Jara Dell #099

Player:	Jara Dell
Number:	099
Years with Team:	8
How Connected with Team:	She married in

Volunteer Story:

I am not athletically talented whatsoever, and I have never had much interest in following sports at any level. There are certainly aspects of life that change over the years, though, and my life changed forever when I met Jeff. He showed me that blindness didn’t stop him from continuing to be an athlete as well as coaching others with visual impairments.

At first, I just tagged along for a couple of tournaments and games. It was fun, but I knew I could do more for the team, I just had to find my place. I like to be organized, and the Scrappers needed some organization. I labeled each bat with a number and ensured that each player knew the number of their bat instead of asking for the brand, as almost all were the same brand. Then I could more easily assist players with their bats, along with the batting order. Keeping the batting order then led me to learn how to properly keep score, therefore becoming scorekeeper at all of the games.

By now, it is hard to keep track of the many duties I have picked up, including being one of the drivers as well as uniform organizer, photographer, bat-finder, sandwich-maker, T-shirt distributer, etc. The Cleveland Scrappers keep me busy! So although I wasn’t looking for them, I’m proud that this fabulous group of athletes found non-athletic me and we coud become such great friends.

I have my Bachelor’s of Music in Percussion Performance from Miami University (Ohio) and my Master’s of Music in Music Therapy from Florida State University. Since 2006, I have worked with seniors as the Music Therapist for Kendal at Oberlin. My husband and I are involved with the Cleveland Westshore Lions Club.

Media

• Lions Honor Earth Day – Bay Village Observer