D3 baseball program partners professional athletes with disabled players

The first man to pitch professionally from crutches is now providing free sports camps for people with disabilities to achieve their athletic dreams.

“The reason I’m doing this is personal. My son Gideon, he was born with neither arm developed,” said Doug Cornfield, creator of the Disability, Dream and Do Program (D3).

“My father was a world class athlete, a world class runner and I had a full scholarship to the University of Georgia for running track there,” Cornfield said. “All of sudden here’s a boy that was born with neither arm and then we found out he had one leg shorter than the other.”

“During that time when Gideon was just an infant, I got to read an article about this man, Dave Clark, who had polio and he never walked without crutches or braces, and then the article went on to say he had played professional baseball,” Cornfield added.

That meeting between Cornfield and Clark formed the D3 program.

“It’s for kids and young adults with all different disabilities, and we set these up with several professional sports teams,” Cornfield said. “I raise every dime for these camps. We never charge, even when we have camps of 100 participants.”

One of the great things about the camps is they let the participants feel normal in a fun, active environment.

“We get the whole team out there, and then they get to eat with the players, they get tickets to a game, they get shirts they get hats, they get signatures,” Cornfield said.

They also get to achieve accomplishments they didn’t think possible.

“Sometimes the parents get to realize that these children and these young adults can actually do a lot more than they ever dreamed,” Cornfield said.

Those interested in participating in the free camps can enroll here.