John Weekley readies at bat during a game of the Soldotna Little League Challenger Program at the Little League Fields in Soldotna, Alaska on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

John Weekley readies at bat during a game of the Soldotna Little League Challenger Program at the Little League Fields in Soldotna, Alaska on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

‘We should not be telling kids that they can’t’

Little League Challenger program gives ‘opportunity’ to kids with physical and developmental challenges

This month, a Little League Challenger baseball and softball team debuted as part of the Soldotna Little League. It’s designed to give “boys and girls with physical and developmental challenges the opportunity to participate in an organized game of baseball.”

Since 1989, the national Little League organization has offered the Little League Challenger program, but this season marks the first time the program has been offered in Alaska. Soldotna’s Challenger program is open to kids from around the Kenai Peninsula and north to Anchorage.

At the group’s second game, on Saturday, the eight kids enrolled in the program filled each of the bases and the dugout, each partnered with another athlete from a Soldotna Little League team. Tim Weekly, an organizer and one of the parents, pitched balls and kept the game moving.

Weekly said that he and others have been trying to get the Challenger program going locally for years.

“It was due to my son wanting to play ball,” he said. “Little League Baseball is a sport that we should not be telling kids that they can’t. This is an opportunity for them to get out and play on the same field.”

Providing that opportunity, Weekly said, is what Challenger is all about. He said it was about seeing the smiles, the “look in their eyes,” and the involvement of other kids from the larger Little League program.

Weekly said those athletes, who serve as “buddies” during the games, probably don’t realize the impact they’re having.

Baseball and softball, Weekly said, are inclusive sports. He said much of our world is “not truly designed like that,” but that baseball lends itself well to adaptation for the different abilities of the athletes enrolled.

The team plays on the Soldotna Little League Field 6 because it is the most easily accessible to kids who make use of wheelchairs or other equipment.

“Their abilities will vary and we are just fine with that,” he said.

On Saturday some athletes were receiving pitches and some were hitting from a tee — Weekly said they were prepared to accommodate any ability. Each had the opportunity to hit the ball and arrive at each base. “Everybody goes home,” Weekly said.

The smiles that Weekly described were on display.

The challenger program is open to kids from ages 6 to 14, with everything but a glove provided and registration fees waived for this season. To register, visit soldotnalittleleague.org. The spring season runs until June 24, with four more games scheduled.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.

Paxton Katzenberger takes a swing at the ball in Soldotna Little League Challenger Program play at the Little League Fields in Soldotna, Alaska on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Paxton Katzenberger takes a swing at the ball in Soldotna Little League Challenger Program play at the Little League Fields in Soldotna, Alaska on Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

More in News

One of three recently admitted harbor seal pups is seen at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Kaiti Grant/Alaska SeaLife Center)
3 harbor seal pups admitted to SeaLife Center

All three came from the Copper River

Poster for Return of the Reds. (Photo courtesy Kenai Peninsula Food Bank)
Poster for Return of the Reds. (Photo courtesy Kenai Peninsula Food Bank)
Return of the Reds returns after several-year hiatus

The Kenai event celebrates the start of the 2023 salmon season

Middle schoolers practice fly casting into the Kenai River during a kids camp put on by Trout Unlimited on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at the Donald E. Gilman Kenai River Center in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Learning to love the watershed

Kids camp teaches fly fishing, ecology

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Seward man arrested on drug charges gave false identification, troopers say

Kevin Hakala, 42, was pulled over by Seward-based troopers on Saturday

Poster for 100% Alaska Town Hall & Family Day (Photo courtesy Change 4 the Kenai)
100% Alaska Town Hall to share assessment results, discuss state of ‘vital services’

The project is composed of four steps: assess, plan, act and evaluate

Division of Forestry & Fire Protection engines responding to the Charland Fire on May 21, 2023, near Soldotna. (Photo courtesy Kenai-Kodiak DOF)
9 fires reported on Kenai Peninsula since start of May

The largest local fire was the Charland Fire, which was reported on Sunday

File.
4 days in July set for Ninilchik razor clam harvest

The abundance of adult clams is below the threshold necessary to open the fishery in Clam Gulch

Most Read