Boyle County organization planning new all-inclusive baseball diamond

DANVILLE, Ky. — Boyle County has baseball fields aplenty. Chances are you’ve been to at least one of them. I grew up watching my brother play on Little League teams at Henry Jackson Park, Perryville, and some others I can’t remember. Watching the boys play, I often wished I could hammer a grand slam like Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio.

There’s room for one more field with all those parks and leagues, though. A very special field where everyone can play is on its way to being built in Boyle County. Kendyl and Friends Foundation have secured a large plot of land to build an inclusive baseball field on Shakertown Road near the Danville Christian Academy and WHIR.

The Overcomer All-Inclusive Baseball Field—the first of its kind for the organization— will feature accessible dugouts, bathrooms, benches, large shades, and specialized rubber flooring that will allow children who use adaptive mobility equipment the ability to participate with their peers. Shaded areas are also important because the players are more susceptible to overheating, seizures, and sun poisoning due to their extreme medical conditions

Kendyl and Friends Foundation founder Crimson Claycomb says that “having properly shaded areas can make the field up to 20 degrees cooler, can block up to 96% of harmful UV rays, reduce the risk of sunburns, and allow our league to be more inclusive!”

The league she refers to is The Overcomers League, a group of special-needs people playing baseball at different ball fields around Kentucky. Kendyl and Friends Foundation has built inclusive playgrounds in Louisville, Berea, Harrodsburg, Lancaster, Georgetown, Liberty, Campbellsville, Nicholasville, and Burgin. But this field will become the home field for the Overcomers League.

The Overcomers League started after Claycomb’s daughter, Kendyl, was born. Kendyl suffered seizures and contracted meningitis that compromised her central nervous system and put her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Not wanting her daughter to be left out of life, Claycomb became a champion for inclusive playgrounds. She also enrolled Kendyl in ballet, baseball, basketball, and cheerleading.

Kendyl and Friends is listed in the Bluegrass Community Foundation’s annual Good Giving Guide Challenge this year. The Challenge starts on Tuesday, November 29th and runs through Friday, December 2nd. The Good Giving Guide is an annual philanthropic challenge created by the Bluegrass Community Foundation in an effort to create more community activism and support.

To find out more about Kendyl and Friends, please visit www.kendylandfriendsfoundation.org. To learn more about the Good Giving Guide Challenge, please visit www.bggives.org/KendylandFriendsFoundation. 

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