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Wheelchair Softball Team Finally Has A Home Base

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By ELLEN GEDALIUS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 16, 2008

TAMPA - They started by practicing in parking lots.

First they used a business's parking lot, then moved to a church. They were grateful for the space, but their wheelchairs couldn't maneuver the potholes. Also, the shards of glass on the pavement were dangerous, and the cars in the way didn't help matters.

Pretty hard, they thought, to play wheelchair softball under those circumstances.

"It was like pebbles, loose pebbles all around," said wheelchair softball player Jeremy Day. "There were times when you didn't know if your chair was going to skid out."

As the Tampa Bay Rays Wheelchair Softball Team enters its fifth season, they finally have a field that is safe to play on and easy on their wheels. The city of Tampa is formally opening Saturday what is billed as the state's first adult wheelchair softball field.

The Tampa Bay Rays Wheelchair team has been practicing at the field, located at Rowlett Park, since last month.

It's as smooth as glass.

Making A Dream Come True

Doyle Mann, 48, was born with spina bifida. He has been a baseball fan since he was 8, having taken a liking to the Tampa Bay Rays.

He told his wife, Natalie, that he would like to play wheelchair softball one day.

The couple made it happen. They talked to officials with the Rays, and the ball club eventually agreed to sponsor the wheelchair team. The Tampa team is the only wheelchair softball team in the southeastern United States, said Mann, who plays shortstop.

About 18 players show up to most practices, including amputees, paraplegics, quadriplegics and those with cerebral palsy and spina bifida.

Yet they didn't have a good place to play, forcing them to hit, field and round the bases in paved parking lots.

But as some members of the team got involved in a project to build Tampa's first accessible playground, Freedom Playground, they got to know some city officials.

City staff members wanted to help and understood the demand for a good wheelchair softball field.

The city previously had converted some tennis courts at Rowlett Park into a roller hockey rink.

With some renovations, the space also could be used for wheelchair softball. Parks staff drew lines, retrofitted the area to make it wheelchair accessible and improved the bathrooms.

It's paved with concrete. No grass, no dirt.

It's A Start

The work cost the city about $33,000, said Karen Palus, director of the city's parks department.

"They're so excited about being at Rowlett and having a home base," Palus said. "They're just dying for a place to call home and get started."

The players and the city know, however, that the field is good but not perfect. Right field is about 40 feet short of standard softball dimensions. The bathrooms could be closer, and the storage space isn't ideal.

The city and the team plan to continue working on a perfect site, which still might be at Rowlett Park.
Hillsborough County initially intended to open a wheelchair softball field at the new FishHawk Sports Complex. Those plans never came to fruition because money ran short and the county thought the location in eastern Hillsborough might not be ideal, said John Brill, a spokesman for the county's parks department.

Now the city and county are talking with some other groups about maybe opening another field at All People's Life Center on Sligh Avenue. That's a more central location, Brill said, and the center already is geared toward people with disabilities.

A new softball field could cost about $400,000, he said, but other groups might help financially.

A Chance To Play Again

Jeremy Day lives in Apopka and drives 90 minutes, each way, twice a week to play wheelchair softball in Tampa.

Day had his lower right leg amputated in 1988 after an accident at a construction site. He was 16.
"I was still in high school at the time," Day said. "I was very into sports and athletics. When I lost my leg, I thought I would never have that again."

Baseball had been his sport in high school. It was what he was good at.

When he heard of wheelchair softball, he was skeptical. Now going into his second season, he's a believer. There are even collisions at home plate.

"This is really giving me an opportunity to compete," said Day, who plays left centerfield. "It makes me feel young again."

Dennis Mason, a charter member of the team and its pitcher, is a Vietnam veteran and double amputee. A history teacher, Mason always liked playing sports. Wheelchair softball gives him a chance to keep playing.

"A wheelchair is just part of who we are, so it's not as hard for us," Mason said. "It's not too difficult."

A Growing Sport

Starting today, the Tampa Bay Rays Wheelchair Softball team will play a tournament, hosting the Nebraska Barons and the Chicago Cubs softball teams. Mayor Pam Iorio is scheduled to throw out the first pitch.

The Tampa team is one of nearly 40 in the nation, according to the Denver-based National Wheelchair Softball Association. The group was founded in 1976 with about six teams from the Midwest. Now there is a European division and expansion plans in Africa, said Michael Wheaton, a commissioner for the association.

It's still relatively new in Florida, Wheaton said, but is expected to take off.

"It's such a fun game," Wheaton said. "Our program changes lives by getting people off the couch and playing America's favorite pastime."

For information, go to http:rayswheelchairsoftball.com.

Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.

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