In January 2023, fundraising efforts began in Westfield to create an adaptive baseball field for people with disabilities.
More than a year later, the owners of Roundtripper Sports Academy are close to having a dedicated field at their sports complex at 16708 Southpark Dr. as Miracle League of Westfield athletes finish up their second season.
Miracle League is an international nonprofit that provides people with disabilities the opportunity to play baseball. Miracle League has more than 250 leagues across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. But so far, there are no dedicated Miracle League baseball fields in the state of Indiana.
“Our goal is to be the first official Miracle League in the state of Indiana with a fully accessible baseball field,” said Jenna Hoffman, co-founder of Miracle League of Westfield. “The mission of Miracle League is to give every person, no matter their abilities, the opportunity to play baseball, ages 0 to 99.”
Hoffman and other volunteers partnered with Sue and Chris Estep, owners of Roundtripper, to help make that dream a reality. In January 2023, the organization held a kickoff fundraising event, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Roundtripper. The event got the fundraising ball rolling, and last year they were able to host their first season.
“We’ll do a four-week league every spring and fall right now, and then we’ll adjust as the number of kids are added,” Sue Estep said. “As the league grows, we can do both a competitive and a noncompetitive. Our league is noncompetitive now, but there are definitely some kids that you can see would thrive in a little bit more of a competitive league. Our goal is to get to that point.”
Hoffman said players in Westfield’s league range in age from 3 to 19, but the plan is to establish leagues based on age group and abilities.
“Some kids want to play real baseball, but because of whatever their ability is, they’re not able to play in a typical recreation league,” Hoffman said. “But what we can offer is a competitive league for those kids as well as a league for adults and so on.”
Miracle League of Westfield held its inaugural season in fall 2023 with 25 participants. This spring, the league doubled in size — from two teams initially to four — mostly thanks to word of mouth.
“We want to slowly learn as we grow, but the interest is always high,” Hoffman said.
For Hoffman, the league is as much personal as it is a volunteer opportunity. Her daughter, 8-year-old Londyn Hoffman, was born with a disability and was diagnosed three years ago with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer of the soft tissue. In remission for nearly 18 months, Londyn is a 2024 Riley Champion, and baseball is an important part of her journey.
“My husband and I have deep roots in baseball. It’s just a big part of our family,” Hoffman said. “So, three or four years ago we came to Chris and Sue and just kind of had an idea … and here we are.”
In its first two seasons, Miracle League of Westfield played games on the indoor field at Roundtripper. But the goal of fundraising is to raise enough funds to convert the outdoor softball field to a multi-use surface that can be used by Miracle League players as well as softball players.
“That will allow us to separate out and run two leagues simultaneously,” Estep said.
So far, Estep said they have raised $200,000 to put toward the new surface, which will be retrofitted onto the outdoor softball field to include removing the infield, compacting the dirt underneath, then adding a new hybrid turf field. Since Miracle League fields are smaller than standard youth diamonds, the accessible field will take up most of the infield of the softball field after the conversion.
“We put a lot of the work in already, so we’re not starting from an open field,” Estep said. “We already have drainage, we already have a lot of that infrastructure there, so it makes this conversion much more affordable. As the league grows, we’ll take it as far as the demand. We really want to get up and running, because we feel like once we get this in place, that’s where we’ll hopefully be able to do divisions within the league.”
Hoffman said a big part of Miracle League of Westfield’s success the first two seasons has been thanks to volunteers, affectionately known as “Angels in the Outfield.”
“Sometimes, it seems like the volunteers get more out of it than the players do in just that 45-minute experience,” Hoffman said. “And it’s nice to get the parents the opportunity to be in the stands and their child is participating in an actual baseball game. Let the volunteers do their thing, the parents’ job is to just sit there and watch.”
Although most of the league is Westfield-based, participants also come from Noblesville and Zionsville. The league hopes that as the organization grows, it can attract players from across central Indiana.
“The families just want to see their kids be a part of something that otherwise there just aren’t many opportunities out there,” Hoffman said.
The tentative dates for the fall season are Sept. 8, Sept. 15, Sept. 22 and Sept. 29. Parents will fill out a questionnaire at signup for the all-volunteer staff to understand their child’s needs.
For more, including registration information, visit miracleleagueofwestfield.com.
Giving back to Miracle League
Miracle League of Westfield has engaged in ongoing fundraising efforts to help pay for the new field surface, most recently as the recipient of $2,500 from the Westfield Lions Club annual breakfast. The fundraising goal recently hit the $200,000 mark.
This year, Miracle League of Westfield will be one of the beneficiaries of the second SWING presented by Krieg DeVault, a signature charity event benefiting Indianapolis Indians Charities.
The event takes place Sept. 27 at Victory Field in Indianapolis, and will feature local restaurants, bars and entertainment, along with a red carpet, photo booths and dancing under the lights.
When tickets are purchased using the code “MIRACLE,” $100 will be donated to Miracle League of Westfield.
Purchase tickets at swingvf.org.
