Blind baseball takes off with new Hartlepool club that is attracting players from across North East
A new club for blind and visually impaired people is taking off in Hartlepool.
The Hartlepool Monkeys Blind Baseball team started in April and is providing an outlet for people with vision issues to experience new levels of fun and freedom.
Organisers are delighted with the numbers of players who are attending sessions at Hornby Park in Seaton Carew, and are spreading the word to swell their ranks further.
The team was set up by Grant Mallabar, 26, from Seaton Carew, who has retinitis pigmentosa, a chronic hereditary eye disease.
He said: “I previously lived in Manchester and played it there. Then when I came back to Hartlepool I connected with Hartlepool Vision Support .
"We worked together to get something going and it's been going really well.
"We have people from Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Thronaby, Durham and as far as Newcastle coming to the sessions and coaches from Manchester come to the first few to help us get off the ground.”
In blind baseball, all players wear a blindfold making it a level playing field, and instead of a pitcher they toss and hit the ball, which has bells in it, themselves.
They are guided to the bases by distinctive clapping sounds. The sport originated in Italy in the 1990s and spread across Europe to Britain with cities forming their own sides.
John Easton, head coach at UK Blind Baseball, dropped in on the Hartlepool Monkeys’ latest session to see their progress.
He said: “Usually in blind sports the players get guided by someone. With blind baseball they are out there under their own steam.
"The freedom they feel is absolutely fantastic. It’s a great sensation. Hats off to all the players and coaches.”
The new Hartlepool club has been attracting around 20 players including vision impaired people and their sighted helpers on a regular basis.
Grant added: “We are getting really good numbers. There is also a social aspect as well where afterwards we have a pint and a chat.
"It gives everyone a chance to come together.”
Anyone interested in joining the Hartlepool Monkeys Blind Baseball team can go along to Hornby Park, Elizabeth Way, between 5.30pm-7.30pm on a Tuesday evening.
For further information, call Hartlepool Vision Support on 07379 859420.