ADAPTIVE B4B

FOR THE NEW YORK LIONS ADAPTIVE BLIND

BASEBALL TEAM

"HOPE IS BELIEVING"...

BIG THINGS START SMALL

The New York Lions Adaptive Blind Baseball Team made history!


Early July 2022, the Italian Association for Blind and Visually Impaired Baseball Confederation “AIBxC” sent to New York Eva Trevisan and Priscilla Brandi, to select and train the best players to represent the United States at the First World Baseball and Softball Confederation Cup in the Netherlands.  Best players selected competed against Italy, Germany, France, UK and the Netherlands. 


The selected players carried the name "Team USA" for this competition and came back with a Bronze for the United States on a game 4-1 against Germany.

“Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”  – Helen Keller


BELOW ARE THE FRONT-RUNNERS FOR THE ITALIAN ADAPTIVE BASEBALL FOR THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES


WHO ARE THE NEW YORK LIONS ADAPTIVE BLIND BASEBALL TEAM “NY LIONS BB”


The NY LIONS BB is a structured adaptive blind baseball Team formed pre-COVID-19 whose players are Blind and Visually impaired men and women who play the Adaptive Baseball for the Blind with the support of sighted Lions volunteers. The Adaptive Baseball for the Blind is not the Beep Ball that is widely plaid in the US for aboutt 50 years. It is the Adaptive Baseball for the Blind invented in Italy by Alfredo Mell under the directive of AIBXC the "Italian Association of Baseball for the Blind", and LIBCI "Lega Italiana Baseball Ciechi ed Ipovedenti".  The NY LIONS BB was formed by the "NY FiDi LIONS Blind Sports League, a New York State not-for-profit corporation, Branch of the Financial District Lions Club.

HOPE IS BELIEVING...


"Hope is Believing" the League's Motto - is the single most important element that can change the world! A world where sports have been for centuries for sighted people, can also be played by the Blind and Visually Impaired.  The Team Members believe in themselves and look forward to bring the Italian Adaptive Baseball for the Blind to the mainstream of the visual impaired community in the United States and in countries where Lions has a presence.   With the support of Lions Clubs and Lions International the team will succeed with their mission and further participate in competitions representing the United States and Lions. 

WHY "NY LIONS BB" TEAM?


The name "NY LIONS BB" was chosen because the players are members of the New York Financial District Lions Club, a New York Chapter of Lions Clubs International "LIONS", world's largest not-for-profit NGO (non-government Organization) founded in 1917 with over 1.4 million members in over 200 countries.  By using the team's name NY LIONS they honor the organization for serving the Blind and the visual impaired community since 1925 - when Hellen Keller challenged Lions in to support her in the crusade against blindness, and identify themselves a New York Team.


HISTORY IN THE MAKING 


In the spring of 2020, the NY Lions Adaptive Blind Baseball “NY LIONS BB” was registered as a Not-For-Profit Corporation  in the State of New York under NY FIDI LIONS Adaptive Sports League, a branch of the New York Financial District Lions Club.  The league was formed with the support of Lion Terry Paladini, founder of the NY Financial District Lions Club in District 20-R2 at the request of Alex Barrera, Braulio Thorne and Robert Weeks who have been playing this form of baseball since 2015, and believed that to grow this form of baseball an official league had to be formed.  Donations to the team are 100% tax deductible.  The Team do not play for money, but need the support of generous people to sustain their  operations expenses;  transportation, traveling and accommodation including branding.  There are no administrative payouts,  and all the sighted volunteers and coaches give their time freely, and feel a great satisfaction that they are contributing helping these men and women fulfill their potential to run freely and play a game they love.


This form of  B4B was invented in Italy by Alfredo Meli.  It is regulated by the Italian Baseball and Softball Federation (FIBS) and run by the Italian Association for Baseball Played by the Blinds (AIBXC).  This game has been around 25 years with the first demonstration held in 1997 in Bologna Italy with the merger of AIBXC Onlus.  This form of baseball for the blind is not to be confused with Beep Ball that is a game plaied  in the United States for the last 50 years.  Some members of the NY LIONS BB team have been practicing the Italian B4B since 2015, but never a team was officially formed.   


There are teams formed in European Countries; 12 in Italy;  Rome, Verona, Florence, Milan and other Italian regions;  England, France, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands, as well in Cuba, Pakistan, Argentina and now entering the United States. 


B4B under AIBXC is expanding  worldwide and the first Professional Regulated Baseball Field for the Blind and Visually Impaired was inaugurated this year in Milan, Italy.  Hopefully a baseball field for the blind will be build in New York City.   As the NY Lions Team is branding this form of baseball in the Untied States and in Lions, hopefully soon a Baseball Field for the Blind will be build in New York City, and the team is optimistic that B4B will soon enter the Paralympics.  


The goal and mission of the NYLONS Team are  to brand B4B within the blind children and adults alike to experience this form of B4B hoping that eventually other Lions Districts in the United States will form Teams they can compete with. 


  Big things start small, hopefully within another year we’ll have more Lions teams formed also in the State of New York. 


NOTE:  The  video on the right, shows the first Adaptive Baseball Clinic for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Central Park July 17, 2015.  Lions Members  Braulio Thorn, Alex Barrera and Robert Weeks were among the players.


Activities of the NYLIONS BB since its formation pre-Covid-19:


February-March 2020:  NY LIONS Adaptive Blind Baseball team practice indoor at the New York Umpire Cage facility in Manhattan. 


March 2020.  League members where sworn into Lions by President X. Alexander, VP Brian Sheehan, Former International President Al Brandel wirh a group of Lions Clubs International Directors and DGs attending the event hosted by the Financial District Lions Club in the evening of Lions Day with the United Nations. 


Summer of 2020: The Team  practiced  in small group with the support of Coach Damaris Soto. 


May 2021-  NY LIONS team played agaist  Monsignor Scanlan HS whose players were blindfoded during the game as they were blind.  The game aired on 12 News, ABC and

CBS.https://youtu.be/xzP7hqZvHEM 


Summer to Fall  2021: The team  continue its practicing  at  Monsignor Scanlan HS Field in the Bronx.


OCTOBER 16, 2021: NY LIONS Adaptive Blind Baseball traveled to Franklyn, Ct. with the support of the Financial District Lions Club and the NY City Fire Department to compete against the Franklyn Charges a team lform ty  Landolphi, a senior at Parish Hill High School, as part of his Senior Capstone Project to raise awareness and form more B$B League in the US.


May 19-22, 2022: With the financial support of the Financial District Lions Club,  the Italian B4B was introduced by NYLONS BB at the MD20 (Lions from New York State and Bermuda) Convention in Niagara Falls, May 19-22, 2022.  Contacts were made with Lions Leaders, Government Agencies for the Blind, Lions Capability and Camp Badger, and Lions Clubs Leaders to form a club in their respective districts.   


Volunteers are needed to help in the field.  Bring your young kids to help and be inspired. 

All are invited to see them practicing and try the game. 
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