OTTAWA- Baseball Canada is pleased to announce that two new coaches will be joining the team as they make a push toward the 2012 Women’s World Cup in Edmonton, Alberta.
“Baseball Canada has the philosophy to expose coaches to the international level as much as we can and we believe there are good coaches out there who deserve a chance to represent our country at the international level,” said Women’s National Team Manager, André Lachance (Ottawa, ON). “After serving at four World Cups, we have decided to make some changes in the coaching staff for the next cycle leading up to the 2012 World Cup.”
Making the transition from player to coach will be Patricia Landry (St-Etienne-des-Gres, QC) who has been an outfielder with the team since 2005. Landry will be the first female member of the coaching staff since the inception of the Women’s National Team program in 2004. She is also a veteran of two Women’s World Cup events and is extremely excited to stay in the game in another capacity.
“I've already been thinking about coaching for 1 or 2 years but I wanted to make a last World Cup as a player before I decided to make the move,” said Landry. “Now that it’s behind me, it's time for me to embrace this new challenge and I'm ready to make that important step.”
Landry also points to that fact that the experience she’s had as a player will help her with this new challenge. She is also extremely excited for the opportunity to be a part of the next World Cup in 2012 on home soil.
“I've been through a lot of different situations as a player, sometimes good, sometimes bad but they've always given me positive experiences and I'm looking forward to sharing them with the team,” said Landry. “I'm very excited about the next World Cup because it will be played at home in front of our fans, and just thinking about being on the field for another two years with the team makes me very proud. I can't wait to start this new challenge.”
Also joining the staff is Sean O’Brien (Innisfil, ON) who has previously been a guest coach with the WNT in 2009 and 2010. O’Brien has an impressive coaching resume which includes working as an instructor at the Mickey Owen Baseball School in Missouri and currently coaching the Newmarket Senior Men’s team and also the Ontario Bantam Girls team as an assistant coach. O’Brien has also been instrumental in developing the women’s provincial program in Ontario where he is the head coach. O’Brien has big expectations for the team and is looking forward to lending his expertise to the national program.
“The current team has a core of tremendous players which is supplemented by a new generation coming through the program that I look forward to helping develop in anticipation of the World Cup being hosted in Edmonton in 2012,” explained O’Brien.
Stepping down from the team to pursue other endeavours will be Wayne Parro (Brooklin, ON) and Eric Laforest (Terrebonne, QC). Parro’s run as coach with the WNT traces back to its earliest roots as he was on the first coaching staff back in 2004. Parro coached in four Women’s World Cup’s including a Silver Medal finish in 2008 and Bronze Medal performances in 2004 and 2006.
“Wayne has been a very loyal coach to myself and to the Women’s National program since the beginning and brought a lot of wisdom to our coaching group when needed,” said Lachance.
Laforest ends a 5-year run as an assistant coach that started in 2006 when the World Cup was held in Taiwan. Lachance notes that Laforest was an integral part of the coaching staff since he came on board and his commitment to the team did not go unnoticed.
“I knew Eric would have had a great impact when he joined us back in 2006 in Taiwan. His energy, baseball expertise and his ability to communicate well with players made him a key part of our program.”
The new coaching staff will first assemble at the end of February when they will be accompanying a group of Bantam-aged girl’s to Cuba for a training camp. Their first experience as group with the Women’s National Team will be during the summer of 2011.
