VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Before Sunday's Champions League game, News 3 honored two local moms who have spent years making sure children with special needs aren't left out of America's pastime.
The Champions League is a subset of baseball leagues in Great Neck, Kempsville, Creeds and Deep Creek featuring athletes you have special needs.
In 2017, Christine Ross started Great Neck Baseball's Champions League.
“My goal is just to see progress," she told News 3 then, with her young son Ethan in tow.
Now, Ethan has grown and his brother Caidan is part of the league too. Dozens of kids are.
On Sunday, the Great Neck team was one of a few playing in the Champions League Jamboree at Kempsville PONY Baseball club.
Ross is still the Vice President of the Great Neck league and told News 3 before the game that she never thought it would grow so much.
"Absolutely never. I really just wanted my son to have the same opportunity as his brothers to play baseball," she said.
Angellica Schulman is the a longtime friend of Ross' and has been involved since the beginning, spending the last several years as president of the Great Neck league.
“We’ve seen our kids go from four years old to now my youngest is 12 and has been a part of this team since then. They foster amazing relationships and we’re a huge community so that’s the best part about it," said Schulman.
And the two have used that success to inspire more outreach through their nonprofit called Aid Another.
“Now we do baseball and basketball, summer camps. We do tween and teen socials, adult socials. We really morphed into other programs," said Ross.
For their efforts, Ross and Schulman are this week's News 3 Everyday Heroes!
