September 22, 2022

By Reanna Julien

Carleton University Student

Ottawa - From Wilfred Laurier Alumni and star National Team player to a mentor and coach, Ashley Stephenson has broken many barriers in Canadian women’s baseball.

This week, she added one more to her list.

From September 20-24, Stephenson (Mississauga, Ont.) is not only serving as one of 24 coaches selected to be part of the Canadian Futures Showcase, but she is the first female to hold a coaching position in the event’s eight-year history.

It’s a role Stephenson doesn’t take lightly.

“I will be honest, nothing beats playing, it’s the absolute best,” she said. “But I think it's really good for some of the guys to just see some representation out there. I think it really does matter that players see female coaches on the field.”

Stephenson started her athletic career as a hockey player with the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. Among other things, she was a three-time OUA all-star, a Second Team All-Star and recognized as an All-Canadian.

After her hockey career, Stephenson was a key member in what could be called the golden age of Canadian baseball. She was a part of the Women’s National Team in every IBAF World Cup between 2004 and 2018, where she won four medals in six tournaments.

This, of course, is in addition to the silver medal she won in 2015 at the Pan Am Games in Ajax, Ont.

In 2011, Stephenson was recognized for her contributions to the National Team when she was awarded Baseball Canada's Jimmy Rattlesnake Award – which is handed out annually to a member of the Women’s National Team to honour their on-the-field accomplishments, as well as their team spirit and leadership. After wrapping up her career on the Women’s National Team, Stephenson announced her retirement as a player and officially started coaching in 2019.

At the showcase, Stephenson is a base coach for Team Light Blue. She says the difference between coaching and playing is that as a coach you have to on top of everyone’s responsibilities, rather than just being locked on your own as a player.

Multitasking as a coach, she added, ensures the teams runs like a well-oiled machine.

“If we pick up on certain tendencies of the pitcher, like throwing a lot of first pitch fastballs, we can relay that information,” Stephenson explained. “So instead of going from a really narrow focus of just, what I'm good at or my responsibilities of a player, there is now such a large scope and a large responsibility now for everybody and thinking multiple plays ahead.”

In discussing the importance of diversity on the field, Stephenson described the reaction of the players meeting her for the first time to be one of initial confusion, but that has developed into respect as the tournament got underway.

“A lot of guys looked at me [on the team bus to Ottawa] like ‘what is she doing?’” Stephenson said. “Actually, a lot of them had no idea who I was before, which is totally fine. But a couple of guys have told me they've since Googled me, and so it does mean a lot.”

At the end of the day, Stephenson said her true role at this event is to encourage the athletes to showcase their best qualities, especially since both college and pro scouts are in attendance.

“We said, ‘If you're good at something, make sure you show it,’” she said. “…I'm not going to tell them in a showcase, ‘This is what you should do,’ because they’ve all played in tournaments before. So, I just give friendly reminders because they’re teenagers, right?”