About free2play at Miracle Park

In 2007, the Carolina Miracle League completed construction of the Miracle League Baseball Field in the North Spartanburg Sports complex in Boiling Springs. The program provides children with physical and/or mental disabilities the opportunity to play baseball. The children are paired with volunteer “buddies” who help them bat, catch, field the ball and “run” the bases. More than 280 players and buddies participate each season. This experience has enriched the lives of the children, their families, and the community volunteers. The Carolina Miracle League has had great success and has been supported by local Spartanburg residents and businesses.

The Carolina Miracle League has always envisioned that the land surrounding the ball field would be used to design and build a playground to meet the needs of children with disabilities. In June 2008 a passionate group of local residents formed a grassroots committee to lead the project. The committee operates under the umbrella of the Carolina Miracle League, a 501c3 nonprofit organization.

The free2play playground will be approximately 9500 square feet in size. Free2play has been designed specifically to remove any physical and social barriers that a typical playground has, providing the freedom for ALL children to play together. The playground will resemble a typical playground and will be appealing and challenging to children of all abilities. The surfacing and the ramps onto the structures will provide safe and smooth access for children using mobility devices. Interactive equipment will encourage socialization and stimulate imaginative play.

North Spartanburg Sports Complex is located on Old Furnace Road in Boiling Springs, with easy access from Interstate 26 and Interstate 85. This playground site is ideal, as the landscape is level and there is paved access to the site. The park has handicapped accessible bathroom facilities and 70 handicapped parking spaces adjacent to the park. Free2play playground will be easily visible to all park goers and will be a welcome gathering spot for families.

The Carolina Miracle League is working with Boundless Playgrounds®, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities, like ours, create extraordinary barrier-free playgrounds where children, with and without disabilities, can develop essential skills for life as they learn together through play. There are currently more than 100 certified Boundless Playgrounds® in the United States, free2play at Miracle Park will be the first in South Carolina.

The design plan has been completed and the next step in the process is to inform the community and begin raising funds for the project. The project is budgeted at $350,000 and the Carolina Miracle League free2play Playground Committee is actively formulating fundraising plans and pursuing grant opportunities. Sponsorship opportunities are available for businesses and organizations for both monetary and in-kind donations. Construction of the playground will begin once we have secured 90 percent of the necessary funding.