Comment on Old Town to offer Buddy-Ball for youths with developmental disabilities

Unified basketball has been one of the most popular additions to the Maine high school sports scene in recent years. Efforts also are continuing around the region to expand offerings to youths and young adults with developmental challenges in another sport. The Ellsworth Little League offers a Little League Challenger division that will host the 2019 Maine State Challenger Little League Jamboree on Aug 24 at Demeyer Field. A similar program stemming from the Babe Ruth franchise of youth baseball, Bambino Buddy-Ball, will be held on four Sunday mornings in June in Old Town. Participants will take part in baseball games aided by a “buddy,” typically either a parent or volunteer who can assist the player if needed in such phases of the game as swinging the bat, catching a ball or running the bases. The program is a collaboration between the Eastern Maine Baseball League program of the Old Town Recreation Center and The Courageous Steps Project, an organization founded by Connor Archer of Stillwater in 2014 to support individuals with developmental disabilities. The 21-year-old Archer lives with autism and has been a staunch advocate for people with developmental challenges while working as a program coordinator at the Old Town Recreation Center.