N.J. League Gets Special Field for Children with Special Needs

If you're a baseball fan like me, or even if you're not a fan, you'll still enjoy this wonderful story from the Asbury Park Press.

WALL, N.J. — After traveling outside of the township to bring their 12-year-old daughter to recreational baseball games, Jeff and Michele Domenick decided to start a baseball league for special-needs children right in their hometown.

Three years later, the league of 30 children now plays at its very own Challenger League field, a baseball field specially designed for the special needs of its players.

"It's their home location now. It's special for them and the field is adjacent to the regular South Wall Little League fields. They just feel like a part of the program," Jeff Domenick said.

The township Recreation Department began planning for a field like this six years ago, and things really started moving when the Domenicks started their league. The township worked with volunteer landscaping and construction companies last fall to build the field, but work came to a standstill due to a lack of funds. After the department received a grant for $15,000, all of the planning came together and the field was opened six weeks later.