Cypress Fairbanks has always been a caring community, but it was even more pronounced this past April with the opening of the new Mabee Adaptive Sports Complex for athletes with special needs. Located at the Langham Creek Family YMCA, the complex is complete with a synthetic surface baseball field, a covered multipurpose pavilion, and a barrier-free playground for sports and outdoor play. Over time, the complex aims to serve over 1,000 individuals through swimming, baseball, tennis, basketball, soccer, and flag football adaptive sports programs.
This year, players get to go to bat at the new T-ball field, which started as an idea from three Cy-Fair school district parents, Mack Hoehner, Allan Wallace, and Rodney Finke. It was during a crawfish boil that the three dads were inspired to find a way to help special needs children and encourage their children to learn how to assist others. They chose the Langham Creek Family YMCA, where Hoehner was a Board president, to be the driver of the project.
Soon after, they partnered with the Miracle League, an adaptive baseball program for children with physical and mental conditions. The fathers worked to build a new baseball field at the YMCA, grew the League of players from 20 kids to over 120 participants this year. During the games, players get paired up with a volunteer buddy to help them during the game. There are no practices, everybody participates, and everybody wins.
It was an emotional journey for the fathers and the families of Cy-Fair, as the community came together to support children of all abilities. "The thing I learned is everybody has a special need – the parents, the buddies, the community," says Hoehner in an interview with the Chronicle. Wallace recalls asking a crying mother in the stands if she was upset because her son’s name was mispronounced. He recalls her saying,"No, that's the first time I've heard my kid's name announced when it wasn't over an ER loudspeaker."
The Cy-Fair Miracle League is completely volunteer-based. To give back or find out more, visit their page on Langham YMCA’s website.
