Star Ball hits grand slam at East Carter

ELLISINORE – Tons of smiles and laughter took over Brodie Gargac Memorial Field on Friday.

The Ellsinore Family Career Community Leadership of America (FCCLA) organization hosted its inaugural Star Ball game. The event welcomed anyone with special physical or mental disabilities to participate in a fun game of baseball.

Bringing something new to the community can be nerve-racking. Still, director Amanda Smith was excited to bring this event to the community and was happy to see the support from everyone.

“I was so excited to see this all come together because it’s a very special event,” Smith said. “It’s very magical that everyone got a chance to have fun playing baseball. Seeing all those kids and even the adults was amazing. I want to thank everyone who worked hard to make this event happen.”

The event featured one game with participants from ages seven to adult. There were many fans in attendance, along with local food trucks. Similar to the well-known Buddy Ball, a league that allows those with disabilities an opportunity to play baseball with a buddy by their side, Star Ball wanted to continue the concept and spill some of that fun over into their community.

Smith said receiving help and input from the Buddy Ball organization was appreciated, and though the FCCLA is not affiliated with Buddy Ball, they would like to be an extended branch for an opportunity to grow into something bigger.

“Everyone at the Buddy Ball organization has been so good to us,” Smith said. “We were grateful to have one of their leaders, Alex Tinker, to come out and help, and she’s been great with sharing the details on putting an event like this together. I think it’s important that we continue to build off this because it does so much for the kids and adults. They get to be a part of something fun while working as a team and building confidence.”

While Buddy Ball reaches its 10th year, Tinker is filled with emotion that their concept has gravitated over to another community.

“It just makes me cry with happiness because this will be our 10th season for Buddy Ball, and to see that it’s inspired the communities around us is just amazing,” Tinker said. “I love it because it just gives our players more opportunities to come out and have fun. Sometimes, those things are taken for granted because there are not as many opportunities. It’s just so exciting to see the growth and the inspiration that Buddy Ball has been.

“The FCCLA put on a great event, which has seen great success so far with the many people that came out. Seeing that really warmed my heart, and all of our board and Buddy Ball family is just excited to support them.”