Baseball camp helps Iowa’s deaf, hard of hearing kids play America’s favorite pastime

DES MOINES, Iowa — This week, the Iowa Baseball Camp for the Deaf is teaching deaf and hard of hearing kids from across the state the fundamentals of America’s favorite pastime.

The camp has been running for 10 years and provides the support the kids need like sign language interpreters.

The camp is also completely free for kids to attend.

“This whole camp is free for all of the campers to attend. They pay nothing out of pocket so we fund this camp through donations and community partnerships,” Dylan Heuer, the Camp Director of the Iowa Baseball Camp for the Deaf, said.

Heuer said he started the camp so kids like him would have a place to learn baseball.

“The reason why I set up the camp is because most of these children who are deaf and hard of hearing don’t have the best access to organized sports. They don’t have access to leagues and things like that. They’re typically left out of those types of opportunities, so we set that up here where they have the opportunity here to have access and they can learn about baseball,” Heuer said.

The campers will be at the Iowa Cubs home game this Thursday where they will sign the National Anthem and participate in on-field activities in-between innings. Friday, they will tour Principal Park before playing a pick-up game of baseball on the field with Iowa Cubs players.

To learn more about the Iowa Baseball Camp for the Deaf visit the organization’s website .

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