Kobylka honored for helping make baseball accessible to players of all abilities

Local children and adults of all abilities have been able to enjoy playing baseball thanks to Dan Kobylka taking the initiative more than three decades ago.

The 68-year-old Chatham resident recalled watching a television program in 1991 about Challenger baseball for children.

“What caught my attention was when the players aged-out they had them back as volunteers,” Kobylka said

He decided to figure out how the program could work in Chatham.

A long-time house league baseball coach with the Chatham Minor Baseball Association, Kobylka said, “The hardest job was getting players, because they didn’t know me.”

Only six players signed up the first year, but that doubled to 12 the next year, he said. The third year saw 20 kids participate and it grew from there.

“Our greatest advertisement was word of mouth,” Kobylka said.

He said families who have kids with special needs are a tight-knit community and word got out through the parents it was a good program.

Kobylka, who just retired from the program, recently was honored for his more than 30 years of involvement with local baseball during the annual Challenger baseball banquet.

Looking back on getting the program started, Kobylka said, “We had to adapt the game to the players.”

The first rule was keeping score is not important, he said.

“The idea is successful,” Kobylka said. “We didn’t care if they swung and missed the ball 20 times just stay up until you hit it.”

He recalled an amusing play when a kid hit the ball and everyone was yelling for him to run to first base.

“But, we didn’t say stop at first base and he ran out to the end of the fence,” Kobylka laughed.

Seven years in to Challenger baseball, Kobylka, who already was a heart transplant recipient, needed a second heart transplant, so the program was turned over to the Children’s Treatment Center of Chatham-Kent.

When he came back, Kobylka said the treatment center was running the program so well, he stepped back but continued to watch the kids play.

However, in 2017, a chance encounter with a former Challenger baseball player, Chris Schram, led to a discussion about staring at an adult Challenger baseball program, Kobylka said.

The benefit of the adult program, he said, is seeing the adult players grow, since many have remained since it began.

Having recently come through surgery for a brain tumor, Kobylka is feeling confident about stepping aside, because Schram and other players are running the program.

He said COVID-19 halted the program for a year. But when it started up again, the players were quickly into a routine and had it running smoothly.

Kobylka said a volunteer came up to him and said, “Dan, they really don’t need us.

“I said, ‘Yeah, but we need them. As volunteers we need their energy.’”

Mike Warren, a long-time volunteer with minor baseball, said, “I’ve done a lot of things with minor baseball over the years and this is probably the most fun I’ve ever had is working with Challenger baseball.”

He credits Kobylka for making it clear to all involved the main reason for the program is to “have fun, make friends and show good sportsmanship.”

Warren said Kobylka is behind the adult Challenger players getting involved in the community, such as holding Christmas food drives.

Kobylka said some players volunteer with the Salvation Army Christmas kettle campaign and others volunteer at the local animal shelter.

Warren said Kobylka has “broadened the whole philosophy of the program to say, ‘You’ve got to be a good citizen.’”

He added six people are stepping up to take on Kobylka’s role with the program.

“That tells you how much work he has done with the program.”

Warren has nominated Kobylka for the TD and Blue Jays MVP contest, which includes throwing out the first pitch at the Blue Jays home game on Oct. 1 and a VIP experience at the Rogers Centre, including tickets to two games, Blue Jays swag, accommodations for three nights and airfare.

During the years, Kobylka discovered baseball is just the platform for something bigger.

Kobylka shared a message from a player who told him: “I had a really great time. That’s the first time I’ve actually felt like family and so involved and I made some new friends.”

He realized this is not about baseball, it’s about relationships, citing as an example of those involved in Challenger baseball recently celebrating a player getting her driver’s license.

Kobylka said receiving an award was “humbling.

“I’m grateful, but it’s all about the players.”