Photo courtesy of Molly Campbell, Bridgewater College
(Key pictured left, Hazlett pictured right)
WASHINGTON, Pennsylvania (Aug. 7) - At yesterday’s Pony World Series Champions League Game in Washington, PONY Baseball and Softball President and CEO Abraham Key awarded Terry Hazlett with the Chuck Dubski Champions Award for his years of service organizing the annual game.
“We’re honored to recognize the continuous service of Terry Hazlett for his dedication and passion helping the special needs children of Western Pennsylvania,” said Key. “We’re honored to present him the 2016 Chuck Dubski Award for his efforts.”
A retired resident of Washington, Hazlett, who still works works two part-time jobs and is a member of the board of America’s Pop Music Hall of Fame, humbly received the award.
“I was certainly surprised by it,” said Hazlett. “It’s absolutely wonderful, but in truth, that award should go to the board and all the coaches because we all work equally hard to make this work every year.”
Hazlett has been organizing the Champions League Game for 16 years, in part, because of his 23-year old son, Carrick, who has special needs. Carrick is one of 12 players who have participated in the Champions League Game since its inception.
“He means everything to me, and that’s why we started this, because he loves sports and so do all the other kids,” said Hazlett. “They are unable to play with other kids on typical sports teams, so we decided to start our own.”
According to Hazlett, an organization in nearby Canonsburg, Pennsylvania stopped organizing their usual three-game season years ago and, along with a group of parents, he took it upon himself to start the league. Now, Adaptive Sports, Inc., the non-profit organization that Hazlett is a part of, has grown to include over 100 players, playing four different sports, and they also hold several dances during the year.
“We play anywhere from 15 and 20 games every August, which includes the Champions League Game,” said Hazlett. “We also have our own World Series at Consol Energy Field this year.”
Hazlett also had nothing but positive remarks regarding PONY’s Champions League program and the annual Champions League Game at the Pony World Series, as each player at Lew Hays Pony Field received a medal and Champions patch, and they had fun interacting with the World Series teams and Pennsylvania Rebellion softball players.
“It’s definitely the highlight of the year for the kids,” said Hazlett. “In their minds, they are part of the Pony League World Series on equal status with all of the people coming from all over the world, which they are. They are being spotlighted, and I think you could tell today how much they appreciate that. They really love it.”