RECREATION ;nuFí\'AL Vt-)1. XLIIl, Nu. 3, 2C09 • 41-48

A Miracle in the Outfield: The Benefits ofParticipation in Organized Basehall Leaguesfor Children with Mental and PhysicalDisahilities

Stacy Lyons, BS; Danielle Corneille, BS; Patricia Coker, MHS; and Charles Ellis, Ph.D.

Abstract

Few studies have examined the perceived benefit of recreational activities for children withdisabilities from the parent's perspective. The purpose of this pilot study was to measure the per-ceptions of parents whose children with disabilities participated in an organized community base-ball league. Data were collected using a survey instrument that was administered to 42 parents ofchildren with disabilities participating in a community baseball league. An analysis of the quanti-tative ant! qualitative data suggests that parents of children with disabilities believe participationin sport activities enhances motor and psychosociai skills and that participation has a positive im-pact on the entire family unit. The observed positive results indicate a need for future systematicstudies designed to examine the positive effects of community baseball leagues on children withdisabilities and their families.

KEYWORDS: Récréation, DhcéiiUty, CÁildren, Community sports. Benefits

at the Medical Utiiversity tif South Carolitiar~: A

Acknowledgements: We wiiuiJ like to thank Channinfj Pmctct, the fimtider nf the Charlesron Miracle Leagtie, andthe Chatlestim Miracle League families, players, ciiaches atitl volunteers.

LYONS, CORNEILLE, COKER, ADN ELLIS 41

Reports from the World Health Organiza-tion (WHO) estimate that approximately 200million children worldwide experience someform of disability (World Health Organization,2008). According to the American Communi-ty Survey (ACS) conducted by the U.S. Cen-sus Bureau, the prevalence of disability amongchildren in the U.S. ages 5-15 is 6.3% (U.S.Census Bureau, 2006). Unfortunately in theU.S., the lives of children with disabilities areoftentimes made more difficult by societal bar-riers and the way society responds to disability(Sloper & Turner, 1992). While there are anumber of available services designed to meetthe needs of families of children with disabili-ties, many families continue to have a numberof unmet needs.

Opportunities for Recreation Participation

Participation in typical age-appropriateactivities is among the most difficult challengesfacing children with disabilities. Children witbdisabilities are limited in their participationin recreational and social activities relative totheir peers without disabilities (Antle, Mills,Steel, Kalnins, & Rossen, 2008; Murphy &.Carbone, 2008). As a result, many feel sociallyisolated, thus compounding the magnitude ofrhe disability (LaOreca, 1990; Law & Dunn,1993; Zabriskie, Lundberg, & Groff, 2005).This perceived isolation can lead to poorhealth, limited community participation, andpoor quality of life (Zabriskie et al.).

It is well documented that participationin age-appropriate activities is important fordeveloping friendships and achieving mentaland physical health (Edouards, Gautherona,D'Anjoub, Pupiera, & Devillarda, 2007; Wil-son, 2002), Regular participation in pbysicalactivity is one of the most effective ways chil-dren, including those with disabilities, preventchronic disease, promote independence, andincrease quality of life as they grow older (Cresset al., 2004). Despite the increased number ofcommunity-based programs for children withdisabilities, there has been limited researcbdesigned to examine the specific benefits ofbaseball as a primary form of recreational ac-tivity for children with mental and physicaldisabilities and their families. Additionally,little is known about the satisfaction of parentsof children with disabilities who currently areinvolved in structured community based recre-

ational programs, particularly organized base-ball leagues specifically designed for childrenwith special needs. Therefore, the specific aimof this pilot project was to examine the per-ceived needs, benefits, and satisfaction amongparents of children with mental and physicaldisabilities who participated in a communityhasehall league.

MethodSample

The targeted population for this study wasparents of children participating in a "MiracleLeague". The "Miracle Leagues" are a networkof community haseball organizations designedto increase recreational activity in childrenwith physical and mental disabilities. Chil-dren with disabilities are assigned to organizedbasehall teams with peers. Miracle Leagues areorganized with community volunteers or "bud-dies" who assist the players with batting andreaching the hases. Miracle League games op-erate using the following basic rules; (1) allplayers have a turn to bat each inning, (2) ailbase runners are safe, (3) every player scoresa run before the inning is over, and (4) eacbteam and each player wins. There are over200 Miracle Leagues in the United Statesand Puerto Rico consisting of approximately80,000 children and young adult players.

The study sample was made up of parentswhose children participated in the Charles-ton Miracle League (CML) in Charleston,SC. Participants in the Charleston MiracleLeague youth league range in ages of 4 to 17years. All parents of children participating inthe Charleston Miracle League in 2008 wereemaiied an invitation to participate in a survey.The survey was conducted by the CharlestonMiracle League organization to collect data onthe impact of the league on the families andplayers. The information was used to help guidefuture growth and development of the leagueand provide valuable information to sponsorsand donors. Of the 130 children participatingin the league, approximately 98 parents werecontacted using this process. Additionally, allparents were also personally invited by theexecutive director of the Charleston MiracleLeague to complete the survey during sched-uled Miracle League games. Parents were al-lowed to either return the survey via email orsubmit directly to the League director during

42 A MIRAI.:LE IN THE OUTFIELD

scheduled games. Of the 98 parents contacted,42 returned the survey resulting in a 43% re-

rate.

InstrumentationA 10-question Likert-type scale survey

was designed by the staff oí the CharlestonMiracle League to measure: ( 1 ) the perceivedneed for recreational activities of children withdisabilities residing in Charleston, SC, (2)the perceived benefits of participating in the(Charleston Miracle League including improve-ments in motor function, self confidence, so-cial skills, and beliefs of being able to succeed,and (3) the overall effect the Miracle Leaguehas on the families of children participating inthe League (See Figure 1). Survey responsesconsisted of: strongly agree, agree, neutral,disagree, or strongly disagree. The survey alsoincliitied a section for parents to provide writ-ten responses to open-ended questions relatedto their favorite part of league, effects on thechild, and suggestions for league improve-ments. The primary aim of the survey was toexamine the parent's global perception of thebenefits of their child participating in a struc-

tured baseball league. The information fromthis survey was collected anonymously fromfamilies; therefore, responses cannot be linkedto specific families and their children. Reliabil-ity and validity of the survey instrument werenot established.

Analysis

Results of the data collected from thissurvey were analyzed by the authors of this pa-per to explore the parents' perceptions of theimpact of their child's participation in an or-ganized baseball league. All responses to ques-tions 1-10 were analyzed using in StatisticalPackage for the Social Sciences (SPSS 14.0).For ease of analysis, responses were collapsedinto three categories: strongly agree/agree,neutral, or disagree/strongly disagree. Datawere then analyzed to determine the percent-age of parents who responded to the questionsin each of the three revised categories (agree,neutral, disagree). The responses to the threeopen-ended questions were reviewed usinga general thematic analysis. Responses weregrouped into five thematic categories: (1)health/motor skills, (2) motivation, (3) self-

FIGUREl.

QUESTION STEMS FROM THE MfRACLE LEAGUE PARENT SURVEY

Items rated on a 5-point Ukert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree

There is a need for recreational activities for children with disabilities in Charleston Countv.

My child has enjoyed participating in the Charleston County Miracle League.

I have noticed an increase in my child's motor skills since playing in the Miracle League.

I have noticed an increase in my child's baseball skills since playing in the Miracle League.

I have noticed an increase in my child's self confidence since playing in the Miracle League.

My child has a stronger belief that he/she can succeed at something since playing in the Miracle League.

I have noticed an improvement in my child's social skills since playing in the Miracle League.

My child has made new friends by playing in the Miracle League.

My child's participation in the Miracle League has had a positive impact on our family.

Playing in the Miracle League on Saturday is one of my child's favorite activities.

Open ended questions posed after the Ukert Scale

What do you like most about the Charleston Miracle League?

What would you like to see us do better?

Tell us your story? How participation in the Miracle League affected your child? Family?

Please provide any additional comments about how we can improve the league in the future.

LYONS, CORNEILLE, COKER, ADN ELLIS 43

esteem/confidence, (4) friends/social relation-ships, and (5) family. TTiis information provid-ed greater insight and supported the responsesgiven in the 10 Likert scale questions

ResultsSample

In 2008, approximately 130 children par-ticipated in the Charleston Miracle Leagueand almost one-third or 42 parents completedthe survey {N = 42). The survey did not re-quest parents to identify their child's medicaldiagnosis, therefore specific disabilities repre-sented by the parents responding to the survey(N = 42) are unknown. The authors were ahleto coHeut general data on 2008 CML leagueparticipants and types of disabilities throughplayer registration forms. Among childrenparticipating in the 2008 season, 29% had adiagnosis of autism; 15% cerebral palsy; 10%Down Syndrome, 10% an unspecified devel-opmental disorder; 5% attention deficit hy-peractivity disorder, 5% intellectual disability,5% a seizure disorder, 5% a genetic syndromeand the remaining children (16%) had sometype of speech/language disorder, neuromiiscu-lar disorder, endocrine disorder, or orthopediccondition. Many of the children had multiplemedical diagnoses from several of the afore-mentioned categories.

Quantitative Survey Results

In regard to perceived needs, 100% of the42 parents who completed the survey agreedthat a need existed for recreational activities forchiidren with disabilities in Charleston County,SC. Likewise, 100% agreed their child's partici-pation in the league had an impact on the entirefamily, 100% agreed that their children enjoyedparticipating in the Charleston Miracle League,Finally, 97.6% agreed that participation in theCharleston Miracle League was one of theirchild's favorite activities.

The specific benefits repKirted by parentsas a result of their children participating inthe Charleston Miracle League were as fol-lows: 97.6% increased self-confidence, 92.8%increased motor skills, 92,9% improved socialskills, 92,9% made new friends, 85,7% improvedbaseball skills, and 83.3% improved belief intheir ability to succeed (see Table 1). Althoughno items received 'disagree' responses, improvedbaseball skills (14%) and improved belief inability to succeed (17%) received the greatestnumber of neutral responses. The surveys didnot require parents to identify their child's spe-cific diagnosis, thus no analysis can be made be-tween the specific disabilities of the participat-ing children and development of specific skillsresulting from participation in the program.

TABLE 1.

PERCEIVED BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATION IN THE CHARLESTON MIRACLE LEAGUE

Perceived Benefits

Positive impact on the family

Need for recreational activity in Charleston County

Enjoyed participation in baseball league

Favorite Saturday activity

Increased self-confidence

Improved social skills

Made new friends

Increased motor skills

Improved baseball skills

Improved belief in ability to succeed

Agree

100%

100%

100%

97,6%

97.6%

92.9%

92.9%

92,8%

85.7%

83.3%

Neutral

0

0

0

2,4%

2,4%

7,1%

7,1%

7,1%

14,3%

16.7%

Disagree

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

• Note. There were no results in negative ranges (disagree or strongly disagree) for any of the survey questions.Values reported in table are percentages of overall parent responses given.

44 A MIRAI:LE IN THE OUTFIELD

Open-Ended Responses

The open-ended questions were answeredby 33 of the 42 parents who completed thesurvey. Responses to the open-ended questionsregarding observed benefits indicated thatthe parents surveyed valued their child's par-ticipation in the Charleston Miracle League.Comments reponed included: (1) improvedmotor coordination, (2) greater motivationto participate in recreational activity, and(3) improved self esteem. Eighty-two percentof the parents responding to these questionsreported that their child experienced an in-crease in social relationships by gaining newfriendships with same aged peers both withand without disabilities. Seventy-eight percentof these parents expressed that participationof their disabled child in an organized recre-ational activity like the CML had a significantpositive impact on the entire family unit. Theynoted that participation in the CML offered aweekly community based recreational activity

for their child and family unit to share andbuild relationships with other children withdisabilities and their families. Additionally,parental responses indicated that the relation-ships between children with disabilities andtheir siblings were enhanced by the athlete'sparticipation in the league. Specific examplesof parents' comments are provided in Table 2.An additional question on the sup/ey askedparents their opinion of what ctiuld be done toimprove the recreational experience for play-ers. Only 21% of the parents who answeredthe open-ended questions provided responseswhich ranged from requests to add more sports,such as swimming or soccer, to making theleague more competitive for players.

Discussion

The principal findings of this pilotstudy were that parents of children with dis-abilities who participated in the CML highlyvalue their child's involvement in the baseballleague. The majority of the parents respond-

TABLE 2.

SAMPLES OF REPORTED BENEFITS OF PARTÍ0/PATION IN THECHARLESTON MIRACLE LEAGUE

Theme

Health/Motor Skills

Motivation

Self-Esteem/ Confidence

Friends/Social Relationships

Family

Parent Responses

"Physically, he has better motor coordination and has even started runningindependently. He interacts with others much better now. He loved watchingthe Braves on TV and now he gets to play baseball."

"The ML has given our daughter a chance of doing something that is 'hers' andshe enjoys every minute of it. Usually her little sister gets to do everythingwhile she looks like she is left on her own "

"My child wakes up everyday asking if it is Saturday. He sits on the sidelineswatching his brother most of the time. Now he is the star."

"The opportunity that ML gives to each child with a disability to feel like aregular non-disabled child, if only for an hour. The joy that you see in thesechildren's faces warms your heart and it is very priceless. "

"The way it makes the children feel, especially not allowing them to focus ontheir disabilities. It allows them to Just have fun."

"My child has little fun time that she can do and has no friends so this makesher week. 1 wish there were other sports that she could do after this."

"My child never really had an interest in sports until Miracle League. He nowunderstands the concept of baseball and thoroughly enjoys the game andsocializing with his teammates and coach."

"It's a wonderful experience for the entire familyl We all feel welcomed andsupported. Special needs families don't get that very often."

"It has brought our family together. A!l the cousins, on both sides, attend thegames. His teachers are even out there. It's been greati"

LYONS, CORNEILLE, COKER, AHN ELLIS 45

ing to this survey reported that participation inthis weekly sports activity resulted in increasedself-esteem, motor functions, and social skillsfor their child with physical and/or mental dis-abilities. Additionally, most parents repiortedthat their children made new friends, and theirparticipation had a positive impact on theirentire family.

These preliminary findings are supportedby literature related to the positive effects ofparticipation in recreational sports amongchildren with disabilities. Studies of partici-pation in organized recreational activities bychildren with disabilities report improvementsin self-esteem, motivation, physical well-being,and overall quality of life (Hanson, Nabavi, &Yuen, 2001; Murphy & Carbone, 2008; Patel& Greydanus, 2002; Zabriskie ec al., 2005).Yet, despite these benefits, children with dis-abilities are more restricted in their partici-pation, have lower levels of fitness, and havehigher levels of obesity than their peers with-out disabilities (Murphy tSi Carbone, 2008). Infact, Mharada and Siperstien (2009) recentlyfound that over one-third of Special Olympicathletes leave organized sports due to changesin interest and limited program availability.

Impiications

Parents are resptinsible for enrolling andsustaining their children into community basedrecreational programs; therefore, their attitudesand perceptions are essential for planning suc-cessful community based sports programs. Un-fortunately, there are limited studies regardingthe perception of parents whose children par-ticipate in local community sports programs orthe impact of the athlete's participation on theentire family unit. Despite the limited scope ofthis project, the results provide important in-sight into parental perceptions of the benefitsof participation in organized sports activity.Since the data are mostly descriptive, it is notfeasible to further analysis is not feasible be-yond the evidence provided. The survey usedin this study had been previously developedand administered by league officials to providefeedback on the benefits of the sports programand the responses were anonymous. Thus, thefindings from this pilot study are limited bythe descriptive nature of the information col-lected and an inability to solicit follow up data.In spite of these limitations, the results offer

occupational therapists, recreational thera-pists, physical therapists, speech-language pa-thologists, community recreation providers,and special educators a unique insight intothe perception of parents who have childrenwith special needs and their perceived valueof community-based sport activities for theirchildren. Further, the findings of this studyprovide several meaningful directions for fu-ture research to examine the benefit of sportsactivities among children with disabilities andtheir families. These include;

1. Outcomes research related to physical, cogni-tive, social, and emotional benefirs of partici-pation in the Miracle League programs. Thiscould be completed with a validated surveyof quality of life involving health indicators(fitness level, pain, or disability), self esteem(respect for oneself, ability to handle prob-lems), emotional functioning, and goals andvalues (Younger al., 2009). Such an approachwould for a more scientific verification of thefindings from the current pilot study.

2. An examination of how community basessports programs for children with disabilitiesimpact children with specific medical diag-noses (mental disability/impairment versussocial or physical disability/impairment) andif correlations can be made between type ofdisability and specific benefits gained fromvarious types of programs.

3. Further examination of the impact of suchprograms nn siblings of children with dis-abilities, as well as sibling relationships. Vari-ous factors such as level of inclusion and theextent nf sibling involvement in the programshould also be considered.

4. Finally, the impact of such programs on par-ents and the family unit as a whole should beconsidered. Furthermore, both inter-familyand intra-family relationships could be ex-plored.

As we seek to gain knowledge acrossthese areas, it is critical that rigor be main-tained within the research process. Both quali-tative and quantitative methods are valuablewithin this area of study, and should be wellconceptualized prior to initiating any researchinitiative. One of the significant limitations ofthis pilot study was the use of a data collec-tion mechanism that was put into place as an

46 A MlRAt:LE IN THE OUTFIELD

evaluative mechanism, without the intent ofanswering research questions. Future researchmust involve collaboration of program provid-ers and experts in research design so that effortsproduce information that is valuable in bothrealms. Creative partnerships and methodolo-gies wiil allow for evaluative and informativeconclusions to be drawn about the usefulnessand successfulness of the Miracle League pro-gram and other similar recreation opportuni-ties for children with disabilities.

Conclusion

The findings offer important informationregarding the benefits of participation in a Mir-acle League baseball program. Furthermore,qualitative responses from parents support theoccurrence of benefits reiated to health andmotor skills, motivation, self esteem, friendsand social relationships, and child-family rela-tionships. Disability can have a significant im-pact on the internal dynamics of a family unit,potentially causing increased family stress,strained sibling relationships, marital tension,and economic hardship (Havens, 2005). Forexample. Havens (2005) suggests that throughrecreational activity, families can help buildthe self-esteem of children and of the entirefamily, as well as build upon intra-famity andinter-family social relationships. AlthoughHavens (2005) was referring to families mgeneral, this study also asserts that recreationalactivity is likely to be beneficial to families ofchildren with disabilities as well. The qualita-tive and quantitative results of tbe survey sup-port these assertions and reveal that participa-tion in a weekly sports activity has a markedlypositive impact on the participants and family.This information provides new insight intothe importance of community based sports forchildren with disabilities as few studies havereported the potential impact of communityrecreation on the the entire family unit. Moreimportantly, the findings highlight the needfor local communities to develop and sustainrecreational opportunities for children withdisabilities and their families. To validate theseassertions, it is critical that a comprehensiveresearch effort be put in place, with the par-ticular research objectives spelled out in thispaper being at the forefront. With extensiveprogramming throughout the Nation, there islittle justification for the absence of such an

effort. Findings would not only shed furtherlight on the findings of this study, but wouldprovide a more comprehensive understandingfor how to best provide therapeutic recreationopportunities for children with disabilities andtheir families.

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48 A MlR.-MXE IN THE OuTFIELD

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