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Dieppe Minor Baseball now RBI Approved!

OTTAWA-Things were not looking good for Dieppe Minor Baseball in the late 90’s and early part of the new millennium. Registration numbers were dwindling as other summer sports and activities became the popular choice over playing baseball.

“In 2004 we almost folded as we had 35 players registered and no one wanted to volunteer,” explained Dieppe Minor Baseball President Guillaume Savoie. “(We) started to do some recruiting (the following year) and had 75 registered and the numbers continued to increase.”

Today, Dieppe Minor Baseball has over 300 kids registered and recently became the 20th minor baseball association across Canada to achieve RBI Approved (Reaching Baseball Ideals) status, and also, the fifth association in the province of New Brunswick to do so.

It wasn’t easy for Dieppe Minor Baseball to get to where they are today. The association was declined RBI Approved status two years ago but kept plugging away at the criteria until they were ready to apply again.

“We were disappointed, but at the same time it gave us a goal to step up and see what we could do to improve our association and reach our goal of becoming RBI approved,” said Savoie. “We have worked very hard since, and it finally became a reality.

“It will definitely bring more visibility to our association and also back up the hard work that we have achieved in the last 5 years to get where we are now.”

The turning point came when Dieppe Minor Baseball began instituting programs at the grassroots level and focussing on coach education.

“We knew eventually with what we were doing with the NCCP courses for our coaches, pitch count and Rally Cap program that we would get there.”

With registration numbers on the rise the association implemented the Rally Cap program and things began to take off.

“Rally Cap was a big part in helping us develop young players to get to that next level,” explained Savoie. “Since we started those programs, we went from 35 players to surpassing 300.”

The increase in registration and implementation of Rally Cap has led to players staying involved in baseball beyond the just the Rally Cap program.

More players than ever before are participating at the older age levels which have resulted in more teams playing at higher levels.

“We now have A and AAA teams at Mosquito level and up which is something we never had before,” added Savoie. “In Dieppe we have talented players and now we can compete against anybody in the province.

“We are extremely proud of our accomplishments and to be RBI Approved now.”

Please click HERE to find out how your association can become RBI Approved.


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