(Ottawa, ON) Softball Canada is very pleased to announce that Jim Jones (Leduc, AB) has been named as the Head Coach of the Junior Men’s National Team. Jones had been an assistant coach with the Junior Men’s National Team at the two previous ISF Junior Men’s World Championships, helping Canada to a Silver medal at the event in 2008 in Whitehorse, Yukon, and a fourth place finish in 2012 in Parana, Argentina.
Following Tom Doucette’s (Middle Musquodoboit, NS) retirement from the Head Coach position in February, Softball Canada went through an application process to fill the vacancy and interviewed several strong candidates, with Jones being offered the position.
‘I am very excited and humbled to receive this opportunity’ stated Jones. ‘I have had great experiences playing for Team Canada in 1983, 1984 and 1987 and as well being an assistant coach under Tom Doucette in 2008 and 2012 with the Junior Men’s National Team.’
Jones brings plenty of softball experience as a player and a coach. He is a former Men’s National Team player who was as a member of the gold-medal winning Pan American Games Teams in both 1983 and 1987, and was inducted to the Softball Canada Hall of Fame as an athlete in 2004.
‘Softball Canada was extremely impressed with the quality of individuals that applied for the Head Coach position’ stated Mike Branchaud, Softball Canada’s Manager of National Teams and Canadian Championships. ‘We are extremely excited that Jim Jones will be leading our program. He has a wealth of experience in both playing and coaching at the International level and he will be a great teacher and motivator for the Junior Men’s National Team.’
Jones will take over Canada’s very successful Junior Men’s National Team, considered one of the top World Championship medal threats. The next ISF Junior Men’s World Championship will be played in 2014 in Whitehorse, Yukon, as all ISF events are now held on a two-year cycle.
‘There are six or seven teams that could win the Junior Men’s World Championships and we are one of them’ said Jones. ‘With the tournament being held in Whitehorse once again, our team’s goal is to get to the gold medal game once again for the great fans in the Yukon and our Men’s Fast Pitch program. I will be working on getting my coaching staff in place in the next month or so and develop a plan to identify the best young players in Canada. I look forward to the challenge.’
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For more information, please contact:
Gilles LeBlanc
Manager – Marketing and Communications
Softball Canada
(613) 523-3386 ext. 3105
gleblanc@softball.ca