KIDSPORTS gives all kids a chance to take the field
■ BASEBALL: Matt Perpinan
gets a chance to play and an
opportunity to be on a team
By Jeff Shaw
Freelance Reporter
It’s late July, and Willagillespie
Elementary School is alive with
children in uniform, carrying balls
and gloves. At 5:30 p.m., specta
tors awaiting the last baseball
game of the season watch nine
kids take the field.
One player, however, doesn’t
run.
Matt Perpinan was born with
spina bifida, a birth defect that
leaves many of those who have it
unable to walk. He has been in a
wheelchair all of his life.
Still, he has played a hill season
in right field for the Moffitt Ele
mentary/Douglas Gardens third
grade boys team — with assistance
from his father and from team
mates willing to play the role of
designated runner. Make no mis
take, though, Matt plays the game
on his own. In one of the last
games of this season, Matt had
three hits.
“We’ve tried to accommodate
his special needs, but still have
him play the game ... we’re just
having someone act as his legs,”
said Bob Josephson, CEO of the
Emerald KIDSPORTS Foundation
That someone is Jaime Per
pinan, Matt’s father, who plays a
key role in the modified game de
signed by Josephson and KID
SPORTS Program Director Jim Pil
green. Rule modifications were
necessary — Matt is the first
wheelchair player ever to partici
pate in KIDSPORTS.
KIDSPORTS is a Eugene
Springfield organization that pro
vides youth in kindergarten
through eighth grade with orga
nized sports teams.
When Matt plays defense, his
father stands in right field with
him, ready to push Matt towards
any ball hit his direction. If Matt is
unable to reach the ball because of
the height of his chair, his father
can hand it to him — but Matt
must catch the ball or make the
throw to the infield himself.
When Matt bats, Jaime pushes
him up to the plate. He remains
there to move the chair in case a
pitched ball comes close to hitting
his son. Once Matt hits the ball, a
designated runner takes off from
the right side of the plate.
“Everybody wants to run for
him,” said Mark Truebe, Matt’s
coach. “He’s real popular on the
team.”
Truebe acknowledges that Matt
has overcome adversity to play
this year.
“Obviously, it’s a lot more diffi
cult for him,” said Truebe. “When
you swing a bat, your body pivots.
His body doesn’t pivot, because
it’s sitting in the chair.”
This year, Truebe said, the team
has done a lot of “experimenting”
on things like “getting [Matt] the
right glove,” but the experiments
have paid off. “I think he’s had a
lot of fun, and he’s done well,”
Truebe said.
Matt’s mother, Vikki Perpinan,
has been trying to find her son a
place to play for years. Schools
like Moffitt, she said, don’t have
the facilities for wheelchair sports
due to extensive budget cuts.
Matt’s mother believes this ex
perience has been invaluable to
him, especially in terms of “learn
ing what it was like to be on a
team.”
“He’s nine years old, and has
never really had this opportuni
ty,” she said. “I’ve been calling
people for years to try to get some
thing like this for Matt to do. Now
that KIDSPORTS has finally said
yes, I’ll definitely be trying other
sports.”
Josephson said, KIDSPORTS
has been concerned in the past
about safety for physically chal
lenged participants.
“We have felt that it was diffi
cult for a kid in a wheelchair to
play without some risk of being in
jured. We have come up with a
system that worked, that allowed
him to play, and didn’t create any
hazard,” Josephson said. Precau
tions included consulting the
opinion of Matt’s physician and
writing into the modified rules
that Matt wear “any ... protective
equipment as required by his doc
tor.”
Both Josephson and Vikki Per
pinan expressed the belief that
Matt playing this season repre
sents an important precedent.
“As society comes to accept
physically challenged people
more and more, I think there will
be more of an effort made to ac
commodate them. KIDSPORTS
made an effort to accommodate
this boy with just a slight modifi
cation of the rules,” Josephson
said.
Vikki Perpinan emphasized the
immediate effect Matt's season
could have on the surrounding
community.
“My goal in all this is to let other
moms know their [physically
challenged] kids can play now. I
know I’m not the only one who
has been calling KIDSPORTS,”
she said.
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CHAD PATTESON/Emerald
(above) Little Lea
guer Matt Perpinan
celebrates his
team’s victory of
the last season
game while his fa
ther Jaime, sister
Andrea and mother
Vikki share the
proud moment.
(left) In preparation
for Matt's turn at
bat, a teammate
hands him a bat.
Matt hits the ball
during games and
a designated run
ner runs in his
place.
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