LIVE STUDIO: When we play sports, we play to enjoy the game but also to create memories. And for Syracuse Challenger Baseball, having someone capture those memories can mean just that little bit more.
REPORTER: It’s one thing to hear the pop of a glove. It’s another to remember it. Having baseball moments captured on photos is something many challenger baseball players remember.
CAMBARERI: “You’re overwhelmed with joy. You’re overwhelmed with tears. You’re overwhelmed with happiness.”
REPORTER: That’s what Cee Cee Andrew did for Syracuse Challenger Baseball, a league for people with disabilities. Executive Director Dom Cambareri remembers Andrew volunteering with the organization after seeing her nephew play.
CAMBARERI: “She was ready to come and volunteer some time and utilize her skill as a professional photographer and capture our players in absolutely magical moments.”
REPORTER: Sadly, on January Fourth this year, Cee Cee Andrew passed away after collapsing at work. She was 53 years old. The first thing Cambareri did? Look back at the memories Andrew preserved.
CAMBARERI: “I immediately went to all the photographs that she took, alright? Because I wanted to remember her by the moments she captured our kids at the best.”
REPORTER: Syracuse Challenger Baseball teamed up with the Syracuse Spartans to remember Andrew and induct her into the Spartans Hall of Fame. And while Andrew may be gone, Cambareri knows one part of her that will stay.
CAMBARERI: Her photographs live on forever.
LIVE STUDIO: To give you an idea of how much Andrew meant to the Challenger Baseball players, this is a video right here of challenger athlete Brittney Del Toro. She’s singing the national anthem after the ceremony honoring Andrew. In a Facebook comment prior to the event, Brittney said, “We will make you proud, Cee Cee.”
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — A photo can mean so much more.
For Syracuse Challenger Baseball, a baseball league for people with disabilities, photos allow the players to remember moments that are very special. Those moments are the ability to play sports despite the players’ physical limitations.
“You begin to look at these settings, the players, their facial expressions, and you’re overwhelmed,” said Syracuse Challenger Baseball Executive Director Dom Cambareri.
One of the people who took photos for Syracuse Challenger Baseball was Cee Cee Andrew. She initially volunteered to take pictures for the league after seeing her nephew participate.
“Once she saw how magical the Syracuse Challenger Baseball League was, she was ready to come and volunteer some time and utilize her skill as a professional photographer and capture our players in absolutely magical moments,” said Cambareri.
Sadly, Andrew passed away on Jan. 4 earlier this year after collapsing at work. She was 53 years old.
A Facebook post from Syracuse Challenger Baseball gathered over 200 reactions, over 60 comments and over 80 shares. Cambareri also started looking over the past pictures Andrew had taken over her time with the league.
“I think I did that from just not breaking down over the thought that she would no longer be there,” said Cambareri.
Syracuse Challenger Baseball teamed up with the Syracuse Spartans to hold a pre-game ceremony honoring Andrew’s memory. The Spartans inducted Andrew into their hall of fame, and afterwards, Challenger Athlete Brittney Del Toro sang the national anthem.
And if you had any doubts about what Andrew meant to Syracuse Challenger Baseball, Del Toro posted this simple message the day before the event.
