The Miracle League of Alexandria

Philip Reese (youth player) and Victor Stearns (adult player) in the Miracle League of Alexandria have been selected to represent the City of Alexandria at 2022 National Miracle League All-Star games in September in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Philip and Victor are one of 120 participants to be selected from 25 states from across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico to attend. Philip and Victor are both original members of the Miracle League of Alexandria program and are avid baseball lovers.

The honored participants represented 60 chapters of the Miracle League who were nominated to play by their leagues. The Miracle League is a national program founded in 2000 in Atlanta, Georgia and has grown to over 300 teams from the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The Alexandria program began in the spring of 2011 with the rubberized surface, Kelley Cares Miracle Field completed in November 2012. The Miracle League program is specifically for youth and adults with special needs to enjoy outdoor recreational opportunities and plays baseball in the spring and fall each year.

Due to the unsettled Covid-19 situation in Texas, Victor and his family were unable to attend this year’s event but are set to attend the all-star games this year. Victor will be accompanied by his brother, Frank, sister-in-law, Judith and Mac Slover, Chair of the MLA.  Philip will be playing in honor of his late father, Townsend who passed this January and will be accompanied by this twin sister, Emma.  He is also being supported by his mother Janet.

Sponsoring the Miracle League of Alexandria’s All-Star players each year is Dr. Angela Austin, owner of the Alexandria Children’s Dentistry in Alexandria. Dr. Austin has two locations in Alexandria in Del Ray and at Landmark. The Miracle League of Alexandria is very fortunate to have Dr. Austin and her staff as sponsors for their program. Check out Dr. Austin’s dental practice at www.loveskidsteeth.com or 703.942.8404 or 703.341.4418.

Mac Slover, Chair of the Miracle League of Alexandria will also be attending the games well.

Good luck to Philip and Victor at the National All-Star games.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Living Legends of Alexandria selection of Living Legends for 2020 will finally be honored on Wednesday, May 18, 2022. These community leaders were chosen based on their having met one or both of two selection criteria as evidence of having improved the quality of life in the City of Alexandria by having led the creation or redevelopment of something which wouldn’t have existed without their involvement or demonstrated substantial and sustained contributions over a significant period of time.

Carol Bailey and Ryan Bailey – As the mother of a son with special needs, Carol Bailey has worked for over 25 years with various organizations supporting individuals with disabilities. She and her son Ryan have been longtime volunteers in the Del Ray community.

Donald Simpson Jr. – A third-generation Alexandrian, Donald Simpson Jr. has continued the legacy of his father and grandfather with a commitment to the youth of Alexandria through support of numerous educational and athletic programs and local nonprofits.

Lindsey Swanson and Katy Swanson – Lindsay, Katy and the Swanson family formed the Kelley Cares Foundation in the wake of the tragic loss of Kelley Swanson in 2005. The foundation has continued Kelley’s passion to help the special needs community with numerous projects, including the building of the Kelley Cares Miracle Field.

The 2020 Legends will be formally recognized and introduced to the public at the 13th annual Meet the Legends reception on May 18, 2022, at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. The mission of Living Legends of Alexandria, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is to identify, honor and chronicle the lives of individuals who have made significant contributions to improve the quality of life in Alexandria.

For information, to volunteer, become a sponsor or nominate a future Legend, visit www.AlexandriaLegends.org or contact [email protected]

The full list of honorees can be found at
http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2020/011520/Alexandria.pdf

The Miracle League of Alexandria’s Board, players and parents congratulate Carol, Ryan, Donnie, Katey and Lindsey on their selection. They will be joining Bill Rivers and Pat Miller of the MLA, who was selected for the Living Legends a few years ago.

Congratulations to our own Miracle Living Legends!! The Miracle League of Alexandria players, parents, volunteers, staff and board members are proud of you.

Living Legends of Alexandria (alexandrialegends.org)

INDUCTION YEAR 2020

PREVIOUS INDUCTIONS

The Miracle League of Alexandria just completed its fall program, celebrating its 10th Anniversary! Due to Covid-19, the league was unable to play the 2020 spring and fall seasons as well as the spring 2021 season. The Miracle League completed the season in October with overwhelming support of so many youth and adults returning to participate made the season a huge success.

On Saturday, October 23, Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson came out to throw out the first pitch. Other special guest included staff members from the Prince William County Parks, Recreation and Tourism who will begin their own program in the spring of 2022. Capping off the final day, a cookout for everyone who attended was provided by the Psi Nu Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, who have been supporting the program since 2011. The Recreation Department/MLA provided a special cake to everyone also.

The Miracle League of Alexandria, which formed in 2010 and began play in 2011, have had wonderful support from the players, parents, staff and the community volunteers for over 10 years coming out each week to the games.

On behalf of the MLA Board Members and Recreation Department staff we say: thank you to all our volunteers, parents, donors and supporters for supporting our youth and adults for 10 wonderful years! We look forward to seeing lots of smiling faces, laughter, exciting hits, home runs, and catches in the upcoming spring 2022 season and beyond!

As a part of his Bar Mitzvah Avery Altenburgis and wanted to do a project related to baseball that would help the players in the Miracle League of Alexandria for the upcoming 2022 spring season. Avery has chosen to seek equipment donations from anyone who would like to contribute to his project. He is seeking new bags, safety (RIF 5 or T-Ball) baseballs, 11″ or 12″ soft softballs, batting tees and 13″ or larger baseball gloves. So far they have delivered a lot of items that will be used, but more can be donated.

To make arrangements to donate, he and his family have set up an Amazon Wish List (https://tinyurl.com/MiracleFieldList) for the equipment drive.

Mac Slover, Chair of the Miracle League of Alexandria stated “On behalf of our board members and our players, we want to sincerely thank Avery, his Dad, Larry, his family and those who donated the equipment for these generous donations! It is wonderful to see someone so young like Avery, giving back to his community, but most of all caring about our special athletes. We are very fortunate to have Avery as a part of our community.”

Below are some of the pictures from Avery’s delivery of equipment items before the holidays. He is pictured with Mac Slover, Chair of the Miracle League of Alexandria.