Field of Dreams is not your average suburban youth baseball league. In fact, Field of Dreams is anything but average.
The tedious rules and regulations of baseball as most people know it are not as demanding for players in the Field of Dreams league. Despite the more relaxed atmosphere, these kids are competitors through and through. Some even sleep in their uniforms the night before a big game.
Cruising along Shetland Drive in Saint Johns, the baseball diamond is immediately noticeable. The AstroTurf stands out from the grassy area surrounding it, and the new playground towers over right-field as if inviting even the most weathered adults to climb up.
If you happened to drive by Saturday morning, you could have rolled your windows down to hear a raucous competition. The stands were packed with fans, bases were loaded and there was a flurry of activity at home plate. The sights and sounds of opening day at Field of Dreams.
The youth baseball league was celebrating 10 years in existence. A decade of providing a fun and care-free atmosphere for children with special needs from around the First Coast to let loose. The significance of the milestone was not lost on founders like Chuck Forcier.
Forcier and a group of fathers/youth baseball coaches thought of Field of Dreams around 12 years ago. Some children with special needs wanted to play on their teams, but there were safety issues.
"Rather than tell the children they couldn't play, we decided to form a league for all children with special needs, not just autistic children," Forcier said. "Children in wheelchairs, visually-impaired children, and that's how this was created."
Starting with 41 players and three teams in 2009, the growth has been explosive. Field of Dreams now boasts nearly 200 players spread across 11 teams.
Uniquely, every child part of Field of Dreams is able to play every Saturday during the season for free. The league is funded by donations, and players take their roles seriously. Names of batters are called over a PA system, and the National Anthem is performed in front of crowds of parents and fans.
During games, "buddies" from nearby high schools volunteer to assist. Many of the "buddies" become close friends with the players, as members of Bartram Trail High School's softball team attested to when speaking to First Coast News.
As numbers grow, the founders and current organizers are also overseeing a physical expansion of the league on the property along Shetland Drive, as the first phase of a brand new, specially-designed playground was dedicated during opening ceremonies.
"Ultimately we want this to be a complex for children with special needs," Forcier said. "Baseball, we may add soccer, we may add some other things. And then a playground here. So this is a place they can really call their own."
Forcier asks that anyone interested in donating or volunteering to visit the Field of Dreams website here.