Southeast Missouri Challenger Baseball is a division of St. Louis Challenger Baseball. The main goal of Southeast Missouri Challenger Baseball is to make friends! We’re a baseball league for kids and adults with developmental disabilities from ages 5 on up.
The fundamental goal of Challenger Baseball is to make friends. As our players who have disabilities play baseball they have the opportunity to make friends with teammates, who have disabilities, and buddies, who do not have disabilities. Buddies are kids and young adults (between the ages of 10 and 20 who don’t have disabilities) who hang out with our players on the field and assist them if they need a bit of help.
Every person regardless of their developmental disability can play Challenger Baseball. Players not only have a great time playing baseball, but also experience pulling together as a team, be cheered on by a crowd, and being encouraged by their peers. At our annual All-Star game all players are All-Stars, and all receive trophies at their end-of-the-season picnics.
How it Works
Beyond following basic safety rules, Challenger tailors certain rules to the skill levels of the players. Challenger players play on the same fields, use the same equipment, and wear the same full uniforms as traditional teams.
Teams are supported by coaches and by our buddy system. As our buddies make friends the also help by pushing players using wheelchairs around the base paths after a hit or by helping a player retrieve a ball that gets past them, among other things. But the most important thing a buddy does is to be a friend to our players.
