Lynbrook Looks to Organize Sports Programs for Children with Disabilities

When Patch reported in January that the Lynbrook Recreation Department was working with the Lynbrook/East Rockaway Soccer Club to set up a league for children with disabilities, there were a lot of interested volunteers, but only one child had enrolled.

Now, 16 children are registered, as well as more volunteers, and officials at the Recreation Department plan to begin holding soccer matches at by the spring or early summer. Officials would also like to organize a baseball league and hockey league for children with disabilities.

Pat McDermott, director of the Recreation Department, said three children have signed up for baseball, which he anticipates will begin in the summer, after soccer. He did not report any updates on hockey.

McDermott is still in the furrows, looking for more participants and volunteers.

“We’re trying to get names of people interested in this now. We’re trying to get the kids out there,” he said. “But we’re having trouble getting parents to call up.”

Last fall, McDermott contacted Guy Punzi, president of the Lynbrook/East Rockaway Soccer Club, and Deputy Mayor Alan Beach, the liaison to the Recreation Department, to initiate the idea. Punzi did some research and, with its Oct. 24 newsletter, the . This is a community-based program for young athletes with disabilities, organized through volunteers.

Since then, the club has been working with the Recreation Department to advertise, mainly within the Lynbrook community. It was Beach who suggested to McDermott that they go further than just soccer.

Beach, a retired New York City firefighter, had been engaged in a similar project with hockey in the early 2000s. But that was aborted after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which led him to focus his efforts with other kinds of civic work involving the FDNY. So, he asked McDermott to include more sports in the effort.

“You have Special Olympics,” Beach said. “This is another avenue to get kids ready for that.”

He said that the league would be self-sufficient, since the major cost is parks and facilities, which are already available on the Recreation Center grounds. All other expenses will be covered by the contributions from participating families.

In order to recruit more children, McDermott has expanded the outreach to the surrounding villages and school districts, including Valley Stream, Malverne, and Rockville Centre.

“Baseball is still in the baby stages,” said McDermott, who has been in contact with Mike Solow, president of the Lynbrook Little League. Currently, the league has three children registered, but is seeking at least 20.

“We’ve been going around to all the special education programs at the schools, [recreation] centers, libraries, and we have posters up in Village Hall,” he explained.
Beach said that he told McDermott to “Do whatever you have to do to make it work. If that involves going to other towns, then go to other towns.”

Those interested in registering their child or volunteering in the league should call Pat McDermott at (516) 599-8000.