Las Vegas’ Challenger Little League gives disabled youth a chance to shine

It is easy for Tom Taycher to point to a single favorite moment in baseball season. But it's not the first pitch, a double play or a home run.

It's trophy day.

For Taycher, his proudest moment comes at the end of every Challenger Little League season as he watches dozens of disabled children claim their awards. The league serves children ages 5 to 18 who have physical or intellectual disabilities.

"A lot of these kids never had the opportunity to do any organized sport with the school district or with the neighborhoods. They were always on the sidelines watching," said Taycher, who directs the Las Vegas league, choking up a bit before continuing.

"Now they play on a team. Parents and friends cheer them on for their accomplishments for playing America's greatest pastime."

This season, the Spring Valley resident won an award of his own. The International Little League awarded Taycher the 2011 Challenger Little League Award for his dedication of 20 years in service to Las Vegas disabled children who play the sport.

Taycher accepted the award at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., in August.

"Well, my name is on the award, but I am a firm believer that I was just accepting it on behalf of the players, parents, buddies, sponsors and volunteers of the league," Taycher said. "This is their award; I just picked it up for them."

Taycher's 27-year-old son, Kenny -- who played in the league's first days and is now an assistant coach -- said he couldn't think of someone who deserved the honor more.

"He really gave me my first chance to feel included and part of a team," said Kenny, who is legally blind. "He is the man with drive that encourages equality for everybody. He was always there fighting for me, giving kids and myself a safe haven to play a great national pastime."

Taycher started the Las Vegas Challenger League in 1991, mailing out information to potential players and organizing the first rosters at his kitchen table. The first year, the league had 40 kids and four teams and has since had as many as 14 teams a season.

"We don't keep score," Taycher said. "It's just the fundamentals of baseball: hitting, throwing, catching and, of course, teamwork."

While some players hit off tees, he said the goal is to have everyone up to bat with a pitched ball by the end of the season.

Taycher said he always tells the coaches the players can get only five or six pitches to keep the game moving along, but he always seems to be the one breaking that rule.

"Everybody just looks up to him," said Myles Beck, a coach whose 12-year-old daughter has played in the league for three years. "Tom Taycher's work is unbelievable. He's done a lot for these kids."

Like so many other kids on the teams and for Beck's daughter, Pearl, who has cerebral palsy, the league means meeting new friends and playing a sport she wouldn't otherwise have had the opportunity to participate in.

Beck's three other children volunteer with the league as "buddies" who help the participants in the field, at bat and around the bases.

"It gives me confidence," Pearl Beck said. "It's very, very awesome."

It's those words, coupled with watching the kids' love for the game, that keeps Taycher coming back every season.

"I've had parents tell me, during baseball season their son or daughter sleeps in their uniform and cuddles with their baseball glove instead of a stuffed animal or blanket at night," Taycher said. "There is nothing more heartwarming."