By Andrew Edwards
Elmore/Autauga News
The Field of Dreams League has been operating next to Prattville’s Bradford YMCA for the past eight years, and it’s having a huge impact on the river region community.
The league serves children and adults with special needs, which can exclude them from traditional baseball leagues. This year, 90 kids have been entered into spring games, with 10 different teams playing.
“It’s amazing what can be done with planning and vision,” said Keith Cantrell, Assistant General Manager for the Bradford YMCA Branch. “This has been one of the most beneficial and impressive accomplishments that has ever come out of this YMCA.”
The league meets every Monday and Thursday in the evening, and every Saturday morning starting at 9:00 a.m. The first pitch took place this past Saturday at the parks behind the YMCA.
Despite the tumultuous year, the Bradford Branch has found a way to persevere through the tough times.
“We’ve been able to keep most of our sports throughout the year, as long as the schools in the area were participating in them as well. The only hiccup that we had was gymnastics. We had to have reduced numbers since it’s an indoor event,” Cantrell said.
The YMCA has been extremely involved in the community since the Pandemic hit back in March of 2020, providing food distribution to citizens, emergency childcare, and groceries to essential workers and the elderly.
“Our motto at the beginning of the pandemic was ‘We may be forced to close, but we won’t lock the doors’ – basically saying that if anyone, anywhere needed something from us, then we would be there for them,” Cantrell said.
And that motto still holds true.
The Bradford YMCA is pushing forward to normalcy but has certainly taken a few hits along the way.
“Membership has been a little bit down over the past year, but it’s on the upswing now. We have about 300 kids who are already registered for soccer, and our Kevin Turner Golf Tournament in June has already been green-lighted,” Cantrell said.
Cantrell also spoke about the high turnout the YMCA has had for girls’ volleyball over the past couple of months.
“There’s over 120 girls in our volleyball league right now, and we’ve had so much support for it that we’ve partnered with the Mana Toa Volleyball Club to provide teaching and coaching for local girls who are trying to get more involved in the sport,” Cantrell explained.
Even in a year as hectic as this one, the YMCA says their bonds with the community have never faltered.
“We’ve had a lot of people reaching out, making sure that we’re okay up here and if we we’re going to still have spring and summer events – and to both of those questions, we answer yes,” Cantrell said. “We’re blessed to be where we are right now, and we want the community to know that we’re going to be here for them no matter what.”
