Miss-Delectable
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The Villages Daily Sun
A different kind of cheering was going on Tuesday at Saddlebrook Softball Complex.
More than 50 children attending The Villages Sertoma Club’s Fantasy Baseball Camp, all deaf and hearing-impaired who had been divided into teams to play baseball, patted one another on the back as they congratulated their teammates.
The three-day, half-day (8:30 a.m. to noon) camp has been hosted by the club for the past seven years.
“We teach them how to play baseball, because they don’t have the opportunity to play in Little League or T-ball because of being deaf,” said Bob Farrow, camp chairman. “The coaches can’t work with them because they can’t talk to them, so we have interpreters who can do sign language and lip reading to help them.”
He said The Villages chapter is one of 600 Sertoma clubs throughout the United States.
“There’s about 18 of these baseball camps going on all over the country,” Farrow said.
In the case of the camp in The Villages, buses and vans pick up the children, all Central Florida residents, and transport them to and from The Villages for the camp.
With one coach for every two or three children, depending on the age group, participants learn the fundamentals of the sport, plus teamwork.
Timothy Velez, an Ocala high school student who is attending the camp for the fifth time, said he enjoys its social aspect.
Velez, who does not need an interpreter, likes the camp a lot. “I like how the volunteers cooperate with the kids,” he said. “Basically, the people that come here get together and we become friends.”
George Zablocki, from the Village of Virginia Trace, who is a full-time umpire in Villages softball leagues, was volunteering at the camp for the first time. Zablocki said he is the father of a handicapped child.
“I think it’s a great reward to interact with the kids and teach them as much as we know,” he said. “They’ve been running me around like crazy. I hope they come back next year.”
A different kind of cheering was going on Tuesday at Saddlebrook Softball Complex.
More than 50 children attending The Villages Sertoma Club’s Fantasy Baseball Camp, all deaf and hearing-impaired who had been divided into teams to play baseball, patted one another on the back as they congratulated their teammates.
The three-day, half-day (8:30 a.m. to noon) camp has been hosted by the club for the past seven years.
“We teach them how to play baseball, because they don’t have the opportunity to play in Little League or T-ball because of being deaf,” said Bob Farrow, camp chairman. “The coaches can’t work with them because they can’t talk to them, so we have interpreters who can do sign language and lip reading to help them.”
He said The Villages chapter is one of 600 Sertoma clubs throughout the United States.
“There’s about 18 of these baseball camps going on all over the country,” Farrow said.
In the case of the camp in The Villages, buses and vans pick up the children, all Central Florida residents, and transport them to and from The Villages for the camp.
With one coach for every two or three children, depending on the age group, participants learn the fundamentals of the sport, plus teamwork.
Timothy Velez, an Ocala high school student who is attending the camp for the fifth time, said he enjoys its social aspect.
Velez, who does not need an interpreter, likes the camp a lot. “I like how the volunteers cooperate with the kids,” he said. “Basically, the people that come here get together and we become friends.”
George Zablocki, from the Village of Virginia Trace, who is a full-time umpire in Villages softball leagues, was volunteering at the camp for the first time. Zablocki said he is the father of a handicapped child.
“I think it’s a great reward to interact with the kids and teach them as much as we know,” he said. “They’ve been running me around like crazy. I hope they come back next year.”