Overview | Miracle League

The Houston Miracle League

MHN is helping to bring the Miracle League to Houston. In conjunction with other partners, our firm is working to bring baseball to children with physical and emotional challenges.

In 1998, the Rockdale Youth Baseball Association (RYBA) formed the Miracle League to further its mission of providing opportunities for all children to play baseball regardless of their ability.  Disabled children in our community had expressed the desire to dress in uniforms, make plays in the field, and round the bases just like their healthy peers.  The league began with 35 players on four teams.
 
There were no programs for the Miracle League to copy.  It was decided that:
• Every player bats once each inning
• All base runners are safe
• Every player scores a run before the inning is over (last one up gets a home run)
• Community children and volunteers serve as “buddies” to assist the players
• Each team and each player wins every game

The Miracle League Association has received local and national media attention.  The league has been chronicled in the local newspaper, televised both locally on NBC, ABC Connecting with Kids, and FOX Atlanta affiliates and nationally on CNN, MSNBC and Fox Sports.  In July 2001, the league was profiled on a segment of HBO’s Real Sports.  Articles profiling the league appeared in People, Family Circle and Rotary International magazines.  In January 2002, two men from the Miracle League were awarded the Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award and on January 24th PAX TV’s “It’s A Miracle” told the story of Conyers Miracle League Player, Lauren Gunder. 
 
In February of 2002, the Miracle League Players were featured in Rotary Internationals’ PSA, chosen out of 500 applicants.  In the winter of 2002, the Miracle League again was profiled in the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine.  In January of 2002 the League won the 11ALIVETV, Community Service Award and in June of 2002 took the Jefferson Award, awarded by The American Institute for Public Services, founded by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Senator Robert Taft, Jr.  We believe the publicity from these media events, coupled with positive word of mouth, has raises awareness among the families of special needs children and allows the Miracle League Association to take the program across the country.
 
The Miracle League Association, as of September 1, 2002, has over 35 fields under construction and another 48 scheduled ground breaking across the country by Spring of 2003; with the goal of 100 plus fields by year-end 2003 and 500 plus Miracle League fields by year end 2005, including several international locations; along with the help of corporate sponsors, this program will be offered to every city in the country so tens of thousands of special needs children across the globe will have the same opportunity.