The Little League created a nationwide Challenger Division in 1989 to include children with physical and intellectual disabilities, and this program eventually made its way to Lower Merion Township, reports Matteo Iadonisi for 6abc.

“We’ve been running that program for 15 or 20 years,” said Wally Orlov, President of the Lower Merion Little League. “And when the parents reached out to me and said, ‘Can you do basketball?’ I couldn’t say no.”

And so the Challenger Basketball program was launched. The Penn Valley Junior Sports Association sends out registrations in December at the same time as the standard recreational leagues. Then it partners around 50 kids with special needs with a buddy to help them on the court and have a good time.

“In the special needs community, they don’t necessarily get that quite as often as other kids in our community,” Orlov said. “And this sort of evens the playing field a little bit.”

One of the players is 17-year-old Izzy Hyson.

“Coach Wally keeps saying I’m really good at shooting and dribbling,” she said. “I’ve played it for a long time and it’s a really good sport.”

Her mother, Chris, said Izzy has learned so much throughout the years of swimming, tennis, baseball, and basketball offered by the program.

“It’s a great way for all the players to learn a new skill of course, but to make friends, to develop confidence,” said Chris. “Izzy has just grown tremendously because of programs like this. We’re so grateful for them.”

While the winter basketball program is coming to an end soon, there are other programs in the Lower Merion area such as Challenger Soccer and Challenger Baseball. In addition, various local high schools take part in the Best Buddies program to provide even more engagement with the special needs community.

“I’ll do this hopefully every year as long as I’m alive,” said Orlov. “Year in and year out, we love these kids.”

Read more about Lower Merion’s Challenger Division at 6abc.