When John Emery sees his players laughing and enjoying themselves on the baseball diamond, he knows he’s done a good job.
“I work for the smiles,” he said. “When they’re running around and having fun, that’s all worth it to me.”
Emery is the co-coordinator for the Challenger Baseball program in Yorkton, which started in May. It focuses on non-competitive baseball for kids and adults living with mental or physical disabilities.
The program’s regular season wrapped up in Regina last month, but that didn’t stop Emery from organizing a quick evening game at the Yorkton Lions Baseball Diamond on Aug. 11.
“We haven’t really had a game under the lights before,” he said.
Looking back at three months of baseball, Emery is pleased with the program’s first season. He saw good engagement and improvements with the players as they honed their skills.
“We’ve had 15 to 17 registered kids playing,” he said. “There [have] been lots of developments with the players’ abilities.
“We’ve seen the kids coming out of their proverbial holes so to speak.”
Emery plans to organize another regular season with the program next summer. He wants to build off the group’s momentum and add new features such as away games.
“Different diversity to the program [next year],” he said.
While the regular season has drawn to a close, Emery wants to keep the team united through movie nights and other sports during the year.
“The core of the program is to keep everybody together,” he said.
Emery thinks the Challenger Program is a vital service for people with disabilities.
“[The program] gives people who have special needs, whether it’s physical or cognitive, a chance to play, a chance to be active, a chance to be out and do stuff,” he said. “This is absolutely huge for kids.”
