Tanya Millette has fallen in the eye of the MLB. The Quebecer is starting a training camp this week that could lead to a professional arbitration contract.
Millette was awarded a scholarship last November to train at Wendelstedt Umpire School in Florida. This four-week camp got underway on January 2.
“Honestly, it’s really big, I wasn’t expecting that at all,” said Tanya Millette, who was reached on the phone in November.
“It will open doors for me to possibly have a minor league contract. Then I might work your way up to see if I have the potential to move up into the big leagues. […] It’s going to bring me even more expertise, with opportunities to go into professional baseball that I never thought possible. ”
There has never been a female umpire in major league baseball before. But obviously Major League Baseball (MLB) is looking to correct this shortcoming.
I feel there is an openness on the part of the MLB executives. If they have gotten to give scholarships to female referees, I think they have that openness there.
Tanya Millette, baseball referee
“I’m going to work super hard and I’m going to listen to the advice they give me to get as far as possible. If it’s MLB, I’m going to be happy to make it that far. ”
Jean-François Arseneault, president of the provincial committee of officials of Baseball Quebec, recalls that “the first woman who refereed a game in professional minor baseball was about fifty years ago”.
“There are women in independent leagues who have also refereed, but these remain exceptional cases,” he continues. In our contemporary age, basketball has had female referees for years. In football, with Sarah Thomas refereeing the Super Bowl last year, it’s been an incredible leap forward. “
He also quotes Elizabeth Mantha, who broke into the American Hockey League.
“In major league baseball, the opening is more and more wide to be able to go there. ”
HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT PHOTO, PRESS ARCHIVES
Referee Carol Anne Chénard, during a NASL game between the Impact and the Atlanta Silverbacks, in Montreal, in August 2011.
According to Carol Anne Chénard, retired FIFA referee, this opening in men’s professional sport comes from soccer.
“First, international, national and provincial organizations have put themselves in a leadership position to provide opportunities,” she explains, asked about this at the Elle & Sport conference last November. We owe that to soccer. I was one of the first women to go to a men’s tournament in 2017. Then, they sent women to referee these matches and we saw the fallout in associations and countries where women do not have the opportunities on the field. professional plan. “
In 2019, the genesis
But back to Tanya Millette. The trained policewoman was invited in 2019 to an MLB training camp entirely aimed at female refereeing. From this training was born the interest of major baseball towards the referee of Saint-Jérôme.
“When I got the invitation in 2019, I was going there to gain experience, develop myself as a referee and become better,” says Millette. When I got there, I learned that they were offering scholarships for this vocational school. I never thought it was possible for me. ”
As the experience could not be repeated in 2020, pandemic obliges, and that the camp did not take place in 2021, he was directly awarded the scholarship for the Wendelstedt Umpire School, founded by the former referee of the MLB Hunter Wendelstedt.
The latter was present in 2019. And he had noticed the talent of Tanya Millette.
“He watched Tanya for long minutes while we were there,” recalls Jean-François Arseneault. Already, it told me that there was something positive. “
“The quality of teaching [à l’école Wendelstedt], the best in the world give the training, he adds. […] We are talking about four full weeks. It has nothing to do with the accelerated training provided in Quebec. It’s an incredible technical background. To rub shoulders with the professionals, to rub shoulders with the referees of the major leagues, it brings a lot of intangible learning which will help the referee in his progress. ”
Jean-François Arseneault, however, speaks of a “roll of the dice” when the time comes to assess Tanya Millette’s professional possibilities in the United States.
“Are they going to do positive discrimination to have more girls on their staff? He asks himself, referring to the possibility that the Quebec referee will get a minor league contract after the camp.
But just to go to school and have access to that training, no matter what happens afterwards, it’s an accomplishment. It will advance Tanya’s career, power 1000.
Jean-François Arseneault, president of the provincial officials committee of Baseball Quebec
This is also what the main interested party thinks.
“If all goes well after the first four weeks until February 2, and I prove myself and they are interested in me, they will keep me for the weeklong selection camp,” says Tanya Millette. This is where they will determine who has the potential to have a minor league contract and who returns home without a contract. ”
“If I do not succeed in getting the contract, I will bring back this experience and pass it on to the youngest and to those who also aspire to go to a vocational school. ”
What makes a good referee
What does she have to demonstrate in order to “prove herself”, then?
“It’s a number of characteristics put together,” believes Jean-François Arseneault. Obviously, there is the judgment. Balls and grabs are the bread and butter of a referee. There are also technical aspects behind which will facilitate the judgment. That is to say that if a referee does not master certain technical aspects, both in terms of positioning and in terms of the mental decision-making process, it will affect the judgment. ”
The attitude, too.
“There is what I call human resources management,” continues the president of the provincial officials committee of Baseball Quebec. Manage the players involved in the match, the coaches. Managing your own emotions in tense situations is going to be a big part of it. ”
Tanya Millette agrees.
“If you’re not talkable, they come and ask you a question and you kick them out without wanting to answer them, the players don’t really like it. “
She also talks about consistency.
“This is really the key to the referee. If your calls are constant, even if your catch area is too small or too big, players will be happy because they will adapt. ”
If the combination of all these skills leads to the professional contract, do we give up the career of a police officer?
“Yes, for sure I will do everything to go [arbitrer professionnellement], she answers categorically. I am really happy because my partner will really encourage me in this. He’s completely backing me up, so I’m definitely going to go. ”