Baseball Québec has announced the creation of the women’s section of the Canadian Baseball Academy (ABC). Based in Trois-Rivières, the ABC will welcome a first official cohort of the best female athletes in the province next fall.
Since last September, twelve athletes have been training under the new model in order to fine-tune the baseball experience, as a pilot project.
“This is a program that will be offered to the best players aged 16 and over in Quebec. The girls train every day and are considered as girls in sport-studies. They are followed by a kinesiologist and we try to individualize the training as much as possible for each girl and the objective is to bring them to their optimal potential. We have girls who aspire to the national team so we want to bring them there,” explains Patricia Landry, coordinator and head coach.
“It’s been there for the boys for 30 years with the ABC of baseball, but there was nothing like it for the girls. Neither here nor in North America. High school girls will attend Académie les Estacades, while college-level girls will attend Cégep de Trois-Rivières or Collège Laflèche. We really have a city that can offer a lot of possibilities, if we think about travel, among other things. »
Female athletes who are members of the ABC will be able to train year-round at Baseball 360 in Trois-Rivières. Under the supervision of Baseball Québec, they will be supervised by a team of qualified instructors, notably with Ms. Landry, but also Rémy Doucet, who will act as assistant coordinator and coach of the program. They will also be able to count on Alexandre Janelle-Gagnon as pitching coach, Mathieu Tremblay as physical trainer and Steeve Ager as strategic advisor for the development of programs and partnerships.
“Steeve (Ager) came to see us and he was really inspired with this project,” said Maxime Lamarche, general manager of Baseball Quebec. He insisted on the fact that it had to be held here, in Trois-Rivières, and we fell in love with his business plan. We decided to embark on the adventure because it is important to us. At some point, the boots have to follow the chops. It has been said for several years that women’s baseball is booming throughout Quebec, so we want to give the same chances to women as we give to men. »
“It’s not true that women totally thrive on playing with men. Here, they will be able to train together and be able to develop together. They will also be able to develop their leadership skills for the rest of their journey together and that was a priority for us to do because we know that it is a great value. If we think in the long term, perhaps these passionate young people will give back to baseball later, by being coaches or association leaders. We will also prepare them for the rest of things, ”he adds.
For her part, Éléonore Deblois, from Quebec, is part of the first so-called “break-in” cohort. She does not regret at all to be exiled from her hometown at 16 years old.
“I was so happy when I found out because I’ve been in women’s baseball for a long time and we didn’t have enough structures to develop. My goal is to continue as long as possible in the Quebec teams to go to the Canadian championships. For other girls, the goal is to reach the national team. When I do some soul searching as a player I’m not the same player I was on day 1. Being here really allows us to grow as a player and in all aspects of my game I’ve seen improvement,” she says.
“Moving to Trois-Rivières brought a whole new aspect to my life. I attend my classes in the morning and in the afternoon, we come to train here (Baseball 360). We are really well supervised, both academically and at the baseball level. »
A healthy environment will be brought to life through the coaches, as well as the expertise of an integrated support team such as a kinesiologist, a nutritionist, a sports therapist and a sports psychology service.
