Vancouver Canadians coach, Hillsboro Hops supervisor breaking glass ceilings for girls in baseball

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Hillsboro Hops supervisor Ronnie Gajownik and Vancouver Canadians place coach Ashley Stephenson are more likely to have folks join them for the rest of their careers, contemplating they’re two of the primary girls on teaching staffs of minor league farm groups.

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It’ll be simply effective. They’ve an excellent shtick about all of it already.

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Sitting within the stands at Nat Bailey Stadium earlier than a sport between the high-A Northwest League golf equipment earlier this week, Gajownik was speaking about their taking part in resumes, how their present prices may admire what she had accomplished on the sector with the U.S. girls’s nationwide squad through the years — and it’s the identical for Stephenson with Crew Canada.

With Stephenson sitting only a few toes away, Gajownik dropped into the dialog with a proverbial nudge and a wink that she had a gold medal from the 2015 Pan American Video games in Toronto, whereas Stephenson and the Canadians got here residence with silver.

“I’ve bought nothing for that. I can’t argue that,” Stephenson stated as they each laughed.

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That is the second collection this season for the C’s and the Hops, and it wraps up Sunday on the Nat. Vancouver visited Hillsboro for a six-game set Could 2-7, and it obtained some further consideration as the primary time on the high-A degree that two girls had been on opposing teaching staffs.

The Toronto Blue Jays, who’re the C’s big-league mother or father membership, introduced in January that they’d employed Stephenson, 40, a Burlington, Ont., highschool bodily schooling trainer by commerce who had been working Blue Jays’ summer season youth clinics as a facet gig for years. She performed 15 seasons with the Canadian nationwide crew, after which joined the teaching workers and labored her strategy to supervisor.

She had been tied to working with Vancouver this summer season from the announcement she had been employed by the Blue Jays. 

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At about that very same time, the Arizona Diamondbacks had been saying Gajownik, 29, as supervisor with Hillsboro, making her the second feminine supervisor in minor league ball after Rachel Balkovec, who was named the bench boss of the New York Yankees’ single-A Tampa Tarpons in 2022. 

That is Gajownik’s third-year within the Arizona group. The Winter Park, Fla., native was a video assistant with Hillsboro in 2021 after which first base coach with the double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles final season.

She and Stephenson had identified one another in passing from their taking part in days. Stephenson bought in contact not lengthy after their two bulletins as a part of her gathering details about what to anticipate. 

“I reached out to individuals who seem like me and are going to be going via the identical issues. I’d be an fool to not decide their brains and ask about their experiences,” Stephenson defined.

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Gajownik says that the gamers have been receptive, though she quips there’s been occasions the place she’s informed them “I’m not an alien…I simply might need longer hair.”

Stephenson admitted how the gamers would reply was considered one of her fears going into this 12 months.

“They’ve been superior,” she maintains. “My character is to only dive proper in and do what I can and be who I’m and work actually laborious. I believe they see authenticity and that you just need to assist.”

Each Gajownik and Stephenson imagine constructing rapport with their gamers is paramount, as a result of understanding how a participant ticks is the quickest strategy to serving to him enhance.

“In the event you don’t have that reference to a participant, even if you happen to had been capable of give them the key to their swing that will get them to the large leagues in 20 days, they’re going to say, ‘Screw off. I don’t belief you,’” Gajownik stated. “It’s about having that relationship. That’s what creates the participant growth facet.” 

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Stephenson added: “I believe if you happen to’re a folks individual, you will be actually good at this job.”

It’s tough to give you what number of girls have on-field jobs in professional baseball. Varied studies listed 11 final 12 months in each the majors and minors mixed.

“It’s essential to get it on the market. I believe it’s nice for folks to listen to about it,” Gajownik stated of doing interviews about girls in teaching roles. “I’m excited for the time that it’s going to be reporters with regular baseball questions.”

Twitter: @SteveEwen

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