Mangano And League Of Yes Open New Ball Field For Special Needs Players

LongIsland.com

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano was joined by Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves, County Legislators Rose Marie Walker and Dennis Dunne, as well Chief Deputy County Executive Rob Walker, Kristine Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of League ...

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Eisenhower Park is now the home of a new handicapped accessible sports field.

East Meadow, NY - May 2, 2016 - Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano was joined by Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves, County Legislators Rose Marie Walker and Dennis Dunne, as well Chief Deputy County Executive Rob Walker, Kristine Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of League of YES (LOY), and players from both the Nassau and Suffolk LOY divisions on Saturday, April 30th to celebrate Opening Day of the 2016 Baseball Season and the completion of the new handicapped-accessible sports field at Eisenhower Park.

“This sports complex, which is the first of its kind in Nassau County, has been designed not only for baseball but for multiple sports and uses state of the art turf suitable for walkers, wheelchairs and other adaptive mobility devices and prosthetics,” said County Executive Mangano. “With the creation of the new field, the League of YES is now able to provide special needs baseball fans in Nassau County and beyond the opportunity to play the game they love.”

The League of YES (formerly known as the Miracle League of Long Island) has been committed to providing all players with special needs the opportunity to play baseball since 2010. Opening Day officially kicked off with the nationally ranked marching band for the disabled the FREE Players Drum Corp and the Kellenberg Memorial High School Choir singing the National Anthem, before County Executive Mangano threw out the first pitch to one of the league’s original players and best hitters, Zachary Stein.

The new field has been designed not only for baseball but for multiple sports and uses state of the art turf suitable for walkers, wheelchairs and other adaptive mobility devices and prosthetics. With the creation of the new field, the League of YES is now able to provide special needs baseball fans in Nassau County and beyond the opportunity to play the game they love. League of YES Executive Director Kristine Fitzpatrick is thrilled to see her years of negotiations, planning, and hard work has come to fruition.

The first League of YES field, located in at Bald Hill in Farmingville, NY near the Penny Saver Amphitheater has been serving hundreds of special needs players and thousands of volunteers for the past five years and will continue to do so in the future. Registration for the 2016 season is now open and all players with special needs who want to play baseball can choose which field they want to play on.