Buddies at the Ballfield a hit at Bethel Park
To celebrate To celebrate World Autism Awareness day, on April 7, the Bethel Park High School baseball team hosted its “Buddies at the Ballfield” game against the South Fayette Lions at Purkey Field.
Members of the Best Buddies Club, which is a national initiative that pairs students with disabilities with their able-bodied peers, participated in several pre-game events, including running the bases and throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Students also helped announce the lineup for the Hawks and worked the scoreboard.
“It’s a special day for best buddies, and I get to play baseball with my friends,” said left fielder Brayden Bruckner. The junior has been a member of Best Buddies since his freshman year.
“The first time it was introduced to me, I thought it was a great organization and it helps everybody. It’s just an honor to celebrate these students because they deserve to have the same opportunities that we do,” Bruckner said.
Patrick Zehnder agreed. In addition to his duties as manager of the Black Hawks, he is a special education teacher at the high school and an assistant coach for the school’s unified bocce team.
“These students are an important part of our community. They are the unsung heroes of society.
“These kids can accomplish amazing things and just with a little bit of support and guidance here and there,” he continued. “These kids can do anything that you and I can do. I think too often people assume that they can’t. So being able to shine a light on them is both good for them and good for us.
“Raising awareness for autism and celebrating students who maybe don’t get a lot of notoriety is really deserving because of the great attitudes that they have and for all the work that they do to contribute to Bethel Park.”
While Bethel Park has sponsored events like this, it was the first time the Black Hawks hosted. Zehnder added that this year it’s taken off and reached a whole new level.
In addition to game festivities, food trucks were on site. There were raffles and specially designed socks being sold to raise funds for the Best Buddies Club.
Led by Julie Hernandez, the group is designed to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to have a friend. The Club consists of 125 members.
“The Bethel Park Best Buddies Club is a student-led friendship club,” Hernandez explained. “Our club creates opportunities for friendships between high school students with and without intellectual/developmental disabilities. Our club has monthly activities on campus or in the community.
“Baseball Buddy Night is one of our favorite events of the year,” she continued. “Students also have the opportunity to be matched with a buddy to spend more time together and develop a deeper friendship.”
For the occasion, assistant baseball coach and peer PE teacher Jared King designed a special edition uniform that was worn not only by the players but also by Best Buddies members. On the purple (the color of autism) jersey were colored stripes on the sleeves. Each shade represented the five mission pillars of the organization. They are yellow for one-to-one friendships, lime green for integrated employment, orange for leadership development, lavender for inclusive living and sky blue for family support.
Linda Bruckner, who is a peer PE teacher at the high school, noted the jerseys were popular as the players and students alike proudly donned them during the day at school.
“It’s a super fun day,” she said. “The team loves this day, and the students do too. It’s a super-fun event with a lot of activities. The purpose is to get as many people involved in as many of our school activities as we can and raise awareness for students of all abilities. I think we’re succeeding.”
Hernandez agreed.
“We’ve created a truly special day of memories.”