The Prevost Minor Baseball Association (ABMP) has decided to change direction to the management of two sensitive off-field sectors. Thus, it hires supervisor Julie Berniquez on a weekly basis to establish and manage the schedule of the organization’s referees and scorekeepers.
The double task fell voluntarily in 2021 to the efficient Brigitte Lacaille, who remains in the bosom of the board of directors, as new secretary. Previously, Brigitte Chatelois occupied the triple function, which then included that of field adviser, in addition to the coordination of referees and scorekeepers. Ms. Chatelois was also recognized for her excellence, in 2017, as volunteer of the year in the Laurentians region by Baseball Quebec.
“As for the position of field advisor, Alexandre Bonin (VP administration) and myself will share the work. We’re still around anyway. It is a question of evaluating whether the conditions allow a match to be played or not on both grounds. I think that with the arrival of Ms. Berniquez in management and Claude Chalut in the training of referees, we will have a good foundation. This allows us to assess the possibility of holding a tournament in Prévost. We gained experience last year, by organizing playoffs here”, commented Sébastien Roger, President of the ABMP. These arrivals will, according to the words of the latter at the AGM of the organization, stabilize things.
“We will not hide it: 2021 has been a difficult year, with only four referees and as many scorers on duty. Ms. Lacaille did a great job meeting daily needs by calling neighboring associations to find replacements. We only missed a referee once in the whole summer. In view of the 2022 season, we have budgeted a substantial increase in the salaries of referees and scorers, to create retention among our young people. Without a hike, many turned to grocery stores, where the minimum wage was more competitive”added Mr. Roger.
Inscriptions
After having had a great start during the period of the discounts offered, the youth registration campaign for the 2022 season has recently stagnated at the ABMP.
“As of February 16, we already had 100 entry registrations. There, as of March 3, we have reached 128 young people registered. In the end, we are likely to have a membership similar to 2021, or about 145 players, by the March 15 deadline. The categories are quite stable, except maybe for Rally-caps (younger), where we are so far down from 40 to 23 young people. We will therefore bring out the lists from last year and we will raise awareness of those who were part of the ABMP, while also welcoming newcomers, as players and volunteers.he points out.
The PSSA project
In the last year of a two-year project to pair the bantam and midget categories with Sainte-Sophie and Sainte-Agathe to form teams, the Prévost Association believes that the PSSA project is progressing as a whole.
“It’s going quite well with the PSSA clubs. In the bantam (U15), there will be an A team and two B teams. We currently have 18 registrations from Prévost, 14 from Sainte-Agathe and 8 from Sainte-Sophie. We should have only one formation among the midgets (U18). Last year, we were perhaps too optimistic by registering a club in the A. We screwed up and it was not pleasant for the players and the people involved to lose often. We risk having only one midget B, this year, to better compete. At the Pirates, we will probably have 3 clubs at Atoms, Mosquitoes and Pee-Wee. »
The indoor training camp will begin on Saturday, March 19, at the Val-des-Monts and Champ-Fleuri school gymnasiums (new). The PSSA could hold training at the Polyvalente des Monts de Sainte-Agathe. The regular season is scheduled to begin May 28. The A team playoffs are scheduled for the weekends of September 9-11 and September 16-18, while the B teams will take place the weekends of September 3-5 and September 9-11. The A Provincial Championships will be held from September 22 to 25, while the Level B Championships will take place from September 16 to 18, in cities to be determined. Finally, it should be noted that the ABMP will once again pay for a Pirates team tournament, while a pro rata amount of registrations will be provided to the PSSA.
