what meets the eye. 

“In special education, we really value getting kids out and having tactile skills, getting them out and communicating with the community, because this is their community too,” said Emily Scarborough, who joined Wood in helping spearhead the event. “They have to be self-sufficient when they get older, and these are just experiences for them to come out and maybe learn somebody’s name or meet somebody new, somebody they could relate to that they don’t see everyday at home. Getting them out, having them have real life experiences, we might think baseball or softball is just a game, but they learn skills in this game that they’re going to take out and maybe use at the grocery store when they go and buy something or maybe use at the snack shack at school.” 

Sponsors, including an anonymous donor who underwrote the cost of T-shirts for players and buddies, helped foot the bill for expenses associated with making the event free of charge to all involved. 

Though scheduling was complicated by two local graduations happening within the same 24 hours, there was still a great turnout and response from many who couldn’t make it this year, but plan to circle next year’s date on their calendar. 

Wood circulated fliers and registration forms via SPED programs at as many local schools as possible. Both city and county systems were represented, with buddy volunteers coming from just as many different corners of the community. 

The games weren’t Saturday’s only draw to Warnock Park, where a handful of food and drink vendors set up shop serving shave ice, freeze-dried candy, flavored lemonades and more. 

Weather conditions would turn out to be just as ideal, as the week’s seemingly omnipresent rain held off until all in the park had had their fill of baseball and food by early afternoon. 

“Our whole motto is learn the game and have fun, and that’s all I wanted is for these kids to have fun, because they don’t get this atmosphere very often. If they had fun, then it’s been a successful day,” Wood said, adding, “I think the buddies had more fun than the players.” 

Scarborough, an East Dublin native who’s set to begin working in eighth grade special education later this year at Toombs County Middle, credits part of her career choice to the experience of helping out at a similar Buddy Ball event held years ago at Springdale Park. 

She was able to observe this one from a new and slightly different perspective while also keeping an eye out for the unforgettable moments that make occasions like this so rewarding, and pointed out one she noticed in particular as two young kids were able to build some friendship through just a bit of personal interaction. 

“Instead of their buddy helping them, they volunteered to help each other,” Scarborough said. “Some of these kids, they may not get out and talk to people a lot, or they might not necessarily know how to communicate, but they know how to communicate with each other, and them showing each other how to hold the bat, and how to throw a ball, that community we saw here today is probably the most heartwarming.”