Who Is Behind Miracle Field in Muscle Shoals?

A Miracle Field

The Miracle League is designed for children with chronic medical conditions or handicaps who cannot participate in regular sports. Many cities construct special fields for these children; Muscle Shoals is one of them.

Now a friend has asked us who is responsible for bringing this Miracle Field to the small Colbert County town. Usually projects like this are not the work of only one person. 

We are presenting what information we can gather on the origins of Muscle Shoals' Miracle Field:

August 2017: Muscle Shoals Park and Recreation Director Rusty Wheeles applied for a block grant to build the field adjacent to a handicapped play area in Gattman Park.

June 2018: Muscle Shoals received the $250,000.00 Community Development grant. At that time, Mayor David Bradford and Gov. Kay Ivey received partial credit for pushing the application through.

February 2019: Wheeles announced that construction would begin shortly. At that time, he stated the project had been in the works for six years after it originated with the Muscle Shoals Recreation Department and the Recreation Board.

May 2019: Special Olympics of the Shoals and Arc of the Shoals under the direction of Doug Ruggles donated $10,000.00 to the construction fund.

May 2019: A TimesDaily article mentioned Courtney Akins became involved after hearing of the project and was counting the days until construction was completed.

June 2019: David Bradford announced the field was coming together.

June 2019: Courtney Atkins formed the Shoals United Stars, a basketball team for special needs students. They will ultimately play at Miracle Field.

August 2019: Rusty Wheeles announced he had formalized leagues for play in the Miracle League. The ball field was set to open in September 2019.

July 2020: A TimesDaily article stated: (Atkins) also completed her goal of establishing the “Miracle Field” in Muscle Shoals that allows all children with special needs to participate in sporting events. Now, not only is there a field, but there’s a team, “Shoals United Stars,” that pairs children with special needs, with children mentors who help them with their sporting skills.

In the case of Miracle Field, we feel the TimesDaily simply misspoke concerning Ms. Atkins' role in establishing Miracle Field. If one person should be the recipient of credit for the project, it's Rusty Wheeles. Thank you, Mr. Wheeles for your vision for a better Muscle Shoals Park Department.