The Minnesota Twins have unveiled the Grapefruit League’s first ever, in-ballpark sensory room at Lee Health Sports Complex. The move comes in partnership with Lee County, Lee Health’s Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida and Family Initiative, Inc.
The new, state-of-the-art Twins Sensory Room provides an environment for neurodivergent guests of all ages at each Twins spring training home game, with unique spaces designed to specifically meet different needs.
The space features a white noise machine and space for kids to re-center themselves during games.
Co founder of Family Initiative Anjali Van Drie works with children with autism and their families. She tells WCCO's Jason DeRusha baseball games can get overwhelming.
"We have different sensory systems," says Van Drie. "All those senses can get overwhelmed, or one of them. So really trying to figure out what do you need to calm yourself. So you know, walking on the sensory tiles, it gives them that input, the visual, the rocking chairs, the lighting."
Van Drie says it's just one example of the Twins long standing commitment to investments in the Fort Meyers community but it also fits in with what the team is doing back home. The Twins unveiled a similar space at Target Field in Minneapolis back in 2022, which the team says inspired the new one in Fort Myers.
The Twins Sensory Room will be open and staffed by a Family Initiative clinician for all 17 of the club’s spring training home games in 2025. It gives neurodivergent guests temporary respite, if needed, during the game.
The Twins Sensory Room at Lee Health Sports Complex is located on the third base side of the stadium’s main concourse, adjacent to a companion restroom and easily accessible by all ballpark guests.
Van Drie says the space is perfect for relaxation.
"So I think for us, really what we try to do is create a space that was multifunctional for kids," she says. "So, regardless of what their need is, they can find what they need to calm themselves, regulate here."
It was constructed during the offseason, as the Twins, their partners and leading experts renovated and redeveloped the space, which was formerly a team store location.