This year's season is a GO!
Dates for summer 2023 - 7/11, 7/18, 7/25, 8/1, 8/8
Registration for players is open April 1-June 10
Wheaton Junior Woman’s Club is once again offering Buddy Baseball for children with any type of disability. The camp will includes scrimmage games with an emphasis on improving baseball skills (i.e. catching, throwing, batting, running bases, etc). Pitched baseballs and T-ball stands will be used depending on each player’s ability. All athletes will receive a T-shirt and a baseball hat. Athletes and buddies must provide their own gloves. All buddies will receive a T-shirt.
The Buddy Baseball program utilizes the “buddy system”: children and young adults with special needs are paired with able-bodied buddies. Buddies are children of Wheaton Juniors, friends, and family of athletes. Our goal is to promote skill development, cooperation and the making of new friends.
The camp started in 1991 with 7 players and 11 buddies. In 2022, our club welcomed 70 players and more than 90 buddies. This project encompasses what it means to do service work for the community and is easily the most meaningful 5 weeks of the WJWC club calendar. Please come and join us this summer and see for yourself what Buddy Baseball is all about. We promise you will be glad you did!
If you are interested in sponsoring this camp, please click the button or email us. Sponsorship typically starts at $200 to help cover the costs to run the camp but any donation is greatly appreciated.
If you have any questions or if you need further information, feel free to email DeAnna or at: wheatonjrs@gmail.com
THANK YOU! We hope to see you at the ballpark!
"Ask any parent what they want most for their child, and they would probably answer something like 'I want he/she to be healthy and happy'. Ask any parent of a special needs child what they want most for their child and . . . they of course would want the same. As life unfolds for these special people we as parents, and community seek out opportunities for those goals. The Wheaton Jrs. Rising Star Buddy Baseball Program took on this mission 18 years ago. Seeking happiness for your child is a tricky thing . . . because it usually comes naturallly with a child's abilities/skills and involvement in different activities, building social relationships simultaneously. But . . . what about those individuals who don't have the ability/talent/skill/social contacts to create the happiness . . . the sense of belonging? Buddy Baseball has provided that "space" where people are people, welcomed unconditionally. Yes, everyone makes the team, you don't worry about who you're playing, you're thankful you have a coach, and all parents yell and scream on the sidelines for all the children . . . imagine that!!! Come see a game and witness the ear to ear smile on a nonambulatory child "running" to 1st base, or a child with a walker cross home plate, or hear my daughter yell to her brothers . . . "Boys, I did it, I did it", as she smacks the ball for the first time without use of the tee! Happiness is not what the scoreboard dictates, but what your heart feels as a founder, a coordinator, a coach, a photographer capturing the thrills, a parent, a grandparent, or a player when walking off the field. To us as parents nothing speaks louder then when our rather quiet, expressive language delayed "girly girl" says "I had fun" on our way to the ice cream parlor. Oh . . . and you think the players had fun, just ask a buddy what they feel . . . . . . . . happiness for all at a sporting event???....WOW. "