With the early days of spring upon us, it’s the return of baseball season once again. The Valparaiso Parks Department is excited for this as it gets to bring back its Challenger Baseball League.
The program serves as a way to teach kids about not only the game of baseball but also builds upon other skills that could help them down the line. Kevin Nuppnau, director at Valpo Parks, notes this program creates a fun opportunity for children who have disabilities.
“This is a program that’s run through the Little League of America and we’ve adopted here locally,” Nuppnau said. “It’s an adaptive sports program designed for kids with all disabilities ages 5 to 22. We’re able to customize the experience for each individual, and it gives everyone the opportunity to be an important part of their team.”
Nuppnau believes that Valpo Parks’ sports amenities are one of the best ways to give the public an opportunity to be themselves. With the Challenger League, Valpo Parks has listened to what the people of Valparaiso want from the league moving forward and figured out ways to incorporate that with each growing year.
“Our role in the community is to provide spaces that serve the public,” Nuppnau said. “Every year, we analyze our programs to see which ones are doing well and which ones require us to try something new. Every year, we’re trying to get feedback from the public to see how we can make the program unique and better each time.”
Madison Bell, youth sports director at Valpo Parks, notes that the Challenger League has been an integral program for Valpo Parks for the past several years.
“We’ve been running the Challenger League in Valparaiso since 2019,” Bell said. “Every year, we get the same athletes coming back along with a plethora of new ones. It’s really important for us to adapt to what those new disabilities might be and provide them with the equipment to succeed.”
Bell appreciates how the Challenger League not only helps to educate kids on the game of baseball, it also allows them to connect with their teammates and their development off the field.
“Anybody can participate who has a physical or intellectual disability,” Bell said. “They don’t need any prior baseball experience. Each participant has a buddy. It’s all about teaching them baseball as well as the skills off the field. Understanding how to work as a team and those interpersonal skills while responding to other athletes in the community is a huge part of it.”
While it’s still a fairly new program within Valpo Parks, the overwhelming support has made it seem like a natural fit within the community. Nuppnau has been pleased with the immediate growth of the program and can’t wait to see what’s in store for the Challenger League in the upcoming years.
“We’re really proud of how much the program has grown,” Nuppnau said. “Not only have we seen more participants, the support from the community has increased over time too. We couldn’t have made this as big of a success without the support of sponsors and partnering with various organizations to help us with the execution of the program.”
The registration deadline for the Challenger League is April 10. The league will run from April through the middle of June. There is also a fall season which will take place from August to October.
For more information on Valpo Parks and their Challenger League, you can visit its website.
