MONTREAL – This past February, 30 bantam aged girls, all looking to someday earn a spot on Canada’s Women’s National Team, made their way to Cuba to play in an exhibition series against the Cuban Women’s National Team and give them a chance to represent their country in international competition. At the invitation of Team Canada Manager André Lachance, this was a chance for him to evaluate the top bantam aged girls in Canada in the confines of high calibre competition.
And the competition was fierce… maybe even a little too fierce at times.
“Our girls had to compete against a Cuban team comprised of players who were 21 or 22-years-old, while our girls were on average 16 and 17-years-old,” explains Lachance.
“In those circumstances, it’s perfectly normal that we would have some pretty lopsided losses. That was definitely the case when we would use our more promising younger pitchers,” adds the manager who is also the Baseball Operations Manager with Baseball Canada. “On the other hand, when we would put on the mound a girl with a little more experience, we’d still lose, but by a much closer margin.”
Five girls form Québec were selected for this trip. Mélissa Pagé from Sainte-Julie, Émilie Laliberté from Granby, Jessica Bérubé from Québec City as well as Cynthia Renaud and Karine Paré from Gatineau. They did not share the same goals for participating in this trip, but they highly appreciate their experiences from the journey.
On top of all the high calibre baseball played, Jessica Bérubé took delight in the human aspect of the trip.
“This trip for me was a way to participate in a sport that I’m passionate about while discovering a new culture, a new country and new people that are all wonderful. I will cherish this trip forever.”
Mélissa Pagé for her part was excited for the chance to show off her baseball talents.
“The Cuban trip was a chance for me to be seen by all the Team Canada coaches because during the regular season they don’t have that much time to come and see me play. Also we were able to finally play some baseball, something we can’t do here during the winter. Even when you’re with an academy we’re limited to training in a gym.”
She also hopes that the work with the Baseball Canada coaches does not end with the Cuba trip.
“I would love to be able to work more with the Baseball Canada coaches during the year so I can keep improving my skills. It would be great to be able to participate in more similar activities, even if we don’t leave the country.”
For Cynthia Renaud, the trip simply reinforced her desire to play baseball at the highest level.
“For a long time, my goal has been to one day play for the Women’s National Team and this gave me the chance to see calibre of players at that level. It was unbelievable! I was able to take advantage of all the great coaches that were with us. They were most generous with their critiques to help me identify what I need to improve upon in order to reach my goal.”
A Québec coach joins the trip
To help him during the trip, André Lachance enlisted the help of a few coaches to join the team, including Luciano Bérardinucci, who coached the Peewee AA Montreal Orioles (a boys team) in 2009. He also returned from the trip with a new sense of appreciation.
“This trip gave me the chance to evaluate my own knowledge in relation with the other coaches with the team, who already coach at a national and international level. Without a doubt this was the best coaching clinic I’ve been involved. This trip with a group of true professional coaches motivated me further to pursue to perfect my coaching skills in the next few months.”
“Our girls we’re left to their own devices,” adds Bérardinucci in reference to the team during the trip. “They were immersed in the same type of schedule as would the regular Women’s National Team. Regular workouts, curfews, team meetings, team dinners, etc.”
Here is what a typical day was like for the girls during their time in Cuba:
7:30 AM – Breakfast at hotel
8:05 AM – Bus departure for stadium
8:40 AM – Arrival at stadium “Estadio Changa Mederos” in downtown Havana
8:45 AM – Pre-game
9:30 AM – Game time
11:45 AM – End of game
Noon – Bus departure for lunch
12:30 PM – Eat lunch in a downtown Havana restaurant
1:45 PM – Bus departure for team cultural activities
2:00 PM – Cultural acitivites
4:15 PM – Return to hotel
6:45 PM – Team dinner
8:45 PM – Team meeting for next day’s schedule
9:30 PM – Curfew
10:00 PM – Lights out
All these girls greatly impressed the Montreal native, who also hopes to use his newly gained knowledge to his players on the Bantam AA Montreal Orioles, who Bérardinucci will coach in 2010.
“This type of competition is demanding for these girls. They always need to be prepared mentally and have to elevate their game continuously. As the week progressed, the better the calibre of play of our girls. Their progress was incredible. They played with a lot of passion.”
Cuban, a welcoming and generous people
For Luciano, for who this was not his first time in the Caribbean country, could not believe the welcome that greeted them everywhere they went.
“The Cubans were very gracious. We had a chance to share a night of dinner and dancing with them. We had a lot of fun and despite the language barriers; communication was quite animated, especially with the Cuban coaches.”
During their stay in Cuba, the team was able to watch a live Cuban Baseball League game where the team was introduced to the crowd.
“They cheered loudly for us. Our girls were able to see the Cubans’ passion for baseball, their national sport. It was an incredible atmosphere in that stadium,” surmised Bérardinucci.
That game was one of the special moments that Mélissa Pagé took back from Cuba.
“Going to a Cuban league game in this big, old-fashioned stadium was very unique.”
Jessica Bérubé, for her part, simply can’t get over the fact how welcoming and gracious the Cuban people are.
“We visited an orphanage while we were there, and the kids were just so excited that we were baseball players and that we were hanging out with them. It’s an unbelievable feeling for them as well as for us.”
As well as visiting an orphanage, the team was able to have a complete guided tour of Havana leading Bérardinucci to say that it was his most beautiful and fulfilling trip ever to Cuba.
A unique occasion to learn to run the bases
André Lachance believes that the experience of this trip was a positive one for all the athletes on the baseball side as well as on the cultural side.
“When you look at the baseball side of things, not only were the girls able play against some high level competition, but they were also able to profit from a base running clinic taught by a Cuban baseball legend and a good friend of mine, Enrique Diaz, the all-time stolen bases leader of Cuban baseball. He came and shared his knowledge, his techniques and his experience with the girls.”
“And if that wasn’t enough,” added Lachance, “he was there to cheer on the girls during their games. The girls couldn’t believe it.”
Aspirations for 2010
Did this rewarding trip in anyway alter the girls’ aspirations for the upcoming season? If we’re to believe their comments, the answer would be no. The trip simply confirmed their goals that were already set.
Jessica Bérubé, for one, hopes to still be a part of the Québec Senior Women’s Team and represent her province at the Canadian Championships, but she still holds the hope to crack the Women’s National Team line-up and participate in the Women’s Baseball World Cup as early as this summer.
For Mélissa Pagé, getting the starting shortstop spot with the Québec Bantam Women’s Team would suit her just fine as the team tries to defend their national title this summer. For the regular season, she will try to earn a spot with a team in Baseball Québec Midget AAA league, a league grouping the top 16-18 year old players in the province and a league that is not known to often have girls play.
When it comes to Cynthia Renaud, figuring out where she’ll play in 2010 is a bit more difficult.
“In the Outaouais region, we still don’t know if there will be a spots for midget aged girls. But I’ve been offered to play in another city. I think that would be a great opportunity for me.”
Renaud would also love to represent her province at the midget level, if ever there will be a National Championship for girls in that division.
“If not, I’ll do what I’ve done the last two seasons and pitch for the Senior Women’s provincial team.”
Again in 2011?
While organizing this project, André Lachance was hoping that this trip would be widely considered a success and would become an annual camp in the identification process for the Women’s National Team.
“We don’t have any training camps to help us identify and evaluate the bantam girls. It’s obvious that this trip was a complete success and that it has surely encouraged some of these girls to continue on the road to one day be a member of the Women’s National Team. I just hope we can do this again in 2011.”
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