This article was written by BenitoLink intern Ariana Rivera. Lea este artículo en español aquí.
One hundred and fifty-one San Juan Bautista children spent part of their summer playing baseball and learning life lessons as members of the Junior Giants program. Two of them even played in wheelchairs.
A major aspect of the league is that it is noncompetitive, meaning the teams do not keep score. This helps put the focus on learning life skills and the fundamentals of baseball.
According to former San Juan Bautista recreation director Caitlin Brady, the program’s noncompetitive structure is the reason they were able to easily accommodate children with different needs.
Brady noted that two children in wheelchairs were able to play baseball in the league, a pastime they probably would not have been able to participate in otherwise.
Mateo Sotomayor Vasquez, 11, a longtime wheelchair user and Junior Giants player, said the experience meant a lot to him.
The first-time athlete said he had a lot of fun playing baseball with coaches and friends who supported him throughout the season.
“In my first practice, I was a little bit scared, but when I got out, I was so confident in myself,” Sotomayor Vasquez said.
One of his favorite moments while playing was hearing his teammates and the crowd cheering him on.
The experience was equally special to his mom, Cristina Vasquez Sanchez.
“It was incredible because Mateo had the chance to have a regular kid experience for the first time,” she said. “I was delighted as a mom. It makes me feel like [I’m] having a normal motherhood experience.”
Once an offshoot of the Hollister Junior Giants league, San Juan Bautista was able to start a league of their own thanks to its newly founded recreation department.
“What I didn’t realize was the sense of ownership and pride that people had, knowing that it’s not just like a kid brother of Hollister,” Brady said. “It’s that we are San Juan, we are our own thing.”
Brady said there is a certain level of engagement and camaraderie that comes with being part of a sports team.
The lack of scorekeeping does not necessarily mean there are no measures of success.
“Kids aren’t necessarily motivated only by reward and only by score,” Brady said. “If they see that their parents and their friends’ parents and the guy down the street are all out there cheering for them because they’re out there having fun, then that’s what they realize is the measure of success.”
Junior Giants coach and San Juan Bautista resident Michael Ponce said the most important experiences from the program are the values that are passed on to the players, such as integrity, confidence, leadership and teamwork.
At the end of the season, the recreation department organized a potluck barbecue, and staff provided reusable water balloons and bunkers for a large water balloon fight.
To wrap up the end-of-season fun, 20 Junior Giants players took a trip to Oracle Park and participated in activities such as running the same bases on the field that the professionals do, a scavenger hunt, playing ski ball, and competing in a game of whiffle ball.
“We’re just hoping that next year that the parents and the kids come out and join us again,” Ponce said.
The BenitoLink Internship Program is a paid, skill-building program that prepares local youth for a professional career. This program is supported by Monterey Peninsula Foundation AT&T Golf Tour and Taylor Farms.
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