BTVF: Who is Damien Guionie?
D.G.: I’m a military man, married with 2 children, living in the Arcachon Basin. I’m a member of the Pirates du Bassin d’Arcachon club, I started at the Alouettes de La Force club, having played for the Old Bones near Montpellier.
Today I’m also a member of the FFBS and Nouvelle-Aquitaine League Executive Committees. I’m also part of the Federal Sports Commission, in charge of sports competitions in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
BTVF: You organized the last All-Star Game in 2018 with your club from La Teste de Buch. What memories do you have of it, and do you think this event could return to the baseball world’s calendar?
D.G.: The All-Star Game is one of the highlights of my life, already because it was the first time I organized an event of this magnitude, and it remains a great experience that also boosted our club’s membership the following season!
It takes energy and willing volunteers, but it’s a simple competition to organize and has real development potential. I really hope this event will stand the test of time.
BTVF: For the past two seasons, due to the Covid crisis, you’ve been dealing with summer baseball competitions in your work with the federal and regional sports commissions in Aquitaine. Ultimately, isn’t this period ideal for baseball and softball? Do you think we’ll return to the old ways or not?
D.G.: Drawing up the schedules did indeed require a lot of perseverance! I think that with Jean-Marie Meurant and the other members of the CFS, we made 8 versions of the national schedules! Playing in the summer was a necessity to maintain the championship formats! Being a summer sport by nature, it was interesting to see how it would work in our championships. And we could see that despite the high density of the championship, the teams played along! There were many players on the fields during this summer period, and that’s really great for our competitions! It would be interesting to see if this could continue, but with far fewer games and less back-to-back matchups!
BTVF: The upcoming France Challenge is a tournament organized by the FFBS to select the participant for the European Cup. You’ll be the technical commissioner. Can you explain what this role involves?
D.G.: The technical commissioner represents the Federation to ensure the proper conduct of the competition. It’s a role of guaranteeing respect for federal regulations and competition rules, organizing schedules during the competition, and appointing referees and scorers for matches in liaison with arbitration and scoring referents.
BTVF: What can we wish you?
D.G.: They say of an official that if he’s discreet or even invisible, it means everything is going well, so I hope not to appear on anyone’s radar. (lol)
Otherwise, let’s hope this competition is a beautiful one, with great games, and that it helps promote our sports.
Interview by DC
