Alternative Baseball Helps Players Develop Life Skills

Georgia native Taylor Duncan would like to bring an alternative baseball league to Altoona.

According to its website, Alternative Baseball "provides an authentic baseball experience for teens and adults (ages 15 or older) with autism and other disabilities for physical and social skills enrichment in life on and off the baseball diamond. In Alternative Baseball, games are played using professional league rules."

The league helps to teach physical and social skill enrichment in life on and off the baseball diamond and helps to instill the confidence needed to fulfill dreams in life. The players are each encouraged to be the best person possible.

According to Duncan, when the Alternative Baseball Organization (ABO) league resumes play after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, the organization will have about 80 teams in 33 states.

"We grew a lot with our reach, because during COVID, a lot of major and minor league sports were canceled," Duncan said. "So, we ended up getting picked up in a lot of new states across the country from Hawaii to Maine. A lot of these areas we have ended up being very successful in."

For development of the league in Altoona, Duncan said that the ABO has to find a manager/coach and find volunteers.

Duncan said that the ABO targets people 15 years of age or older because once the participants graduate from high school, "there isn't much out there for them" because the state doesn't have to provide services for them any longer.

"In areas that we cover, service availability either doesn't exist or they are nowhere near enough," Duncan said.

Duncan said that the players get a chance to build friendships with others like themselves and it is a chance for them to work on their social skills. The players learn how to be part of a player who is a member of a traditional team setting. The players can develop skills like learning how to deal with disappointment, learning how to cooperate to make plays and how to communicate. The players also learn how to be successful on the job.

"Of course, you have got to have the ability and the teamwork skills," Duncan said. "So, that is what we work on."

Duncan said that a lot of the weeks, teams will have practices, with some of the weeks being games.

"We put a lot of emphasis on the skills-training portion in practices," he said.

Duncan said that Altoona could open its season as soon as the COVID-19 guidelines are lifted. Duncan said that it is important for the organization to continue recruiting because it "takes a lot of time" to recruit the players.

The organization is doing a lot of its recruiting virtually because of COVID. Duncan said that as soon as the organization has a manager, it will plan for either a summer or fall season.

Duncan said that the ABO has received some response from the Altoona area.

"We have had some who have signed up for the player pool plus we have a couple of general volunteers," he said. "We just have to find the coach/manager to unite these people together."

Anyone interested in playing or coaching should visit the ABO website at

http://www.alternativebaseball.org

and fill out the appropriate forms. Those who want to be coach or manager should fill out the appropriate form and make a calendar appointment.

Duncan says that the ABO is going to continue to expand and will continue to offer the sport in as many areas as they can. He said that the ABO is finishing trademark registration in Canada, so that it can expand north of the border.