Challenger Division - Part of The Miracle League of Greater Hartford

For for more information about the Challenger Division, please contact:

Ronit Shoham, Co-Director, Challenger Division, shokids@hotmail.com, 860-233-3589   
Scott Franklin, Co-Director, Challenger Division, franklins@mac.com, 860-232-8226

Looking for the Rock Cats schedule? Go here!

Looking for the Rock Cats Team Page? Go here!

Looking for the Rock Cats Photo Album? Go here!

My name is Marcus Apter. I love to play baseball. For the last five years, I have been playing on my Challenger baseball team, the Rock Cats. In case you don’t know, Challenger Baseball is a division of Little League especially for kids, like me, with cerebral palsy, or Autism, Downs Syndrome or other physical or intellectual challenges.

In the Challenger Division, we play two inning games. Everyone gets a turn at bat, and everybody plays the field each inning. It's a lot of fun.

For my Bar Mitzvah project – which is a way of celebrating my Bar Mitzvah by doing good deeds for others – I am raising money to build a special new baseball diamond for our team. Right now, we play our games on regular baseball fields. They’re okay, but a lot of kids trip and fall because the fields are bumpy. That’s why it’s so important that we have a field of our own.

On our new field, the pitcher's mound will be closer to the plate. The baselines will be shorter. And best of all, the field will be made of a special synthetic surface, so it will be soft and totally flat, so that it’s easier and safer for kids who use walkers, wheel chairs or wear orthotics to play ball. The new field will be located on Trout Brook Avenue across the street from UConn's West Hartford campus. I know that all of the kids in town will want to play on our field too.

I am really excited about having a new field—one that’s a safe and fun place for everybody to play—but I know that building it is going to cost a lot of money. Our town has started raising money for the field. I want to help too.

My goal is to raise $2,500. I am selling bracelets that say “Let’s Play Ball – For All” after school and on weekends. All of the money I raise will be donated to the West Hartford Little League to help build the field.

I need your help too. It would be fantastic if you could buy a bracelet. They're $5 apiece. In addition, please consider making a larger contribution to help us build our field. You can make your tax-deductable check payable to the West Hartford Little League, and note in the memo section that your contribution is intended to support the Challenger field. Your generous contribution will help bring us a little closer to having a field of our own, one where “Let’s Play Ball-For All” isn’t just a saying, but represents a dream come true.

And when we’re ready to throw out the first pitch on our new field, it would be awesome if you could come and watch us play!

Thanks for your help.

Contributions can be sent to: WHLL c/o Marcus Apter, 82 Beacon Hill Drive, WH 06117.

Please make checks payable to: WHLL-Challenger Division

For more info, please call 523-1616 or email to rapter@snet.net