She leads 2 baseball teams!
You read that right, yes, “her”! Mrs. Caroline Ouellette, 38, is a fan of the Chicago Cubs and the Toronto Blue Jays and for her pleasure and that of her children, she now coaches 2 baseball teams! Mrs. Ouellette wears several “caps”, it is the case to say it.
Caroline Ouellette is probably related to Wonder Women! She is the coach of 2 baseball teams, the Cubsettes U16 and the Cubs U13 de Magog. She is also president of the Magog baseball association, and in everyday life, she does landscaping and mountain bike trails.
Caroline Ouellette, in addition to her role as a mother, has also been really involved and involved in minor league baseball in Magog for the past 7 years. More than ever, she is in what is now her sport! : “It’s true that I love baseball, a sport that I learned to love, but especially to understand and I swear to you that it is not a sport as simple as it seems. It’s much more than hitting a ball!
When she started out, she knew absolutely nothing about baseball and it was her children who got her interested and involved in it: “My children (boy and girl) wanted to play ‘ball’ and let’s say volunteers were scarce. I raised my hand .. or took the ball to the leap!”
In addition, being a woman in a man’s sport still generates, even today, negative reactions and a bit of resistance, despite the fact that women have also taken their place in this sport: “There are a lot of women now in baseball, a sport that is growing in popularity. There are now several women’s leagues, and even that, since 2020, a woman has been at the head of a major league team, which would have been unthinkable not so long ago!
Caroline therefore quickly realized that “Baseball” is not an easy game: “It’s crazy how much you don’t realize how many rules it has and how very technical it is. As it is adapted from one category to another, it takes, year after year, new training in order to be up to date. I have watched tons of videos and read a lot on the subject. That’s when I realized it wasn’t just a game of running and hitting the ball! I had to learn quickly and my debut was not that easy.
His first game behind the bench for his first team, Ms. Ouellette remembers: “Wow yes! I remember that moment well. I was super nervous and I felt very well on me the gaze of others (especially the other team). I felt like a cold. But by dint of perseverance, we learn to make our place. It must be said that being athletic by nature, I was very open to learning a new sport.
Learning this sport, invented in 1755 in Surray, England, is also a bit difficult as time goes by.
As players age, the level of competition increases: “In toddlers, they just want to run after the ball. However, at the higher level competition and performance come into play.”
Unfortunately, as in many professional sports such as hockey, there are always parents who see their children already in the major leagues: “Indeed, it’s an aspect of the game that is a little tricky because, even today, some parents take it very seriously and are already convinced that their child will be an Éric Gagné. When your children are in the club you run, it is not uncommon to hear remarks such as “Yeah, we know, it’s your daughter”. On the other hand, you have to know how to separate things. What I do easily being very close to the parents of the children I manage.
You should also know that only a few years ago, it was totally unthinkable for a woman to hold a senior position in a major league baseball organization.
As of 2020, that’s a thing of the past as Alyssa Nakken became the first woman to join a major league baseball coaching staff. She was named assistant to manager Gabe Kapler with the San Francisco Giants.
Not to mention Kim Ng, who was named general manager of the Miami Marlins, becoming the first woman to hold such a position at the head of a men’s professional team in North America.
The arrival of women in the world of baseball is therefore very recent.
Other women are interested in this sport, the origins of which are controversial.
It is indisputable that the first modern rules (the Knickerbocker Rules) were codified in the United States in 1845.
Even the European roots of the game, long neglected by American authorities in order to make baseball a typically American sport, have long been known to American sports historians. The recent highlighting of a description of a match played in 1755 in Surrey (England) goes in this direction.
For her part, Caroline Ouellette will continue her career in minor baseball in Magog. She has a lot of fun with her teams. She aims to improve even more, because she loves baseball:
«Take me out to the ballgame, Take me out with the crowd.»
«Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks ….I don’t care if I never get
back!»
