It’s early on a Friday evening in August this summer, and Anna Martinez takes home plate on field No. 4 at the Skyview Sports Complex. Her eyes are locked on the softball just pitched toward her.

As it speeds closer, Martinez projects onto that ball every frustration, annoyance and worry on her mind that day.

Her grip on the baseball bat tightens as she winds back. With a hard, swift swing, Martinez sends the softball flying across the field with a loud “crack!” Shouts and cheers from her teammates echo across the summer air.

In a split second, she’s running toward first base.

What seems like a simple softball game played among friends and friendly rivals is more than that for Martinez and her dozens of teammates, she said. They have found peace, safety, support and community through Colorado Springs’ recovery-centered, sober Recovery Rebels Softball league that aims to raise awareness of mental health, addiction recovery and suicide prevention.

“Being able to come to a place that was a safe place, (with) people who have served just as I have, people who were trying to get out of struggles just like I am, has been very welcoming,” said Martinez, a Navy veteran who began playing with Recovery Rebels Softball about two years ago.

Martinez, who lives with post-traumatic stress disorder after she sustained life-threatening injuries in an accident while she was on active duty, joined the program to improve her mental health. She now leads one of the league’s co-ed teams that plays on Fridays.

Early this year her husband joined the league, too, as a way to address his alcohol consumption. Because of Recovery Rebels, he quit “cold turkey,” Martinez said.

“If I’m having a stressful day, I can come out (to the field) and just have fun. I can let all my anger out … swinging my bat,” she added. “… I’d rather release it on the ball, doing something that’s for fun, than getting home and releasing any of that anger or stress on my family, on my kids who don’t understand.”

Recovery coach and personal trainer Rob Decker founded the Recovery Rebels Softball league about four years ago, run through his nonprofit Rise as Lions. He wanted to create a safe, welcoming, sober and fun outlet for people who were struggling with their mental health and/or addiction as he had, Decker said.

“We have that whole ‘check your ego at the door’ process. We’re all here to help you. If you’re struggling mentally, we’re here to be a soldier to lean on, creating a safe space and a brotherhood. I love it. It definitely helped get me through whatever in the moment, but it definitely saved my life. … Yes, we win championships and we do good — but it’s bigger than that.” 

— Derrek Villagrana, Recovery Rebels Softball league member

Decker endured years of abuse growing up and turned to drugs and alcohol in an attempt to self-medicate. A failed suicide attempt when he was 29 years old left his body badly broken, including a severed lower spine, with a long road to recovery ahead. While recovering in the hospital, he combined painkillers with alcohol to help him bear the pain.

As he continued physical therapy and regained strength, Decker realized he was tired of the pills. He began using them less and less.

On Jan. 8, 2013, his life changed.

“I was freed of addiction, … rid of alcohol and drug abuse. That was truly a moment when it was removed from me and I haven’t had any desire to go back to it at all,” Decker said.

After his full physical recovery, a sober Decker began playing softball with his father-in-law and “fell back in love with the game” he loved to play as a child — an escape from the trauma he endured at home, he said.

When he moved his family from California to Colorado Springs in 2018, Decker quickly joined other softball leagues in town. But he noticed a “culture” among league members of drinking alcohol and using drugs before, during and after games.

“You’d see the alcohol, the drugs, and you’d walk into the bathroom and you’d see some stuff,” Decker said. “(Recovery Rebels) was born from a desire to provide a supportive community playing a sport that we all love. … These teams represent accountability, camaraderie, teamwork and support — foundations of recovery that too many people go without.”

Recovery Rebels members don’t need to be sober 24/7 to join Decker’s league, but they must be sober when they’re on the field. That requirement has encouraged many members to get and stay sober even when they’re not playing ball, Decker said.

He also finds comfort in his Christian faith, which he shares openly with others but doesn’t impose.

“I believe that Jesus went out and met people where they were at with the things they were dealing with,” a trait Decker intentionally emulates in his own work, he said. “We shouldn’t be so confined to our own religious beliefs, or we shouldn’t be so religious in our way of recovery … that we are not being loving, accepting and understanding of other human beings.”

Last year, he shared his personal story of abuse, addiction and recovery in his book “God’s Awning: From Rejection to Redemption.” It’s another way Decker can meet people where they are and let them know they are not alone, Decker said.

Since its founding in 2021, Recovery Rebels Softball has grown from one team to five. Teams are ranked and play throughout the week; they include two co-ed teams, two men’s teams and a military and veterans team. The league currently has about 50-60 members.

The league also receives grant funding that pays for registration fees, uniforms and sometimes equipment for players. And the community donates gear, Decker said.

“I like to say that people need people and all of us are like the rest of us. … This team, we encourage you to come and be vulnerable, to be transparent. We are not here to judge, but to listen,” Recovery Rebels teammate Chris Quintana said. 

Quintana joined the league three years ago after his wife, also a member, introduced him to Decker. At the time, Quintana was finding his own religion while struggling with marijuana use, which he consumed to cope with his brother’s death and his parents’ divorce.

“It went from smoking in that parking lot before games to having that conviction, like, ‘I’m going to be sober, to respect what Rob is doing and the mission he has,'” Quintana said. “That is what this team is about: having that vulnerability and having that humility, and that brings change to a lot of people’s lives.”

The Recovery Rebels teams have ended their fall seasons and will pause for the winter. The next season will begin around April.

For more information about Recovery Rebels Softball and Rise as Lions, including how to join a softball team, visit riseaslions.org/recovery-rebels.