Buddy System
CRANBERRY TWP — They come from all over, nearly 300 strong.
Seneca Valley, Pine-Richland, Beaver County, Pittsburgh, North Allegheny, etc.
“We couldn't exist without them,” said Mike Sherry, president and founder of the Miracle League of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Who are they? Buddies — in every sense of the word.
The Miracle League provides children and adults with special needs the opportunity to play baseball at Graham Park in Cranberry Township. Each player in the league — about 350 of them making up 25 teams — is assigned a buddy to assist him or her during the course of the game.
“It's much more difficult and challenging than one might think,” Kevin Delaney, the league's buddy coordinator, said. “It takes a while just to learn how to talk to and relate to a child with special needs.
“From the moment they (buddies) get here, they are virtually joined at the hip with their player. They become their shadow.
“They develop into their best friend,” Delaney added.
The buddy's No. 1 job is to protect the player on the field. They also assist the player in batting, running the bases and fielding — enabling them to play baseball.
While a team is in the field, buddies are seen playing catch in the outfield with their respective players while the game is going on.
“The bonding is a constant process,” Sherry said.
Some buddies are as young as 12. Others are in their 60s. Sherry said 70 percent of them are high school students.
“It's fantastic, the job those kids do,” Delaney said. “Some kids sign up as a group and may request a certain team to work with, but we get most of these kids simply from one friend telling another about it and so on and so forth.”Sherry, who has a special-needs child, said these teenage buddies “are helping to change the perspective on how we view children with special needs.“Years ago, we used to throw these kids into special classes or special schools and that was it. Today, the idea is total inclusion. These kids are tearing those stereotypes down,” said Sherry.Gabby Mayer, 17, a junior at Seneca Valley, has been a buddy in the Miracle League since it started. The league is in its sixth year.Now working with the league's competitive youth division — where buddies work with multiple players — Mayer had been with the same player for three previous seasons.“His name is Andrew and we became so close,” Mayer said. “He's like my little brother.“I love seeing the smiles on the kids' faces. Some of them can't talk, so you find other ways to communicate. When you see a player accomplish something for the first time ... It may be just running down to first base ... It's such a joy.”MacKenzie Robinson, 18, is a Seneca Valley senior who's been a buddy since 2009. She is headed to Indiana (Pa.) University in the fall.“It's been so much fun coming here. I love seeing the smiles,” Robinson said. “My player, Katie, is a go-getter. Give her a little motivation and she responds.“It took a little while before she got comfortable with me, but the bond becomes so powerful. I'll miss this. I'll still come back whenever I can,” Robinson said.
Mayer said committing every Saturday to being a buddy doesn't feel like going out of one's way for herself or her friends.“You become so close to them that you want to be there,” she said. “It's about so much more than baseball. When it's time for us to go play the field, I'd race my player to our spot.“You develop games and activities within the game to keep them interested, active and involved,” Mayer said.While some buddies may be siblings or parents of the player, such matchups are generally discouraged.“We'd rather have the family members in the stands, cheering them on and lending vocal support,” Sherry said. “Besides, putting an original stranger in place as a player's buddy promotes socialization. They get to know each other.”Parents and siblings are still used by the league, more so for information than assisting with the players on the field.“We ask the parents to help us help their child,” Delaney said. “We learn from them, pick their brains to find out ways to get their child to open up to us and the activity.”When the Miracle League was formed, volunteers went through a training session before they could become buddies. That policy has been relaxed over the years.Buddies now develop and become viable partners to the players through on-the-field training.“That's why each team has a buddy coordinator now,” Sherry said. “Every player faces his or her own unique challenges. Some kids have mobility issues with wheelchairs or walkers. Some don't like to be touched. Many are very introverted.
“New buddies learn from other buddies who have been doing this for a while. The breakthroughs don't happen overnight,” he said.Mars resident Kim Gannon, a buddy team coordinator, said special-needs youngsters get attached to their buddies, “so it's important that we get the right people matched up. These relationships are mutually beneficial.”Gannon added that it doesn't take long for the buddies to realize their importance to the Miracle League.“A buddy quickly becomes very devoted to the player because he knows how much that player is relying on him,” Gannon said. “That buddy really is his best friend.“Our buddies don't just show up, send their player on the field and sit in the dugout. They are by their sides constantly. If the player is running, you're running right next to him. Where the player goes, you go. Some need help swinging the bat, throwing, whatever. The buddy provides that help.”While some buddies with good intentions may leave the program out of frustration or because of difficulty handling it emotionally, the majority stick around for years.Sherry said most of the attrition with the teenagers comes from of graduation and moving on to college. Some adult buddies have children of their own or experience changes within their own families.“Most of our buddies stay here until they simply can't be here because of changes in their lives,” he said.Delaney described the Miracle League volunteers as “first rate,” particularly the buddies.“It can be overwhelming at first,” Delaney said. “You see a young person in a wheelchair or with a walker, maybe the kid is non-verbal, and you're trying to get them to enjoy playing ball — sometimes a person's initial reaction is 'I just can't do this.'
“It's OK to become upset and emotional about it. Some people overcome it. Others don't. That's why it's so cool to see that bond between player and buddy because it's so hard to get there,” Delaney said.Pam Quiggle has been involved as a Miracle League buddy since the organization started. Her sons, Tanner, 17, and Connor, 14, are buddies as well. Quiggle was a board member or the Cranberry Township Athletic Association when the league formed.“My children played baseball and my family has always been involved in the game,” Quiggle said. “I thought the Miracle League was a community service project my kids could really do.“Connor wasn't old enough to become a buddy at first, but he came to the games with us and watched Tanner. When he saw the experience his older brother was having, he couldn't wait to join in,” she said.Quiggle described a time when her family bumped into a player they've worked with. The player was out in the community with his family.“He knew us right away. I could see it in his eyes,” Quiggle said. “It had nothing to do with baseball. He knew we were his friends, and that was a special feeling.“My kids have gotten a lot out of the buddy program. They've come to appreciate the challenges other people might face, that advantages don't always go your way in life.”
Here are some facts and figures on the Miracle Baseball League of Southwestern Pennsylvania and its Buddy System:✓ Buddies are comprised of individuals ages 12 and up, adults who enjoy baseball or softball, family members, friends, youth and civic groups.✓ There are 450 volunteers in the Miracle League program, 288 of whom are buddies.✓ A buddy is there to protect the player from balls and assist the player in whatever skills are needed (batting, running, fielding) to play baseball.✓ About 70 percent of the buddy rosters are teenagers.✓ There are 25 teams in the league and each has a buddy team coordinator to oversee and match that team's buddy roster with a player.✓ Buddies generally stay with the same player all season.✓ Now in its sixth season, the Miracle League has grown from 130 players in 2009 to 350 this year. Its buddy program has grown accordingly.Anyone interested in becoming a buddy, or a Miracle League volunteer in general, may visit www.mlswpa.org.
