Émilie, how is the Indians season going?
We’re playing for ‚500 (four wins and as many defeats), it’s not an easy season so far. We lost some big players (Anthony and Jonathan Choquette and Yann Gauvin) to the Guerriers of the Quebec Major Baseball League, but we are happy for them. We also have a lot of new players, talented young people who must be given time to develop. But we work hard and we won’t give up because, you see, we have a title to defend!
Within the Indians, you are “one of the boys”. After all these years, is it still fun to play with these guys?
Absolutely! I have always been respected as a woman and as a baseball player. I’m with family at the Indians.
You’re now 30 years old and you’ve been playing baseball… forever. But you’ve dabbled in a ton of sports.
“I played basketball with the teams at the Sacré-Cœur school (now Haute-Ville), I rode a bike, rollerbladed, I played hockey in the street, There’s nothing I haven’t done! Sport is part of me, it’s a way of life.”
— Émilie Laliberté
But baseball, in every sense of the word, has taken you far. What are your fondest memories related to your sport?
There are so many! But quickly like that, winning the Canadian women’s baseball championship in British Columbia when I was 11 years old was a very powerful moment. My four years playing softball and studying in the United States, in Kansas and then in Missouri, also represent something big. Obviously, I can’t miss all these championships won with the Indians either. Baseball has given me a lot.
Émilie at her position as catcher with the Indians. (Jessy Brown/Voice of the East Archives)
Do you see yourself playing for a long time?
I’m at the stage where I’m going one year at a time. There are mornings, after big games with the Indians, when I’m a lot more “racked” than a few years ago. But I still love it so much.
Women’s sport is booming. We only have to look at the success of the Professional Women’s Hockey League. I imagine you’re happy about that.
“I am certainly happy to see that women’s sport is taking up more and more space. But I never played high-level sport thinking about the progression of women’s sport. I’ve always done it for myself first and foremost. When I see a woman doing sports, I see a human being who is simply moving. And that’s what we want men, women and children, in short humans, to move. Healthy lifestyle habits don’t belong to one gender in particular, they’re for everyone.”
— Émilie Laliberté
Your mother was a great apostle of women’s sport, particularly obviously baseball.
Mom did her big part, indeed. She made a lot of progress. For my parents, it was also important that their children moved. My brothers played baseball before me, my brother Guillaume even reached junior elite.
One day you told me that you would like to give back a little of what you have received. And that’s exactly what you’re doing today, isn’t it?
I try hard. I coach at the pee-wee A level, I am on the board of directors of Granby Multi-Sports, on the selection committee for sports scholarships from the City of Granby and I participated in the development of sports policy from the city. I repeat, sport has given me a lot and today I try to get involved as much as possible. I do it wholeheartedly, without any pretension.
Our youth, we will say, does not always have good press. It is often said that young people’s interests are limited to their smartphones. You are a francization teacher at the J.-H.-Leclerc school and I know that you don’t like hearing things like that.
It’s true that we are sometimes harsh towards our youth. I find that we have some beautiful young people who are far from just being interested in their phones. In Granby alone, we have a ton of beautiful athletes who work hard and who have great goals. We must encourage our young people, give them confidence, not try to diminish them. Let’s not forget that our teenagers today are our adults tomorrow.
