The History of the Alameda East Bay Miracle League

The Alameda journey toward Miracle baseball began in 2006 when Roberta Rockwell heard a news story while driving to work at Ameila Earhart Elementary. She thought of one of her students, Nicholas, who loves baseball but his disabilities – he has Charge Syndrome – prevent him from joining Little League. "I thought, if he can get to school every day and smile," Rockwell recalls, "how hard can it be to build a baseball field? (Read more of Eve Pearlman's story here).

The first meeting to determine if there was local interest and desire for Miracle Park was in February, 2006. It didn't take long to figure out we were on the right track!

• Within two months we had the endorsement of several Alameda City Councils/Commissions, from then County Supervisor, Alice Lai-Bitker, and from Assemblywoman Wilma Chan.
• We established a preliminary Board of Directors and an Advisory Board.
• In our third month (May, 2006), we received several offers of property for our field location and the offer of extensive construction assistance.
• Several local newspapers published feature articles about our efforts to build the Miracle League Park.
• A San Francisco law firm donated legal services to assist us in filing for our non-profit status.
• We continued to gather endorsements and support from local organizations and City Commissions/Councils including the City of Alameda Planning Board, City Council, Recreation Commission, Commission for Citizens with Disabilities, Alameda Rotary Foundation.

In 2007, we were obviously secure in knowing that we had local support and interest:

• We established our non-profit status.
• We received the commitment of a $500,000 contribution from Catellus/Prologis Inc.
• We continued to fundraise through local grants, and began our fundraising campaign targeting larger foundations and grants.
• Our public relations included newspaper stories, magazine articles, radio stories, and television spots.
• Given several possible building sites – we selected one that best met the special needs of the baseball players and allowed for construction to begin within the next few years.
• We held our first Dash fundraiser.

In 2008, our dedicated Miracle Team continued to grow:

• An award winning film maker donated her time to design a video about our league.
• We saw our League featured on the big screen 'Jumbo-tron' of the Oakland A's.
• In March we held our first annual fundraiser – the St. Patty’s Day Dash, a 5K fun run (walk or roll too).

In 2009, we organized in order to accomplish specific goals:

• Our second annual fundraiser - The Dash - was successful and provided awareness for differently-abled athletes of all ages.
• We continued to keep the Alameda City and School District officials up-to-date on our progress.
• We hired an architect firm to help plan and design professional conceptual drawings.
• Eichleay Engineers Inc. of California provided specific preliminary cost estimates.
• The City of Alameda submitted a formal application to the Department of the Interior and National Parks to acquire the proposed Estuary Park site, including the Miracle League Park in their proposal.

In 2010, we continue to gain support and legitimacy:

• We held our third St. Patty's Day Dash with quadruple sponsorship and terrific attendance.
• Our marketing team met with the Oakland A's and developed a partnership that includes national advertising as well as community awareness.
• We saw our name in on-line newspapers.
• We became connected on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.
• We held several informational events to encourage community participation.
• With tremendous sponsorship our 40' parade float was inaugurated on the 4th of July with 40,000 cheering us on.
• The City of Alameda continues to pursue land conveyance for the Miracle Park site and offers funding to help with architectural plans.
• We launched this beautiful new web site!

Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.