The 2018 Cooperstown Rebels make dreams come true

Paulina Tharaldson is a great example of how a sports team can become a community over the years. Her involvement may include some logistics, but’s it’s mainly a labour of love.

“I'm not a coach, just a mom trying to help with fundraising efforts,” said Paulina. “But I've known a lot of these boys since they started playing together at age seven and eight! It's a great group of kids, and a great group of parents too.”

Champlin, Minnesota is what you could call a baseball city. They’ve been sending groups of young men to the Cooperstown baseball experience in New York for several years. The steak and fish fry at the Osseo Legion, the pizza party and Heggy’s, and the get-together and the local Willy McCoy’s were as much fundraisers to get the kids there as they were an excuse to get everyone together and have a great time.

 

The Trip of a Lifetime

With that sort of history, there’s bound to be a lot of firsts within the team – including the team’s upcoming trip to Cooperstown. All of these experiences and opportunities to grow is the real reason why any of us put ourselves through all this work: to support the kids and make it happen.

“For most of us this will be the first trip to Cooperstown Ney York to play at the Dreamspark and visit the Baseball Hall of Fame,” said Paulina. “For many it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

They’ll be joining over 1,000 other teams from 50 states, who all come together to play and enjoy the sport – a nation of baseball players made out of communities like Paulina’s community in Champlin.

All the hard work making it possible is nearing it’s end – it was a long year of bagging groceries, and hosting parties. Now the best work is coming up: working to make the experience as rich as possible for the kids. It’s not work that Paulina’s shying away from.

“We are all looking forward to the trip and working hard to make it a memorable experience for all the boys involved.”

[earners]