Along the first base line on the high school softball diamond at Brookfield’s Ehlert Park, five-year-old Gus zoomed by on his wheelchair, a big grin on his face.
He was dressed in a bright yellow shirt with black short sleeves and a black cap with the bill upturned. Nearby, near home plate, his dad, Kevin Boyle, was smiling too.
“Gus can’t talk, so it’s always hard to tell what Gus enjoys, but it’s also nice to get him involved in things a typical child would do,” Boyle said. “His life is sort of nontypical.”
But he sure knows how to high-five, rolling up on a reporter and throwing up his palm on a bright, sunny Saturday.
Welcome to the Challenger Division of the Brookfield Little League, comprised of 32 special-needs children ages 4 to 16 from not only Brookfield, but the surrounding Chicagoland area. Together, they are affectionately known as the Buzz Squad.
Brookfield resident Christine Ramirez is in her second year as division coordinator, and not far away, her son, Parker, was flipping around a yellow baseball with two “buddies,” Lyons Township High School seniors Delila Henley and Lisa Baron. Parker will be 13 in a few weeks and has a rare brain disorder.
“He just loves the sport,” Ramirez said, “loves being around other kids. Loves watching kids and I think this has benefitted him tremendously in regards to learning how to throw a ball, catch a ball and swing a bat.
“The smile on his face every time he comes and the laughter and the squeals that you hear from him are amazing.”
The program has doubled in size since last season, leading to four teams of seven players; two teams play a game on the dirt infield, while the other two play on the grass in the outfield, before rotating. They play seven games from May 3 to June 21, except for Memorial Day.
“I think word of mouth, and obviously, there is a need for it,” Ramirez said of the explosion of interest. “There are players that come from Chicago, the Garfield Ridge area, Westmont, Lisle, Oak Lawn, Brookfield, Berwyn, Lyons.
“We don’t have restrictions as far as boundaries.”
There are also no restrictions as far as fun. In the outfield, yellow-shirted kids with their own buddies, typically middle-school-aged volunteers, casually hit balls off tees.
The common denominator was laugher and smiles.
“It gives them time to be with their peers,” Ramirez said. “Kids with other disabilities, like themselves, whether they are mobile, immobile, that use mobility devices. These kids absolutely love being on the field.
“I’ve heard parents say, ‘My child jumps out of bed every Saturday morning.’”
Natalie Jimenez, from Garfield Ridge, is one of those parents. Her son Atticus is 4. She learned about the program through a Facebook group.
“I think the biggest takeaway is the buddies are so caring and loving toward the kids,” Jimenez said. “They are always willing to jump in to help them out and help them learn the sport in general.
“(Atticus) has limited language skills, but he definitely is very excited to be with his buddies. When we walk in here, he’s like, ‘You guys can go sit down.’ Because he’s ready to play.”
But what’s perhaps most gratifying is watching the buddies interact with the players, like Baron and Henley. They are National Honor Society students at LT, and learned of the volunteer opportunity there.
“For me, it’s really enjoyable,” Henley said. “For kids with disabilities, there is so much to learn and you can never apply one situation to another. Forming bonds with kids has been the most important to me.”
“To see the smiles and the growth on the players’ faces is really rewarding and being able to celebrate the little (things),” added Baron. “Even if it’s making it to first base or if it’s just hitting the ball, those little celebrations and how excited they are is really a great experience and it’s nice to be involved in that.”
Standing near a batting tee with kids all around him, both players and buddies, Brookfield Little League president Dan Kissel said a day like Saturday goes to show there aren’t enough programs like Challenger.
“The one thing (Ramirez) has done this year that’s been awesome is she reached out to the softball and baseball high school coaches, and we had one day where the entire (Riverside-Brookfield) softball team came out, we had one day where the entire baseball team came out.
“That’s really the point of Little League. Little league is a community-based league and it’s meant to bring communities together and this program really emphasizes that.”
Kissel’s son, Ambrose, and his friend Kyle Kaczmarek, both Brookfield Little League players, enjoy being buddies, too.
“It’s fun,” Kaczmarek said. “It’s cool to see their smiles every Saturday. It’s good to get out here with them.”
“It’s helping them play the game, so they can learn how to play baseball, too,” Ambrose Kissel added.