Challenger League in Lee County expands programs for special-needs kids

LEESBURG — It hit Jon DuMond just how special the Lee County-based Challenger League is when he attended his first league baseball game. DuMond, now the Challenger League’s board president who holds a similar post with the nonprofit 11 Foundation, was quick to get involved when he discovered the league offered special-needs kids the opportunity to play baseball in their own organized league.

But the essence of the league, founded by the Jennifers — Sapp and Rigsby — came crashing in on DuMond with a simple smile.

“There was this grandfather pushing a little girl around the bases in her wheelchair,” DuMond said. “She had this huge smile on her face as they ran, but it was the smile on the grandfather’s face that got me. It hit me: There was an overwhelming joy in everyone involved in this program.”

In February 2015, two weeks before the start of the Lee County Dizzy Dean Baseball League, Jennifer Sapp had an epiphany. She overheard her 10-year-old high-functioning special-needs son, Landon, and some of his friends talking about wanting to play baseball like their siblings and their peers.

“I had two sons who were (youth baseball) all-stars, so I’m as competitive as all the other moms,” Sapp said. “I know how every parent out there has visions of their child being the next Buster Posey, so I knew special-needs kids didn’t really need to be a part of that. But I started wondering if maybe we could come up with some kind of ‘buddy’ league that would allow these kids to play.

“They didn’t want to be the kids that would just get to go up to bat and everyone say, ‘He doesn’t count,’ and then when he runs the bases he just goes back and sits in the dugout. So I kind of stepped out on faith and put the word out that I wanted to start a league that would allow special-needs kids and their parents an opportunity for some ‘normalcy.’”

Twenty-five kids signed up, and the Challenger League was born.

“I have no doubt that this was a God thing,” Sapp said. “I had a day planner from back before I quit my job, and I always doodled in it. Even back then I was thinking about putting something like this together and I even started coming up with names. One of the names I doodled in that planner was ‘Challenger League.’ It fit.”

Meanwhile, Jennifer Rigsby heard about the planned baseball program for special-needs kids, but she was more interested in her daughter, Madeleine, who’d had a heart defect that led to a stroke shortly after she was born, finding a cheerleading or horseback riding group. Something about this new program, though, kept nagging at her.

“I’d been commuting to Atlanta for five years, taking Maddie to programs there, when I saw a Facebook post about the new baseball league,” Rigsby said. “I discounted it at first because it was baseball, but I kept praying that something (local) would come along for her. On the Thursday before the deadline, I called Jennifer to see if I was too late to sign her up.

“From there, things snowballed.”

The Jennifers — who both have Brents for husbands, oddly enough — took Rigsby’s “Not-for-Profit for Dummies” book and started researching the possibility of turning the Challenger League into more than a baseball league. That’s when DuMond and the 11 Foundation got on board.

“From the first time I met Jennifer (Sapp), her passion for this program won me over,” DuMond said. “We met through a common friend, and from Day 1 I saw how rewarding this program could be for parents of special-needs kids. And her drive made me want to get involved. She never stops, and that inspires others.”

That original Challenger League baseball season in 2015 touched off a desire to expand.

“The impact wasn’t just on the kids, it was on their parents and the ‘buddy’ volunteers who are such a huge part of the program,” Sapp said. “I overheard some of the teen buddies talking about the program, and they said, ‘I thought I would have an opportunity to make a difference in some of these kids’ lives, but they are the ones who have changed my life.’

“In talking with other parents of special-needs kids, some of them described the experience as ‘being on an island.’ Their kids are the ones who don’t get invited to class birthday parties, and when they go out to buy groceries or to dinner, they have to be concerned with whether others don’t understand ‘episodes’ the kids might have. There is an isolation for the families of many special-needs kids.”

The Challenger League offered other benefits as well.

“What this league does is allow all special-needs kids to have experiences that are ‘typical,’ that are just like the experiences of their ‘normal’ siblings or peers,” said Sabrina Little, whose son, Ethan, has Down syndrome. “Ethan is highly functioning; he can hit the ball and run the bases. But he can’t run fast, the Down syndrome affects his muscles, so he couldn’t really play in the typical leagues.

“Any time he or other special-needs kids have participated in events in the past, we parents have had to be on the field with our kids constantly to care for their needs. Now, with the buddies working with them, we can sit in the stands and cheer for them, take pictures.”

Sapp talks of the father-son bonding experiences she’s seen with Challenger League participants.

“Every man dreams of having a son to bond with, and I’ve noticed that a lot of fathers have trouble finding common ground with their special-needs kids,” she said. “Baseball is that great American-dream, bonding experience that has brought many fathers closer to their sons, fathers who didn’t really know how to deal with the experience.”

Rigsby offers a similar personal experience that convinced her her days of praying had been answered.

“My dad had never been able to connect with Maddie, but he was able to do so through the Challenger League,” she said. “He was so moved, he told me, ‘If y’all are going to (form a nonprofit), I want to make the first donation.’ It was such an overwhelming feeling.”

In the year and a half since Jennifer Sapp decided to act on her vision, the Challenger League has grown far beyond her or any other supporters’ wildest dreams. Now with a board of directors (DuMond, Brent and Jennifer Rigsby, Ashley Chastain, Diane Rogers, Rocky Stone, Cathy Jenkins and Don Johnson), the league has expanded to include around a dozen activities: baseball, day camp, tennis, cheerleading, kickball, swimming lessons, wrestling, a social club, group outings (such as bowling) and Terrific Tuesday play days.

DuMond secured a small grant to get the expansion started, but a hastily-organized 11 Foundation fundraiser brought in more money than anyone dreamed was possible.

“When I secured a small grant for the league last year, and later used connections to get a little more funding, I thought that was it,” he said. “But things have taken off.”

Indeed. The first fundraiser brought in double the most optimistic goal set by supporters.

“That made me realize that we can’t set limits,” Jennifer Rigsby said. “My dream in this was to see Maddie make some friends, to see barriers torn down. We’re well beyond that. Now, I’m talking about when we get our new van and build our new clubhouse.”

Sapp’s original vision, and the passion she and Rigsby brought to the Challenger League, is spreading throughout the community. On Aug. 20, a Sunday school class at First Free Will Baptist Church will sponsor a back-to-school carnival for the special-needs kids in the league and their families. And board member Stone was so moved by the league when DuMond convinced him to come out for a baseball game, he not only got involved in the program, he sponsored a fishing rodeo at Chehaw park.

“There are still people who haven’t heard about what we’re doing, and we want to invite them to get involved,” Sapp said. “We’ve heard some say, ‘My child’s handicap is too severe.’ Look, we welcome children who are wheelchair bound, ones who are fed with feeding tubes. We don’t discriminate against anyone.

“There are fees for membership, but grants are available through Easter Seal.”

Information about the Challenger League is available at its newly launched website: www.challengerleague.org.

“The Challenger League has already, in just a year and a half, changed so many lives,” Rigsby said of the 150 families involved in the program. “It’s pretty amazing what God can do by bringing two moms together.”