From a distance, the new ballfield at Kleckner Park in Green looks like a high-quality field fitted with artificial grass, a scoreboard and bleachers.
It is, but it’s also the first adaptive sports field in Summit County, one created for children with special needs and built from the turf up to be accessible.
The city and the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation partnered on the $1.1 million project and built the field without a penny of city money, Mayor Rocco Yeargin said June 18 before the grand opening ceremony.
Yeargin said for himself and his child with special needs, and for other parents of children with special needs, the day was, indeed, a grand one.
“It isn’t often that something is built with their unique abilities in mind,” he said. “The world is opened up.”
‘We like when the community rallies’
Chuck Brady, who works with communities across the country to develop and build youth ballfields, said Kleckner is the organization’s first adaptive field in Ohio. The foundation has built 125 fields, 24 of them for children with special needs.
“This is our favorite,” Brady said. “We really like when we build the fields for special needs. We like when the community rallies to get (it done).”
The field features a specially designed synthetic turf, inlaid bases and larger dugouts.
About 75 people attended the event to mark the official opening of the field at 4820 Thursby Road.
Kleckner field built for children with special needs
Tim Piatt, a Green parent and a chairman of the Autism Society of Greater Akron, said that Kleckner Field is special for both children with special needs and their parents.
“The parents can come and sit in the bleachers and not worry about anyone being judged,” he said in a phone interview.
The field is open to challenger teams in the Green area, and hosted a soft opening April 28.
Knowing there is a sports field constructed especially for children with special needs is important to parents, Yeargin said.
“This world isn’t made for kids with special needs,” he said. “Every parent… is afraid their kids are going to be alone.”
Adaptive sports play big role for children, parents
Piatt said challenger teams bring parents and their children together in an environment that promotes a shared experience. His son, Sam, has been playing for 10 years and developed skills along the way, he said.
The teams help children develop social skills and make friends in a welcoming environment.
“Some parents might not sign their kids up for other things — maybe (it’s) too loud or too challenging,” he said.
The competition is pretty laid-back, he said.
“(It’s) just kids out there having fun, not caring about the score,” he said.
‘Their smiles said everything’
Brady said the foundation took off after a discussion between Cal Ripken Jr. and Warren Buffett.
After their talk, Buffett’s sister, Doris Buffett, offered $1 million in matching funds to build ballfields in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
The fields are built to last, with the first adaptive field in Fredericksburg still in good shape after 15 years.
The foundation, he said, believes a ballfield is an ideal setting for both playing ball and wider learning.
“Cal Sr. had a real passion for kids and having baseball teach life’s lessons,” he said.
He said there’s a thirst for fields like Kleckner and the challenger programs it accommodates.
“(We) found that parents would travel up to an hour away to participate in a program like (Green’s),” he said.
Mike Elkins, Green’s administrator of parks planning and development, said the field has a big-league feel to it. He said children who have already had the chance to play at Kleckner have appreciated their brand new field.
“Their smiles said everything,” he said.
To learn more about adaptive sports in Green, go to www.gbsf.us/challenger or short-link.me/159JI.
Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj or Facebook at www.facebook.com/alan.newsman.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and Green celebrate opening of county’s 1st adaptive field
Reporting by Alan Ashworth, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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