Staff writer
agillooly@observer-reporter.com
CANONSBURG - When an area mom brought her blind teenage daughter to an Adaptive Sports Inc. baseball game, she told Rob Simonin that she thought their attendance was almost futile.
"She said, 'I don't know why we're here. She can't see the ball anyway,'" said Simonin, vice president of the group.
He promised her that he'd throw the ball right past her belly button, and that he'd keep pitching until she connected.
As it turned out, it didn't take long.
The girl smacked the ball over the shortstop's head, grabbed the elbow of a fellow player and scrambled to first base.
"When she got on base, she dusted herself off like she was a pro ball player," he said. "Her mom just burst into tears."
And for Simonin, it was just another day on the baseball diamond.
Or the bowling alley. Or the soccer field.
Simonin is part of a parent group that runs Adaptive Sports Inc., which engages children in a variety of sports regardless of any special needs.
He and Terry Hazlett, both of Canonsburg, helped form the group in 2000, and since then it has attracted droves of special-needs children, their parents and siblings to bowl and play baseball and soccer.
Their style.
No matter if the children are autistic, have Down syndrome or use a wheelchair, they will be able to play.
That's because Adaptive Sports-style means that every kid bats until he gets on base, and winning takes a back seat to having fun and being a good sport.
Hazlett said that in addition to giving special-needs children the same recreational opportunities as their typical counterparts, it also gives them a social outlet they might not otherwise have.
Simonin said he knows firsthand how life-changing that can be. And so does his son, Aaron.
Aaron, 15, who is mildly mentally challenged, met members of Canon-McMillan's girls soccer team during an Adaptive Sports event and was surprised when one of them said hello to him in the hall at school the next day.
He was so surprised that he rushed home to tell his parents about the encounter.
"Here is someone who could be the prom queen - who looks like a prom queen and is popular like a prom queen - and she acknowledged my son's existence," Simonin said.
"All of a sudden, there's a silver string that ties these kids together."
But as much as Adaptive Sports' mission is by nature for the kids, their parents and siblings find the outings just as meaningful.
Sue Hazlett, who along with her husband, Terry, helps facilitate some of the programs, said the parents have found allies, friends and advocates in fellow parents.
Their son, Carrick, has Down syndrome, and she said other parents have helped them understand what to expect when the 16-year-old began going through puberty.
You can read all the books you want, she said, but it doesn't take the place of real-life experience.
"They actually really knew what they were doing," Sue Hazlett said. "And it helped us to prepare, too."
She said siblings and other typical kids involved in the sports programs also gain something from the interaction.
"They become so much more compassionate," Sue Hazlett said. "It helps them as much as it helps the special-needs kids. They're seeing a whole new side of life."
Terry Hazlett said the group is looking to expand and also to secure funding and property to build a turf field to call its own. He said even the most scant amount of rain makes it impossible for some of the wheelchair users to play.
To make a donation, find out more information or join Adaptive Sports Inc., call the Hazletts at 724-250-9150. For more Adaptive Sports photos, visit http://picasaweb.google.com/whyme15317/20080823WildthingsPicnic.