It will be a center for people with disabilities to play baseball and other sports or simply to socialize.
Although fundraising for North Augusta’s Miracle League field hasn’t officially kicked off, officials said about $350,000 has already been pledged.
“Right now, the cost will be close to $2 million,” said Pam Stickler, who is spearheading efforts. Fundraising will kick off at 7 p.m. Thursday with a special program at Palmetto Terrace.
Stickler is the founder of The RECing Crew, which has provided social and athletic activities for people with disabilities for two decades.
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Two baseball fields will be constructed at Riverview Park in accordance with Miracle League standards.
“It has a really accessible surface,” said Stickler. “It’s smooth and safe for people in wheelchairs or with walkers and canes.”
The Miracle League was born in Conyers, Ga. after a baseball coach invited a 7-year-old child in a wheelchair to play on his team in 1998. A field was developed with a rubberized surface. Four years later, nearly 300 people were part of the Miracle League, according to the Miracle League website.
And two decades after the first Miracle League was established, it’s grown to more than 300 teams serving more than 200,000 children and adults in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
“It will be a multi-purpose field for not just baseball but bocce ball, soccer,” she said.
She also sees it as a space for pizza parties, bingo and other social events for her organization.
Stickler said that the space won’t be exclusive to The RECing Crew. Other organizations serving children and adults with disabilities will have access to the field as well.
Walton Options, Georgia and South Carolina Special Olympics, area school special education programs and any other agency will benefit from it, she said.
While the construction costs fall on Stickler and those working with her, once the Miracle League Field is built, the city of North Augusta will maintain it and coordinate the scheduling of it, she said.
A website for the North Augusta Miracle League is under construction. More information may be found at therecingcrew.com.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the managing editor of The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
