Noah Dropsey, New Palestine High School senior boy scout, raised $12,000 for the NPYL Challenger League Dugout Accessibility Project. It was his Eagle Scout Project.
NEW PALESTINE — New baseball dugout benches were added, a brand new sidewalk path leading up to one of the dugouts was installed, plus the cement flooring entrance into the dugouts were both made even making for easy access. The major work done on a couple of youth baseball dugouts ended up helping area kids who are part in the New Palestine Youth League (NPYL) Challenger League.
The Challenger League is a special baseball group with about 30 challenged kids who are on two different teams. The league allows kids of different abilities to play baseball, just like other area youth.
While the children play their games on the same field other area teams do at the NPYL diamonds, the field they used wasn’t the easiest for kids with disadvantages to maneuver around the dugouts — until Noah Dropsey stepped in.
Noah is a senior at New Palestine High School who has been a Boy Scout with Troop 254 since first grade. He was looking for a special project to do in order to help him earn his Eagle Scout Badge and landed on helping out the Challenger League with a dugout project.
Noah’s mother, Jenni Dropsey, happened to know the founder of the Challenger League, Cindy Roseberry, and some of the issues the league was facing with the dugouts, so they had Noah reach out to see if he could help.
Turns out, the dugouts the kids used were not easily accessible for children using mobility devices such as wheelchairs and walkers. Both dugouts had a 4- to 5-inch step to get in and out of the dugout. Though one of the dugout’s entrances had asphalt leading up to it, the other had a long stretch of gravel, making it difficult for players with mobility challenges. Plus, one of the concrete pads inside one of the dugouts was in disrepair with severe cracking and deterioration. Then there were also the bench placements, which did not allow space for a mobility device, even if access was possible.
“When I found out about the project and knowing there was a real need for the kids, I said, ‘I love this idea and I want to work on it,’” Noah said.
Noah decided to tackle not just one of the issues, but all of the problems and raised $12,000 for the official NPYL Challenger League Dugout Accessibility Project. Noah and his troop members spent a combined 172 community hours and worked a full year on the project to get the dugouts in great shape.
“We did the project as my Eagle Scout project, but since then I liked being around the kids so much I started becoming a ‘buddy’ for one of the kids on the team,” Noah said. “It’s all been so rewarding seeing the kids out there enjoying what we did.”
Noah said he is more than likely going into the field of aerospace engineering and will visit places like MIT, Georgia Tech, Cal Tech and Purdue University before picking a college. But, for now, he’s enjoying his senior year and was thrilled to do the Challenger League project.
“My favorite part of all of this was getting to see the kids who were in a wheelchair and one with a walker, getting to see them get into the dugouts because they had to sit outside of the dugouts before we did the work, and that was heartbreaking to watch,” Noah said.
Part of the work called for jack-hammering the entrance into the dugouts and lowering the cement so the kids could get in. Plus he added new benches that made room for wheelchairs and walkers.
“I’m so very proud of him,” Noah’s mom said. “He worked so hard on this project and it was a big project.”
She was not alone in singing Noah’s praises. Roseberry, who started the league several years ago to allow for inclusion for area kids, noted she was beyond happy with how the project turned out.
“It was amazing what Noah did,” Roseberry said. “The parents and the kids, they love it and we’re thankful because Noah and his troop, they took over a project we could not do.”
Roseberry noted several area high school kids volunteer their time as “buddies” for the Challenger League, partnering with the kids while they play, and said the league could not work without the help of the community, including young people like Noah.
Cheryl Blocher, coach of the Indians in the Challenger League said, it was great to see the work Noah and the volunteers did.
“We have a kid on our team with a walker, and it was difficult for him to get in here,” she said while sitting in the dugout. “Once they put that lip on the entrance there, it was much easier for him to get in.”
Darren Mahurin, the coach of the Baseballers, the other league team, said there was at least a 4-inch drop heading into their dugout before, making it very difficult for one of their team members in a wheelchair.
“I’ve been with this league from the first year, and it’s amazing to see the difference in not only how far the kids playing in the league have come, but also their families,” Mahurin said. “The project that Noah did just helps that whole growth process … It’s a win-win.”
The fields are run by NPYL but owned by the Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock County. That means Noah had to present the project to the school board then work with a contractor, for insurance reasons, and make sure the NPYL and the Challenger League were happy and benefiting from the project.
In addition, Noah and the volunteers cleaned and repainted one of the dugouts. Cross of Grace Lutheran Church made a substantial donation to the project as did Holt Construction Group, the contractor, and one of their subcontractors, REconstruction Inc., Those groups were also able to help with considerable discounts of supplies and labor, Noah’s family said.
