Rancho Penasquitos, SD – Two area baseball teams for children and young adults with autism are providing players with the opportunity to socialize, learn a new sport and engage meaningfully within their communities.
Founded by Tina Waters in 2003, the league, which consists of both the Lounging Lizards and Thunder Pandas enables players to learn sportsmanship, develop new skills and potentially make new friends. With Waters along with her husband Mark who serves as the league’s manager at the helm, the teams effectively provide socialization opportunities for the players who aren’t able to join mainstream teams due to their exceptional needs.
The Waters’ have therefore made adjustments in order to facilitate the team’s play by only holding games once a month and limiting them to one hour. Additionally, the games only run for two innings and a special buddy system has been implemented to protect the safety of participants.
So far the league has been a success with parents like Llyne Ryniker saying of her son:
” I didn’t think I could tolerate being here. But he enjoys it”.
However participants aren’t the only ones who benefit from it, parents have stated that the games provide them with the opportunity to commiserate with other families, thus allowing them to obtain much-needed emotional support by attending as well.
The Inclusion Baseball League can be found by clicking here