Challenger day celebrates 20 years of fun

By LISA BACKUS
Staff writer

BRISTOL — Brandon Ward stepped up to the plate in uniform at the Giamatti Center Saturday to hit a single as his teammates and coaches cheered and clapped.

“This really boosts his self-esteem, he loves baseball, he loves going to all the games,” said his father Bruce Ward who also coaches Brandon’s Little League Challenger Division team in Bristol. “If it wasn’t for this, he wouldn’t have been able to play baseball. I enjoy it, I enjoy all the kids.”

Brandon’s teammates and hundreds of others from around the Northeast were on hand Saturday to celebrate their accomplishments while participating in the sport they love and a carnival atmosphere during the 20th Annual Ed Beardsley Challenger Fun Day.

Beardsley, a Bristol resident, started the first informal Challenger team in 1986 after he recognized that his 8-year-old son David, who had Down syndrome, still needed the chance to play sports despite his disabilities.

By the end of the season, 14 kids were on the team. Within a few years, the number doubled. More than 20 years later, Beardsley’s legacy lives on with 22,000 kids ages 5 to 21 playing in Little League Challenger Division teams around the country.

“Isn’t it a great day? The weather held up,” said Ann Beardsley as she stood with now 31-year-old David among hundreds of parents and kids playing carnival games while four teams slugged it out on the baseball fields.

“It’s been a work in progress,” she added. “It’s really become very successful thanks to all the volunteers and the Bristol Police Benevolent Association who holds a golf tournament every year for us. We couldn’t do this without them.”

Ed Beardsley passed away in 2002. But it’s obvious from the smiles and shouts of delight coming from the ballpark and the bean bags toss that his idea lived on beyond his wildest dreams.

“I like hitting,” said 9-year-old Gianna Catalano of Madison who came as part of the Madison Tigers team. “The other best part is being with my friends.”

As Catalano’s father Mike waited in line with his children to toss a bean bag into the net for a prize, he said coaching the weekly games his daughter participates in are the favorite part of his week.

“It’s awesome, we get together every Sunday for two hours and everyone plays and everybody has a good time,” he said. “It’s the part of the week that I look forward to the most.”

The Challenger Fun Day features a full day of activities including a petting zoo, food, field games, a dunking booth and a concert with a disc jockey in the evening.

The annual event drew 25 teams from around the state and the northeast including kids from Massachusetts and New York. The city of Bristol boasts three Challenger teams. Berlin, Newington, and Southington also have teams who attended.

The Fun Day is always held on the Saturday of Father’s Day weekend with every child playing in umpired baseball games. More than 400 people showed up Saturday in addition to the 150 volunteers who staff the festivities, said Beardsley’s daughter Tracy Beardsley-Ring.

“In 1986 when [Ed Beardsley] started, there wasn’t anything for the special needs kids,” she said. “He was able to get chartered through the Little League and now there are teams from across the United States and in other countries, I believe.” All the children who participate have some type of special need that would prohibit them from playing a regular Little League Team. In the Challenger league, every kid gets to bat and every kid gets to play in the outfield — even if they are in a wheelchair.

“This year we had a group home of kids ages 17 and 18 come,” Ward said as he watched his Brandon make his way to first base. “They never had the opportunity to play baseball before. It’s just a wonderful thing.”