How do you get started in baseball you might ask yourself? Well imagine that “a lot of people discover this sport through cinema or after trips to the United States”, laughs Julien Merlhe. President of Stade Toulousain baseball for almost four years, the latter regrets, however, that “most do not know that baseball exists in France. In Toulouse and its surroundings this represents less than 5% of the population and we would like to arrive at 40% “. “Passionate”, Julien Merlhe struggles to offer the possibility to those who wish to discover, in addition to baseball, softball and baseball 5. “It’s a long-term job, but he has a lot of curiosity”, he smiles. Softball is a variation of baseball and is played on a smaller field with larger balls. “Baseball 5 is a discipline that is less than two years old: the batsmen hit the ball with the hand and it is played on a paved field of 20 by 20. It is in the tradition of street sports, a bit like the 3×3 in basketball “, details the president stadiste. “It’s a discipline that lacks visibility but we are working to develop it” he says.
Develop the female section …
“Baseball is a sport which is not” cardio “, it is more explosiveness, and it suits a certain category of people”, continues the Toulouse president, one of whose main areas of work is “the training of young talents because our coaches have the references for.” If children are accepted from the age of five, the rules are obviously adapted to this age and it is therefore mainly a matter of coordination. “We would like to develop the women’s section which currently has between 20 and 25 women and ten children to have a women’s team at the national level and another in reserve”, explains Julien Merlhe. Member of the Stade Toulousain omnisports, the baseball section, in addition to sharing the same colors, benefits from certain services of the Association. Last September, for example, the first team went to Paris to play the final of the Summer League (lost to La Rochelle) with minibuses in the colors of the Stade Toulousain.
Know it
– Origin of this sport:19th century in the United States– Creation of the club: 1987– Licensees: 160– Contacts : toulousebaseball.com– Training location:44 rue Louis Plana, Green Base of Argoulets in Toulouse where the club has a field dedicated to baseball.– Rules : a Baseball match is played with two teams that alternate in defense and attack. The nine players of a team successively bat in a specific order and constitute the attack. The nine players of the other team are on the field defending, and a game is played over nine innings consisting of two half-innings. A half inning ends when three batsmen are eliminated. A round ends when both teams have moved on to attack and defense.– Land dimension: a triangle 100 meters long and 100 meters wide.– Equipment:bat, leather ball, helmet, gloves, three-quarter length pants.
