ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT - BEN!

 A T H L E T E   S P O T L I G H T - B E N  G I L L I A M

Ben is a man of many talents and has been involved in many sports and activities through the City's Therapeutic Programming and Special Olympics. He plays soccer, tennis, baseball, basketball, Bocci, disc golf, surfs, and is also an artist in the Merry Mosaics program. Ben has been involved with Rock Hill PRT since he was 8 years old!

Ben is 26 years old and LOVES being a part of this community that has made him feel included and safe. Ben's mom, Susan, said, "Miracle Park is somewhere that he can go and people don't look at him weird." Ben is always kind, but at Miracle Park, being part of Miracle League has given him another place to belong, a place where he is encouraging to others and wants to get better at baseball to please his coaches. He can be others-focused at Miracle Park because of the safety and belonging he feels there.

Ben has played in all three seasons of Miracle League and was also on the recently-crowned Champion Competitive Team! His Special Olympics Unified Soccer team received a silver medal at the Fall State Games!  Ben, we are SO proud of you and lucky to have you as an athlete and friend at Miracle Park!

Written by Kylie Carroll with Susan Gilliam

A T H L E T E S P O T L I G H T - MAKAYLA

 A T H L E T E   S P O T L I G H T - M A K A Y L A   T O R R E S

Makayla absolutely loves being a part of Miracle League. Since graduating she has not been able to participate in the community much. Being a part of a team and around her peers has filled a hole in her heart. She loves watching and cheering on her friends, whether or not they are on her team or the opposing team. She hopes to make new friends with each new season and have FUN!

Submitted by Makayla's mom, Heather Earl

Athlete Spotlight - Tyler

A T H L E T E  S P O T L I G H T -  

T Y L E R  C R E E D!

What a fun time Tyler had at the Boston Red Sox game! Why did Tyler Creed attend a Red Sox Game? Well, he played on the Rock Hill Miracle League baseball team for the Red Sox. When asked where he wanted to go for summer vacation, he immediately said Boston to watch baseball in person!

Tyler wore #2 for his Miracle League team, so he automatically wanted to know more about Boston’s #2, Xander Bogaerts. He has since become a big fan of his. We found his picture hanging in the stadium, so of course we did a photo op. We also made sure to purchase a #2 Bogarts tee. Fenway Park was awesome, and mom and dad enjoyed it all, too.

Attending the Red Sox game and our fun in and around Boston became our big adventure this year - all due to Miracle League and Miracle Park! 

Submitted by: Tyler's mom, Donna Creed

Tyler Creed is 28 years old. He works at Applebee's in Rock Hill and attends the Adult Enrichment Center. 

Tyler is so popular at work, that several of his co-workers became buddies for the Miracle League! Thank you, Tyler for being AWESOME!

Terry Hagen - Recreation Programmer, City of Rock Hill

As you start to visit the Miracle Park and have questions you will most likely meet Terry.  She is coordinating the Miracle League and other sports out at the park for the City of Rock Hill's Parks, Recreation, and Tourism department.  Read her story below to learn more about this wonderful woman and how it's always been her dream to allow all people the opportunity to play together even since she was a little girl! 

Terry Hagen - Recreation Programmer

When I was little, my family moved to SC from New York.   My parents sent me to a church day camp one summer and there was a staff member who brought her daughter Denise to work with her.  Denise was much older than the campers but played with us and was very childlike. One day it was raining and for some reason we had our shoes off, and Denise needed help buckling her sandals.  When I realized that she didn’t know how to buckle her shoes, I spent the whole afternoon teaching her to buckle her own sandals.  She was SO happy when she finally did it on her own.  

When I got home, I asked my parents about her, they explained what Down Syndrome was and, in that conversation, I learned that when I was a young child, my father was a Special Education teacher at the inner-city schools.   I remember him being a teacher but didn’t know too much about his class because I was so young.   When we moved to South Carolina, he gave up teaching, so it never came up until I met Denise.  

After that summer, I began elementary school and our class had to walk past the Special Education class to get to the playground.  This was the very first day of school I asked the teacher why they couldn’t play too.   The response was something along the lines of “that’s the Special Ed class.”   It made me sad to see those children watch us go by and not be able to play too.   Then the next year, some of the classrooms moved and the Special Ed class was now in a room that had a window that looked out to the playground.  I hated seeing them watch us and not be able to join us.  I always remembered that and never understood why they couldn’t join us. 

At some point, the teachers must’ve been tired of my questions and they allowed me to “volunteer” in that class during recess one day a week.  That led to volunteering with Special Olympics as a teenager and I never stopped.

Flash forward several years and I had to get a “summer job” so I began working in a group home for adults with developmental disabilities.  I was 19 years old, and I worked 2-10pm Monday through Friday.   I took those women EVERYWHERE!    I absolutely fell in love and working with people with disabilities became my life.   Flash forward 34 years and I am still working with some of the same people I worked with at 19.  

I’ve worked in group homes, day programs, case management and recreation.  In each job, my motto has always been “Why can’t they do it too?”   Now, I get to make some of those why’s a reality.

Aug 14 update

Construction is still progressing!  But we sure would love the rain to go away to complete it sooner!  Stay tuned!  Mark your calendar for Sept 18, 4-7pm for the Grand Opening! 

Thanks to Bob Russell for our overhead shots!