On Saturday, May 19, 2012, the Forney Youth Baseball Association's Challenger League team headed out to Waco for the Shriners Hospitals For Children Baseball Classic. 12 Challenger Little League teams from across Texas came to participate in the event.
On Saturday, May 19, 2012, the Forney Youth Baseball Association's Challenger League team headed out to Waco for the Shriners Hospitals For Children Baseball Classic. 12 Challenger Little League teams from across Texas came to participate in the event.
Thanks to two Forney businesses, the Forney Challengers were able to charter a bus to take the team to Waco. Farm Bureau Insurance and Leake and Blair PC Attorneys funded the charter bus, and The Hole Thing Donuts made sure the kids had plenty of delicious donuts to take on the trip with them. The players and coaches were pumped up to get to participate in the tournament held at the beautiful Baylor Ballpark.
The Challenger Division is a separate division of Little League that was created in 1989. There are 900 Challenger Divisions worldwide and more than 30,000 children participate. Boys and girls with mental and physical challenges get the chance to participate in the wonderful sport of baseball. FYBA PR Director Cheryl Mason said, “Coach Leah Phillips and I get just as much out of this program, if not more, than our Challenger players. These kids are such a blessing to us, and we are just so thankful that their parents allow us to be a part of their lives.” This is only the second season for Forney's Challenger League Baseball, and they have already doubled their number of participants from last year.
This years Forney team brought a lot of enthusiasm and excitement to Waco. They enjoyed having their names announced over the P.A. before the game as they ran onto the field. The jumbo-tron displayed each players picture and the team really got a taste of what it would be like to be big league baseball players. Though the weather was scorching hot, it didn't seem to bother the eager young players. In fact, home-runs were in abundance in Forney's game against the Lorena Little League team. Cheers were also in abundance. Each player received well deserved cheers and applause from the crowd when they came up to bat, it was even louder when they got a hit. FYBA buddies were on hand to help the Forney Challengers at bat and in the field of play.
Score was not kept, because this tournament was not about winning and losing, it was about celebrating the Challenger Division players and raising awareness for Shriners Hospital For Children. The Texas Rangers own David Murphy is the official spokesman for the Shriners Hospital for Children Baseball Classic. He couldn't make it to the tournament because he was busy helping the Rangers win games, but he encouraged everyone to help these Challenger players live their dream as he is living his.
FYBA President Bobby Bridges loved the tournament and is “really excited” about what next year has in store for Forney's Challenger League. He would be happy to see enough players next year to form two Forney teams. Bridges encourages parents who are interested in having their special needs children play baseball in the Challenger League, to contact Cheryl Mason at fybaprdirector@gmail.com. The games are played every Saturday morning at 9 a.m.