The Trois-Rivières Blackbirds program has added a string to its bow as a U16 team makes its presence felt on the roster, while U12 and U14 formations may also form. For its part, Baseball Quebec welcomed the initiative to monitor more athletes from the Mauricie region, but ultimately would not be able to support this new project.
The Trois-Rivières Blackbirds provide professional coaching to help players ages 13 to 17 achieve their baseball goals. The new U16 team will also be able to participate in a major tournament to be held in Florida. The problem now is that the Blackbirds have drafted players who are already registered in the sport-study program at Académie Les Estacas.
“When the Ministry of Education made the programmes, we sacrificed 30% of the school subject to make room for sports. Hence the ultimate objective would be to lead the youth towards 500 hours of play, which would allow them to develop and showcase their talents. In Trois-Rivières, it was the sports-study players who were selected, so we cannot support it,” explains Sylvain Seddon, the technical director of Baseball Quebec.
“The young person does his play during the day and it is already established in the schedule. The youth in their program are already supervised throughout the year. We cannot support the fact that he adds evening time here and there because it becomes too much for him. This does not meet the athlete development model we have submitted to the Ministry. ,
Baseball Quebec asked not to target youth sport-studies, who are already under year-round observation, but to target the roughly 1,500 other players in Mauricie who want to improve their skills in the game.
In a sport-study program, youth players have the opportunity to play in a league when the summer season has arrived, typically at the AA or AAA level.
“Our youth are already playing in the summer and parents always have to make a choice. It becomes a family process there. If a player decides to actively play at the AA or AAA level, He is completely free to spend his summer free time with another sport, such as football or bowling. He may also play on a non-confederate softball or baseball team. However, it is clear that in terms of workload becomes unfavorable, but it remains the choice of the athlete and the family,” explains Mr. Seddon.
However, in the event that this athlete does not play regularly in Baseball Quebec’s summer competition structure, he would not be able to continue playing-study in September because he would have refused to play regularly at the highest level that befits his talent.
“Getting back to the Blackbirds, if any player wants to play baseball on our summer teams, we will welcome him with open arms. We are not here to stop anyone from playing. »
secondary schools targeted
On the Blackbirds’ side, the plan has always been to target all high schools in the area with the goal of becoming a complementary baseball program.
“We wanted to be recognized by Baseball Quebec, but we were told not to touch game-study players. We don’t want to discriminate against a player or close the doors to them. Still There are 13 families that have decided to come with us,” commented Pascal Boislard, president of the Académie les Aigles, which oversees the Blackbirds programme.
“We presented our program to Baseball Quebec and we told them it would be open to everyone. We both agreed that there’s a good percentage of elite players who are not into sports-study, so that’s what we avoid. Now, if our The pass is not recognized by Baseball Quebec, so we will continue to do so. We want to put together the best possible program. »