In the sixth of 10 provincial association profiles, Baseball Canada speaks with Baseball Québec President Gilles Taillon about the upcoming 2006 season.
BASEBALL CANADA (BCAN) – In no particular order, what five initiatives are you looking forward to the most as you are in the midst of kicking off the 2006 baseball season?
1. Rally Cap Program
(GT – Gilles Taillon) – We strongly believe in the Rally Cap program. Consequently, we have hired two Kinesiology interns who will be responsible for training Rally Cap coaches in addition to helping local associations on site.
We visited each of our regions in March and April in order to present the program to the various associations and the response we received was very positive. People understand that this program has been created as an answer to our need to make the game appealing to kids aged 4 to 7 years old. They realize that traditional practice methods aren’t necessarily beneficial for this age group, but the Rally Cap program is.
2. Regional Training Centres.
GT – In 2005 we presented the Québec government with a new Plan of Excellence for 2005-2009. A major component of this plan is the creating of regional training centres. This year we will be identifying the proper organizations who will take on the task of setting up these centres. Ultimately, a Regional Training Centre will bring together a Sport-Etude program, a AAA midget team and various baseball schools, ensuring baseball can be practiced year round.
In addition, thanks to these centres, we hope to create more professional opportunities for our coaches.
3. Introduction of new classification structure
GT – In 2006 we modified the way we classify our teams, dropping the number of classes from 4 to 3 – AA, A and B. This answers our need to create a better competitive system by reducing the displacement of players and bringing baseball closer to the local associations.
We believe that this new structure will bring players a certain sense of belonging to their community and their local baseball association in addition to having more fun. This new classification structure will also cut down on traveling, which was an issue that parents thought needed to be addressed.
4. Girls Baseball
GT – Girls baseball continues to carry more and more importance. In 2006 we will host our first provincial Bantam Girls championship, which is an indication that we have reached a major goal because we have a sufficient number of athletes and teams in various regions to carry the championship out.
In addition, in 2006 we will see the creation of a senior girls’ league. Four teams comprised of players from different regions of the province will make up the league, which will play its games in a mini-tournament format on the weekends.
5. Winterball
GT - The Winterball program has been a tremendous success in Québec. This program allows us to be active in the school environment in terms of promoting active living. Last March, we kicked off a mailing campaign targeting all elementary schools in Québec in order to create awareness about the Winterball program. The response we receive surpassed any of our expectations as over 20 schools got back to us within two weeks of the start of the campaign and things haven’t slowed down since.
That wrap’s up this weeks edition of Play Ball 2006! Check back next week when Baseball Canada sits down with a representative from Baseball New Brunswick .
Schedule:
May 15: Play Ball 2006! Baseball New Brunswick
May 22: Play Ball 2006! Baseball Nova Scotia
May 29: Play Ball 2006! P.E.I. Amateur Baseball Association
June 5: Play Ball 2006! Baseball Newfoundland
