There was a time when students enrolled in Quebec Sports Studies baseball did their batting practice on a squash court, using badminton sparrows for the ball. But 23 years have passed, and now the program can boast eleven of its own players into Major League Baseball, including Édouard Julien, who made his debut there last week.
• Also read: Major Baseball: A dream come true for Quebecer Édouard Julien
• Also read: Quebec’s Édouard Julien in the Twins’ starting XI
“I sometimes joke that if we used the same methods now, we would get 10 emails from angry parents. That wouldn’t happen today! Baseball has evolved and that’s a good thing,” laughs his manager Jean-Philippe Roy.
Responsible and also a great builder, with the help of the trainers who support him. Because for Mr. Roy, part of the reason for the Canonniers de Québec’s success is being able to surround himself with qualified coaches, many of whom have stood by him through the ups and downs for years.
And there were downs. Mainly because baseball is a sport played outdoors, which is impossible in the winter that besieges Quebec for long months.
“Initially, we trained at the University of Laval’s PEPS, but we didn’t have any assigned premises,” says Jean-Philippe Roy. We also went to the Patro Roc-Amadour [un centre communautaire dans le quartier Limoilou]which we had access to some afternoons a week.”
“The batting cage was not permanent. It had to be set up and taken down every time, he continues. And we practiced in the hallways. It is certain that it began modestly.
No facilities…no budget
Around the turn of the 2000s, Baseball Quebec decided to add a Quebec physical education program after Montreal and Trois-Rivières.
Former player and coach Jean-Philippe Roy is given the manager’s position after a series of interviews. However, there is a catch: there are only a few weeks left until the start of the school year.
“I had bought a cell phone and my father was taking me all over town while I was trying to organize everything. We had no budget, no facilities,” he recalls.
The current General Manager of Baseball Québec and himself a former Canonniers coach, Maxime Lamarche, remembers very well seeing Mr. Roy and his cronies work from very early morning until late at night to be with the youngsters Field.
“Jean-Philippe and his group kept updating the program,” notes Mr. Lamarche. We were one of the first physical education programs to add piometry, footwork, and explosive coordination. JP had a certain “head start” over a good part of Quebec.”
Meanwhile, he was looking for the best place to train his charges, who have grown from 13 in their freshman year to the current 300, which now includes those at the college level. They initially came from a single secondary school; They are now affiliated with five schools in the area.
Oxen and the surface of the Expos
For his part, Jean-Philippe Roy believes that one of the keys to success will have been to consult with other members of the Quebec sports community a few years after the launch of the “ExpoCité” program.
Their two “cattle pavilions”, then used to display oxen during Expo Québec, were free 11 months of the year.
“These were two big, very old buildings, but they participated in the project. They agreed to at least renovate it, but at least we could be there. And we bought the old synthetic carpet from Expos that we laid,” emphasizes Mr. Roy.
The formula worked for a few years… until air quality got so bad that buildings had to close every year.
Photo provided by Jean-Philippe Roy
Students from the Quebec Sports-Studies baseball program pose under the dome of the Stade Canac in Quebec City.
This led to the installation of the dome on Canac Stadium in 2017, under which young people now train during the cold season.
“The decision was made within 24 to 48 hours with Michel Laplante des Capitales,” explains Jean-Philippe Roy.
Photo provided by Jean-Philippe Roy
The young people trained beforehand in one of the ExpoCité buildings.
“But at the time, the ExpoCité facilities were the finest in Quebec! They also allowed us to increase the number of players,” he also notes.
11 players drafted in 22 years
Of those, about 15 now enter American universities each year, and 11 have been drafted into Major League Baseball.
Photo provided by Jean-Philippe Roy
Jean-Christophe Masson (left), also drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays to Major League Baseball, and Édouard Julien surround Jean-Philippe Roy during a reunion night at the Stade Canac to mark the 20th anniversary of the program’s Sports-Studies Quebec Baseball .
In addition to Julien, these include Jean-Christophe Masson and Nicolas Deschamps, who currently play in the Blue Jays offshoots.
Recruiting athletes from the program by an MLB formation is not the Canonniers’ ultimate goal, their manager notes.
“It’s more about developing baseball players, that they have good values, a good work ethic.”
“But when a story like Édouard Julien’s happens, even if it’s only once in 35 years, that’s the icing on the cake!” he rejoices.
Édouard Julien kept his promise
However, Jean-Philippe Roy refuses to give Julien, who joined the program in 2011 (see below), too much credit for the rise to Major League Baseball.
He recalls that the latter has also developed his potential elsewhere, particularly with the Quebec and Canada teams, but also at the University of Auburn in Alabama.
“But the fact is that the six years he spent with us cannot be deleted from his CV. We’re very proud of that!” smiled Mr. Roy. And Julien, he hasn’t forgotten his time in Quebec, where he still comes to train in the winter. The program manager saw it again in recent days as he rushed to Minnesota with some of the mighty thug’s relatives to attend his debut with the Twins.
“He’s very grateful,” he notes. That’s part of his values, those of his parents. I actually asked him something before he left for training camp this winter. I had said to him, ‘If you get a call back after telling your family, can you call me to tell me? And he did.”
Like all of them in MLB
This passage in major baseball from the young Quebecer also reflects all the players on the program, past and present, notes Jean-Philippe Roy.
“In the last few days I have never received so many messages from alumni who were proud to have been in the program and that one of the gang made it to the major,” he emphasizes, touched.
“It’s like everyone felt like part of them had the majors too.”
Impossible to believe in such a climb back then
Did Jean-Philippe Roy think he would one day move to Minnesota and then New York to attend Édouard Julien’s big league debut when he joined the Sports Study program in 2011?
“Impossible! If there is someone who says [qu’il le voyait à l’époque dans le baseball majeur]he’s a liar!” starts the manager of the Sports Study baseball program in Quebec.
Photo provided by Jean-Philippe Roy
Édouard Julien at age 14 while part of the Sports-Studies baseball program in Quebec.
“Édouard, he was a very good player in minor baseball, you have to understand each other. He was also a good player in his age group, he continues. But the difference with a batter is how he adapts to each level he reaches.
“So it was impossible to predict. But at each stage he managed to adapt and be as good as the previous level.
The Quebec Dome has the approval of the Twins’ management
At the end of last season, one of the Twins’ two general managers was wondering how Édouard Julien would be able to capture the 10,000 reels he wanted to see during the winter when the Quebec native was training at home in Quebec.
“Édouard showed him a bit of the dome [qui recouvre le stade Canac pendant la saison froide], says Jean-Philippe Roy. He showed him pictures of the synthetic surface we train on.
“The DG replied, ‘All right!’ So if Édouard trains here in the winter and it’s good enough for a guy who went to Major League Baseball, I imagine it’s good enough for a high school student 1 is,” he adds, emphasizing that the facilities in place are part of the current achievements of his program.
