Glen Rock Student Brings Baseball Diamond To Kids With Special Needs

GLEN ROCK, NJ — A local high schooler's self-developed little league baseball program for kids with special needs is concluding what is hoped to be its inaugural season.

Ethan Diamond, a Glen Rock High School junior, has brought the baseball diamond to kids with disabilities through a volunteer program he started a month and a half ago.

"(This) is important because it gives these kids a chance to be part of something they otherwise may not be able to," said Diamond's father Jon, who coaches a 12U team that volunteers along with Ethan and other local students.

Sponsored by the Glen Rock Little League, Diamond's Challenger program involves about 12 kids who are taught the beloved sport and are able to play in simulated game in town.

GRLL president Rob Goldberg said the league has been looking to start such a program for a few years, and that the plan is to make this an annual offering that continues to involve local students and the 12U team out of Cooperstown.

"Along with his family, Ethan Diamond stepped up and really took the lead in getting the program off of the ground," Goldberg said. "The program would not have been started without his efforts."

Ethan Diamond modeled the program after Glen Rock TOPSoccer, a similar initiative that brings soccer to kids with special needs. He had come up with the idea, in fact, when he was unable to volunteer for TOPSoccer this year, and at the same time saw a need for an analogous initiative for America's pastime.

A baseball and soccer player at his high school, Ethan Diamond gathered together kids, including his own teammates, who were interested in helping, and everything came together. He and his dad, like Goldberg, hope to make the program a tradition for the borough.

Challenger participants range in age from 8 to 14, and will continue to play until May 21, five weeks after the program began. Players have been meeting at Glen Rock's Central Elementary School on Sunday mornings.

"Seeing the joy in (the kids') faces and hearing stories from parents about how much they enjoy it is what makes it worth it for (Ethan and me)," Jon Diamond said.