Baseball: the disqualification of a Trois-Rivières team creates a stir

MISE À DAY

The disqualification of a team from the Estacades de Trois-Rivières which was to play in the semi-finals of a baseball tournament in Florida continues to make people react. However, it was another Trois-Rivières organization, the Blackbirds of the Académie de baseball les Aigles, which raised the question of the age of its rival's players. 

According what Pascal Boislard, president of this Academy, learned on Thursday, five players from the Estacades U16-2 were too old. A mother of a Blackbirds team color holder who prefers to remain anonymous accuses the other team of having “favored a player from another school to the detriment of a young person in sports-studies”.

Also, Boislard says he sent a message to the tournament organizer. He would have asked if the Estacades could change their formation or play in another category. “We thought it was the best thing to do in the circumstances,” he told TVA Nouvelles.

However, it is with surprise that the coaches of the Blackbirds learned of the disqualification of the Estacades, at the same time as the other teams. Boislard, on behalf of the organization, said he was very saddened by the disqualification. He wanted the situation to be resolved before the start of the tournament.

“Never our intention was to harm young people or prevent young people from playing. Our goal was to give the team one last chance to comply with eligible player regulations, like the other 20 teams in the tournament in this category. We are saddened by the disqualification applied to young people after the qualifying round, ”reads a Facebook post on the page of the Académie les Aigles.

Baseball CRM, which takes care of the Estacades , refuses to make any official comment until the team's return to Trois-Rivières on Wednesday. On Facebook, the organization nevertheless wrote that “knowing that our athletes were all 16 years old when we registered for the tournament, the formation as well as the team book have been approved by the tournament organizing committee”.

Disappointment

Even if the Estacades played games on Saturday and Sunday, the news is very disappointing for the parents of players from the disqualified team, like Sandie D'Aoust, especially since the young people have paid for the trip to Florida.

“That's a lot of money for a 16-year-old and it's super frustrating. We weren't going there to win, but to live the experience to the end. It's boring. There are many in there who will not be able to do it again next year for all sorts of reasons, “lamented Ms. D'Aoust.

Several athletes from these two teams will soon meet in sport -studies. Organizations and parents want there to be no internal discord, but that's the fear of some after all this situation has caused discontent in the sports community.

-The ranking of players is different in Quebec from the United States. Boillard pointed out that athlete eligibility is set for May 1 of this year. Thus, those who turn 17 before May 1st should play for the U17s and not the U16s.