Challenged Youth Sports: Welcome

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How Challenged Youth Sports began...

Challenged Youth Sports began in 1990 in Lincroft, New Jersey as a recreational sports program for children with disabilities. The program is totally volunteer based, using caring adults and wonderful teenagers from our community. Our objective is to provide recreation for the children while fostering an environment for positive reinforcement through recreational sports. We are recognized as a 501-C-3 non-profit organization.

Our program began with 20 children in 1990 and now has more than 150 participants playing Soccer in the Fall, Basketball in the Winter, Tennis and Little League Softball in the Spring. Click here to see a recent Asbury Park Press article showing some of our players in action.

We completed our first playground (click on Our 1st Accessible Playground tab on the left to see it) in June 2004 and we completed our second playground, Tony's Place, in November 2009.  These are fully accessible playgrounds for children of ALL abilities.   Both of these playgrounds were built with the assistance of the wonderful people at the Monmouth County Parks System.

Challenged Youth Sports - Up to the Challenge

"This stinks."

When Paul Hooker was coaching a Little League team in 1990, he asked a little girl in a wheelchair how she was doing as she watched her brother's game. Her two-word answer, expressing her disappointment at not being able to play, resonated with Hooker. Soon after, he and his wife Margo started the Challenger Little League program in Middletown. They now also run Challenger soccer, basketball and tennis programs, with children from 20 towns participating. And in June of 2004, thanks to their tireless efforts, New Jersey's first playground accessible to children with disabilities was opened. Challenger Place playground in Monmouth County's Dorbrook Park, Colts Neck, is a dream come true for the Hookers. The seed for the park was planted in 2000 when a group of Middletown fourth-graders wrote letters to the Hookers' volunteer program, Challenged Youth Sports, asking that it work with Boundless Playgrounds, a Bloomfield, Conn., nonprofit that facilitates construction of playgrounds that allow children with and without disabilities to play together. With land and $500,000 donated by the county parks system, a $171,000 grant from the state and $200,000 raised through fund-raisers and private donations, the playground for children with all abilities has become a reality. The Hookers - and those who helped them bring more fun into the lives of children - deserve an ovation for their efforts to make sure things don't "stink". - Asbury Park Press, Friday, July 23, 2004

Tony's Place

On Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at Seven President’s Park in Long Branch, NJ, we finally cut the ribbon on our 2nd Accessible Playground for children of ALL abilities, Tony’s Place. Tony’s Place is a universally accessible playground, integrated for enjoyment by children of all abilities. It provides meaningful, sensory-rich, and developmentally appropriate play opportunities. The Asbury Park Press printed an article in which Tony’s Place was featured.  Click here to read more.  Thanks to the Monmouth County Park Systems and so many generous people for making another dream a reality... 

   (Mid April until Mid June)  We generally have approx. 6 teams of about 16 children per team. The teams meet one evening a week from about 6-7pm…then again on Sundays at 4:00 pm for about an hour. All of the sessions are played at the Lincroft Little League complex on Rt.520 in Lincroft.  

UPDATE - WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING REGISTRATION FORMS FOR LITTLE LEAGUE.  REGISTRATIONS ARE DUE BY FEBRUARY 17TH.  IF YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO PLAY, MAIL IT IN TODAY!

'The Boss' gets to meet a brave Holmdel High School student at a local hospital.

By Christina Johnson  - The Holmdel Patch

February 10, 2012

At one moment, Rachel Colby, 19, of Holmdel was lying in a hospital bed at Monmouth Medical Center, on medication for a painful bout of kidney stones. In the next moment, Bruce Springsteen was at her bedside, praising her courage, complimenting her smile and giving her a kiss on her head. No, it was not a dream. It actually happened on October 29, the day of the strange snowy nor'easter. And her mother and father, Catherine and James Colby, have the photo to prove it. "You could just see her light up," said Catherine Colby, recalling the visit. Their wheelchair-bound daughter has endured 35 surgeries, for a multitude of medical issues she's had to deal with since birth. Her parents are always at her side. "To be honest, it was exciting and it was something different from what we’ve been through with Rachel. It took away from dealing with medical issues, and a lot of the down part of being sick all the time. It was exciting," said Catherine Colby. Rachel Colby's surprise encounter with the beloved Monmouth County-based rock legend has been circulating among Rachel Colby's friends and family. It came to Holmdel Patch's attention after her recreation sports coach, Paul Hooker of Challenged Youth Sports in Lincroft, re-told Jimmy Colby's story on the CYS Facebook page. Her mother said that on that unforgettable day, Rachel was plugged into her iPod, listening to music and taking medication to help her with the kidney stones. Jim Colby did a double take when he saw what he was sure was Bruce Springsteen walk past the door to chat with a doctor. "He said, 'This man looks like Bruce Springsteen,' and I said, 'Nah,'" she recalled. But Jim Colby goes to Springsteen concerts and buys the Boss's music for himself and Rachel. He was sure. He waited for the conversation between Bruce and the doctor to be over, with the plan to ask Bruce to come talk to his sick daughter. As he approached him, a security guard intervened, said Catherine Colby, but Bruce told the guard it was okay. "No problem at all," Springsteen told Rachel's father. He went to her bedside, explaining he was at the hospital to visit his sick friend. "Rachel, do you know who this is? Bruce Springsteen!" Her mother said, and her daughter's face lit up. "I told him pretty much what we do, that this is our world, that she is in and out of hospitals a lot. I started to tell him what was wrong with her," said Catherine. "At that point, he said to Rachel 'You're a real trooper, you're really pretty, you have a beautiful smile," her mother said. "She had a big smile on her face." Catherine Colby told Springsteen about her daughter's love of music and music videos. "Who knows, maybe she's listening to one of your songs right now," she told Bruce. Rachel took off her headphones. "Nah, I'm listening to Shania Twain," she said. Springsteen laughed. "I like Shania Twain too," he said. Catherine Colby asked if she could have a photo of the two of them. Springsteen said sure, and he went to the top of the bed and bent over to be photographed with Rachel. Catherine took one image with the cellphone and thanked him. Before he left, Springsteen, who has children too, made an affectionate gesture by kissing her on her head. Then he left. "He was very nice. He listened to what we had to say. He was down to earth," said Catherine Colby. The Colby family lives on Maurice Avenue, in the section of Holmdel off Laurel Avenue. Rachel Colby will graduate from the high school's contained class this summer, and continue one more year to re-inforce job skills she is using at her part time job as a volunteer at Regal Pointe in Middletown. She is also known throughout the school system as a helper. Through the School Transition Readiness Independent Vocational Experience program (STRIVE) she leaves the high school to work twice a week at the Village Elementary School, at the front desk and in the library. Of her experience meeting Bruce, she tells people, "It was really cool," said her mom. "She just takes things in stride. When Bruce says she is a trooper, that’s really an understatement," said Catherine Colby.

Click here to view the story on the Holmdel Patch website.

ICE SKATING PARTY -  Held in the Spring on a weekend at the Red Bank Ice Armory Complex in Red Bank, owners Leslie and Doug Brooks generously donate the ice time. Local high school hockey players volunteer to help our children skate, many of them for the very first time.

  VALENTINE'S DAY DANCE - Held on a Saturday evening close to February 14th, our dance takes place at the Croydon Hall Senior Center in Middletown. This FREE celebration for the kids in our program includes food, refreshments and an amazing DJ that has everyone on their feet dancing the night away.  

HALLOWEEN DANCE - Held on an evening close to Halloween, this celebration takes place at the Croydon Hall Senior Center in Middletown.  The kids (and parents too!) dress up in costumes and have a blast dancing to their favorite DJ.  This FREE party for our kids also includes food and refreshments.