by John Y. Wehmueller | Staff Writer
In many ways, the 15 members of the Clarksburg Sports Association’s Challenger baseball team embody what the organization is supposed to be all about.
There were already CSA baseball teams at the select (travel), recreational and clinical (instructional) levels. This year, the organization banded together with the Germantown Athletic Club and Damascus Sports Association to form a team of children with special needs to play in the Frederick Challenger Little League.
‘‘I’ve done a lot of coaching in the past, a lot of competitive stuff,” said Damascus resident Ed Ruprecht, who helps coach the team on which his 11-year-old son, Kevin, plays. ‘‘Nothing beats this. Watching these kids run down the baseline with a smile on their face beats it all.”
The CSA, like Clarksburg High, is entering its third season of competition. What began with basketball and baseball leagues has expanded to include nine of the 17 sports played at the varsity level in Montgomery County.
Cheerleading, football, golf, poms, tennis, track and wrestling have joined baseball and basketball in the Clarksburg stable. Lacrosse and soccer programs are on the horizon, according to executive director Kevin Hutto.
‘‘The idea was to basically offer the sports that the high school was offering,” Hutto said. ‘‘Some sports start at the recreational level, some at the clinical level and some at select. It’s really based on community demand and the amount of volunteer support.”
All of CSA’s coaches volunteer, and Hutto said the organization does not recruit athletes from other areas. When the program began, it adopted the colors, nickname and stated principles of the high school that opened its doors just a few months later.
CSA Coyotes, in large part, become Clarksburg Coyotes. Hutto estimated that 75 percent of the organization’s registrants live in Clarksburg zip codes. Another 10 to 15 percent, he said, are from areas of Germantown that feed into Clarksburg High.
Before the Clarksburg Sports Association came along, the area’s residents played their youth sports in the DSA, or one of Germantown’s youth leagues. What could have been a competitive situation is instead a cooperative effort.
‘‘Where practical, our teams have played in DSA Leagues this year,” Hutto said. ‘‘We share a bit of the same vision when it comes to making sure everyone has a place to play.”
The Challenger team is a perfect example. Many of the team’s players are from Damascus or Germantown. The hope is that this team will generate enough interest to spark three separate challenger teams — CSA, DSA and GAC — in the near future.
The CSA also hopes to develop programs for special needs players in other sports. For Hutto, the Challengers represent the culmination, at least in baseball, of the organization’s stated mission that ‘‘every athlete matters.”
‘‘It’s kind of the model of what we have a vision to achieve in all of our sports: The inclusion of kids regardless of their abilities,” Hutto said. ‘‘The long-term vision for us in all sports is to include all kids. That’s the unique thing about our baseball program right now. We’re offering all levels: Select, rec, clinical and Challenger.”
