Together, They Can Bellevue Woman Finds A Way For Disabled Kids To Interact, Enjoy Sports With Peers

She is called the best volunteer coach in the nation - the kind who carries her players to the outfield, who holds their hands as they round the bases, who even cheers on the opposing team.

Admiring parents say Beth Campbell has broken down barriers in Bellevue’s youth sports, mixing able-bodied players with children with physical and developmental disabilities.

Buddy Ball, as they call it here, has won Campbell the kind of national attention she never expected or sought. She has been chosen from among 140,000 coaches in the country as the National Volunteer Youth Coach of the Year.

On Campbell’s team, those who can’t stand for long periods field from a stool. Those who can’t find first base run with a buddy. It’s typical for bases to be rounded in a motorized wheelchair. All of these first-, second- and third-graders play with, and against, children without disabilities.

Campbell, 41, created Buddy Ball two years ago with the help of the Bellevue Parks and Community Services Department. Her 9-year-old son, Stevie, does not speak and has trouble picking up a ball. But Campbell has found a way for Stevie and other children with disabilities to play T-ball in the city league.

“To watch the wheelchair batter hit the ball deep and circle the bases with her hands raised and both teams cheering is a typical scene at Beth Campbell’s Golden Eagle Buddy Ball games,” recreation coordinator Rudy Thomas said in nominating Campbell.

“No, her games and practices are not your typical T-ball scene. But then, Beth is not your typical youth sports coach.”

Parent Cathy Hoesterey recalled a midseason game when Campbell decided a player with cerebral palsy was going to play in the outfield.

“I came close to tears one day when I saw Beth scoop (him) out of his bulky electric wheelchair, carry him to the outfield and hold him on her knee so he could play outside the confines of his wheelchair,” Hoesterey wrote to the panel that named Campbell coach of the year.

“(He) will probably never physically be able to catch a pop fly by himself because of cerebral palsy, but now he knows what it feels like to be on the field and see a ball headed for him. You should have seen the look on his face. He grinned and laughed aloud as he worked to maintain his balance on her knee.”

But Campbell, parents say, is no pushover. They report she is firm without shouting, strict without ridiculing.

Leslie Leitch, whose sons are not disabled and played on Campbell’s team, said she is the best coach they have had in any sport.

“Beth used really progressive techniques,” Leitch said. “She had the children close their eyes and visualize themselves catching the ball and running the bases.”

Campbell, a mother of two, who is married to her high-school sweetheart, is a lifelong athlete with a lengthy coaching career. She campaigned to bring more girls sports to Bellevue High School while she was a student and played golf and basketball for the University of Washington for four years.

She has coached Little League and high school sports, and for the past six years has coached son Christopher’s basketball team through the Boys & Girls Club.

Campbell had heard of Little League efforts in some cities to offer teams specifically for children with disabilities.

She created an integrated team. Those who can’t do it all have older buddies - typically fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders - help out during a game.

Campbell will receive her award in Florida next month.

“My son gets to first base and then runs into the crowd and hugs everybody,” Campbell said with a laugh.

“It’s what sports should be: Kids running and jumping and playing. Nobody is keeping score. Nobody cares.”