Turtle Creek Stadium to host inclusive All-Star Games for all abilities

Turtle Creek Stadium hosted Dream Team Northern Michigan’s first All-Star Games, turning the Traverse City ballpark into a stage for athletes of all abilities. The three-game day brought players from Northern Michigan, Grand Rapids and DeWitt together for games at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m., with athletes ages 8 and older taking part.

Tickets were sold at the stadium box office for $5 per person, and all proceeds went to Dream Team NMI. Organizers also sought volunteers to help staff the event, adding a community role to a day built around participation as much as competition.

Dream Team Northern Michigan traces its roots to January 2015, when baseball parents and special-needs educators founded the league to include youths, teens and young adults with disabilities or special health care needs. The organization says its inaugural opening day was held May 9, 2015, at NMC softball fields, giving this first All-Star Games format more than a decade of local history behind it.

The nonprofit’s current registration materials divide players into two age groups, 8-17 and 18 and over, matching the mix of athletes on the field at Turtle Creek Stadium. A profile from the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation says Dream Team received a 2023 Community Funds grant and a DEI grant to help update dugouts at the Grand Traverse Civic Center baseball fields so the facilities could better meet players’ needs. That work underscored how accessibility has been part of the program’s development, not just a feature of Saturday’s event.

Turtle Creek Stadium gave the All-Star Games a larger public platform than a typical local diamond. The ballpark seats 4,660 for baseball and can expand to more than 5,500 for special events, making it one of the region’s biggest community gathering sites for a program centered on inclusion and visibility for athletes who often play out of the spotlight.