Softball Canada Announces 2018 Award Recipients

Media Release          Date: October 17, 2018           Posted By: Gilles Leblanc

Ottawa, Ont. – Softball Canada is pleased to announce the award recipients who will be recognized at the Softball Canada Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet on November 10th, 2018 in Montreal, Que. The Banquet will be held in conjunction with the Softball Canada Congress and Annual General Meeting which will take place from November 7-10. As previously announced, Sophie Bedard (Builder, Quebec), Serge Laflamme (Official, Quebec), Larry Lynch (Coach, Ontario), Gisele Vezina (Builder, Quebec) and the 1993-1996 Toronto Gators (Team, Ontario) will be inducted into the Softball Canada Hall of Fame at this Banquet. The induction of Cam Ecclestone (Pioneer, Ontario) will take place at the 2019 U19 Men’s Canadian Championship in Owen Sound, Ont.

The Kahunaverse Sports Coach of the Year award will be presented to Rod Drouillard from Lakeshore, Ont. He is the current Head Coach of the Windsor Wildcats, President of the Windsor Wildcats Organization, and an active Level III Umpire. Starting in 2004, Drouillard took his U10 team all the way through U18, improving each year, and concluding with a Gold Medal at the Eastern Canadian Championship. Then, while continuing to work with this team in a local Ladies league, he returned to the U12 level to start his coaching journey all over again with a new group of athletes. This U12 team has now been together for the better part of eight years and has qualified for the Canadian Championships in each of the last six seasons; this year earning silver at the U19 Women’s Canadian Championships losing 6-5 in an exciting eight inning game.

Peter Kluszczynski, from Barrie, Ont. has been selected as the recipient of the Kahunaverse Sports Umpire of the Year award. He is a Level V Fast Pitch and Level III Slo-Pitch official and is Softball Ontario’s Fast Pitch Umpire in Chief. After becoming a Level V umpire in 2007, he earned his WBSC Certification in 2011 and has worked several international events, including the 2012 Women’s World Cup of Softball, the 2013 Women’s European Championship, the 2014 Canadian Open (Canada Cup), the Men’s Softball competition at the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2017 WBSC Men’s World Championship in Whitehorse. Through his role as the Provincial Umpire in Chief in Ontario, Peter is particularly focused on developing and supporting younger umpires. He supervised several local and provincial events as an Umpire in Chief as well as U19 Men’s Canadian Championship in Owen Sound in 2018.

The Rose Hodgson Volunteer of the Year award will be presented to Michel Leclair from St-Leonard-d’Aston, Que. He never played softball but has been involved in the sport for over 25 years. Leclair got involved in the athletic development of his children as an assistant coach and that ignited a passion for the sport that has continued even after his sons stopped playing. In 1993, he was one of the co-founders of the St-Leonard-d’Aston Express program that has become a mainstay for Men’s Fast Pitch in Quebec to this day. As a long-time volunteer, Leclair has been actively involved in hosting a number of Canadian Championships in the St-Leonard-d’Aston area and joined Softball Quebec’s Board of Directors in 2017. He has been an assistant coach with Team Quebec since 1996, and his recent accomplishments include a bronze medal at the 2017 Canada Summer Games.

This year’s recipients of the Claude Deschamps Memorial Fund are Megan Duclos from Saint-Eustache, Que. and Isaac Lefebvre from St-Leonard-d’Aston, Que.

Megan Duclos recently began her post-secondary education at Vanier College with the goal of seeking an NCAA scholarship. A member of the Quebec Rebelles U19 team, she was a Canadian Championship All-Star Outfielder in both 2017 and 2018 and has been named to the 2019 Junior Women’s National Team Athlete Pool. Duclos was named Softball Quebec’s Athlete of the Year at the National/International level in 2017. Her softball goals include playing for Canada’s Junior Women’s National Team, an NCAA softball team and competing at the Olympic Games.

Isaac Lefebvre has begun his second year of a Natural Science program at the Drummondville CEGEP. He was a co-captain of Canada’s Junior Men’s National Team this summer, hitting .333 with a homerun and six RBI while leading the team with eight hits, six runs and five stolen bases to help Canada to a fourth-place finish at the 2018 WBSC Junior Men’s Softball World Championship in Prince Albert, Sask. On top of his offensive talents, Lefebvre is an amazing defensive player and was also Canada’s starting third baseman as a 16-year old in 2016.

The Ethel Boyce Memorial Award will be awarded to Aryane Desy from Montreal, Que. and Tyler Pauli from Mitchell, Ont.

Aryane Desy is in her first year of a Bachelor of Education at the University of Quebec in Montreal. A former Quebec Rebelles athlete, she competed with the CMA Angels in the Laval Softball League this summer and was named her team’s Most Valuable Player. In addition to playing, Aryane turned her attention to coaching a U12 team and volunteered as a co-organizer of the U14 Girl’s Canadian Championship. Desy’s goal is to continue to progress through the coaching ranks and become a coach within the Rebelles program.

Tyler Pauli completed a Bachelor of Arts in Kinesiology at Wilfrid Laurier University this Spring and is pursuing a Bachelor of Education at the University of Western Ontario. He competed with several teams this summer – the Nith River Monsters, Elmira Expos, New Hamburg Mustangs, Owen Sound Junior Selects and Mitchell Mets – and was recently named to the Canadian Men’s National Team for the 2019 WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship. He was also an assistant coach with the Wilfrid Laurier women’s softball team.

The Softball Canada Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet will be streamed on Softball Canada’s YouTube page starting at 8:00pm EST on Saturday, November 10 and will be available to be viewed later. A cocktail reception will begin at 6:00pm with the meal at 7:00pm.

Congratulations to all of this year’s award winners!

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Softball NL Would Like To Take This Opportunity To Congratulate Sophie Bedard (Builder, Quebec), Serge Laflamme (Official, Quebec), Larry Lynch (Coach, Ontario), Gisele Vezina (Builder, Quebec), the 1993-1996 Toronto Gators (Team, Ontario) and Cam Ecclestone (Pioneer, Ontario) On Being Selected For Induction Into The Softball Canada Hall Of Fame.

Congratulations Sophie, Serge, Larry, Gisele, the 1993-1996 Toronto Gators & Cam!

Softball NL Would Like To Take This Opportunity To Congratulate Rod Drouillard (Lakeshore, Ontario) On Being Named The Recipient Of The Kahunaverse Sports Coach of the Year Award.

Congratulations Rod!

Softball NL Would Like To Take This Opportunity To Congratulate Peter Kluszczynski (Barrie, Ontario) On Being Named The Recipient Of The Kahunaverse Sports Umpire of the Year Award.

Congratulations Peter!

Softball NL Would Like To Take This Opportunity To Congratulate Michel Leclair (St-Leonard-d’Aston, Quebec) On Being Named The Recipient Of The Rose Hodgson Volunteer of the Year Award.

Congratulations Michel!

Softball NL Would Like To Take This Opportunity To Congratulate Megan Duclos (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) & Isaac Lefebvre (St-Leonard-d’Aston, Quebec) On Being Named The Recipients Of The Claude Deschamps Memorial Fund.

Congratulations Megan & Isaac!

Softball NL Would Like To Take This Opportunity To Congratulate Aryane Desy (Montreal, Quebec) & Tyler Pauli (Mitchell, Ontario) On Being Named The Recipients Of The Ethel Boyce Memorial Award.

Congratulations Aryane & Tyler!