The Koenig family at the Prior Lake Miracle League Field groundbreaking event last fall. Photos: Drew Koenig
The Koenigs could see the problem clearly in their own family: They had two kids, and one had an abundance of opportunities to pursue activities, hobbies and sports, and one didn’t. It was an issue of accessibility and inclusion. “There’s a lack of awareness,” Drew Koenig says. “People assume special needs kids have something to do.”
Once Drew saw the need in his own family, he began to see the need in the community. There were plenty of kids and adults who could be more involved with sports and activities if given the right opportunity.
Through his involvement with his son’s youth travel baseball team, he learned about the Miracle League and realized that Prior Lake could use its own Miracle League Field so that children and adults with physical, cognitive or emotional disabilities that prevent them from playing in a traditional baseball league would have somewhere to play close by. “It’s never going to happen unless you do it,” Drew’s wife, Joanne Koenig, told him.
So he gathered a group of like-minded volunteers with the goal of raising $1 million for a field and a playground. They raised $500,000 and worked together with the Prior Lake Athletics for Youth (P.L.A.Y.) and the city to create a Miracle Field in Prior Lake. The group is continuing to raise funds to build an accessible playground.
They broke ground on the field last fall, and, if the field is completed on time, the first Miracle League games will take place on a new, cushioned, smooth-surfaced rubberized turf field this September in Thomas Ryan Memorial Park. The newly formed league operates through P.L.A.Y. “It’ll be a place where kids and families can celebrate their kids’ abilities,” Drew says. “It’s all about inclusion, acceptance and cheering. It’s making kids feel like rock stars for an hour.”
The new field in Prior Lake joins more than 350 fields throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico and will be one of 14 fields in Minnesota, including the South Metro Miracle League Field at King Park in Lakeville.
A Miracle League team poses with their buddy team at a game in King Park in Lakeville.
What became the Miracle League started in the late 1990s when a youth baseball association coach in Georgia invited a 7-year-old in a wheelchair to join a team, and it became clear he wasn’t the only kid with disabilities who wanted to play. In April 2000, the first Miracle Field opened in Conyers, Georgia.
The Miracle Field at King Park in Lakeville opened in June 2011, and this summer the South Metro Miracle League offered games five days a week for 136 players age 3 through adult. Games start with each team lining up on the baseline for the national anthem and consist of two innings separated by a Take Me Out to the Ball Game sing-along. “It’s my favorite thing to do,” says Kari Schmitz, South Metro Miracle League director for the Lakeville Baseball Association.
Schmitz got involved with the league when her daughter started playing on a team in 2011. “It fills my cup to see kids out there playing,” she says. “It’s superduper fun. Everyone is happy to be there, and the buddy teams are so excited.”
The Miracle League uses a buddy system—an able-bodied buddy assists each player on the field but does not play for them—during games. Every player takes a turn at bat and circles the bases. The focus is on participation and sportsmanship—and creating a place to play ball for everyone. “A Miracle League Field should be in every community,” Drew says, noting that he hopes the field will represent opportunity, inclusion and acceptance for everyone.
P.L.A.Y. Miracle League
Facebook: PLAY – Miracle League
South Metro Miracle League
Facebook: LBA’s South Metro Miracle League
