Congratulations to Stéphane Giraud who officiated behind the plate during the US final of the Little League World Series Baseball Senior in Easley and at 2B for the World final! Read his profile.
He officiated the final of the French Baseball Challenge and spent over four hours behind the plate. He has the confidence of his peers. Baseball TV France met the European umpire who will soon be heading to the Little League World Series.
BTVF: Who are you, Stéphane Giraud?
I’m 51 years old and have been licensed by the Federation since 1988 (I was 17 at the time). I played for a long time with the Lynx d’Angoulême and for over 15 years now, I’ve been licensed with the Raiders d’Eysines, near Bordeaux.
I played baseball until 2012, then softball until 2022 (I think I’ve definitely hung up my glove for good). I’ve also coached quite a bit, with young players, in baseball and softball. I also hold a State Diploma. In short: I’ve been on the field for over 30 years!
In 2013, the year the Raiders reached the national level (N1 first, then D2 in 2015), I became more and more involved in officiating. At first to help my club, then very quickly out of passion.
BTVF: You’ve been officiating for many years in several divisions. How have you seen your career evolve?
Last March, I indeed began my 11th season, but I won’t speak of a career—that helps (re-)specify, if necessary, that we are not professionals. Then, I would add that it’s rather difficult to judge one’s own path. But let’s try.
As I just said, I would first specify that you need to have the passion; and keep it. Without that, I think you can’t move forward. Then, you need to be patient. There’s so much to learn. And I’m not just talking about the rules. Finally, I would say that you need to stay humble. I would also add a touch of luck; and I think I’ve had some.
Since 2013, I’ve been accompanied by excellent umpires in Nouvelle-Aquitaine: Gérald Lacoste, my mentor; Christian Cayrac, with whom I still officiate regularly; but also Guillaume Lannes, who no longer officiates but who taught me a lot.
After obtaining my national umpire diploma (now ‘AF3B’) in 2015 and my debut in Division 1 in 2016, I had the chance to position myself on matches that became turning points and allowed me to reach new levels: the CBLE tournament in La Rochelle for 3 years, the 3 All-Star Games in La Rochelle (2016 and 2017) and in La Teste (2018), and the preparation matches for the French U18 team against the Netherlands in Toulouse in 2017, with Franck Benasseur, another great name who helped me progress.
It’s with this kind of challenge that I was able to keep learning and gaining experience. By making mistakes too!!
These last 3 or 4 years, with the French Challenges, the French Series, and of course also the European competitions, I always want to reach the next level. It’s obviously becoming more and more difficult but also always more and more exciting!
BTVF: You’re heading to a championship for the Little League. Tell us about the characteristics of this challenge?
My Little League experience began in 2018 in Poland, and it undoubtedly represents a turning point in my career. I owe a lot to Little League Europe, notably to Jeff Chapman, the umpire supervisor in Kutno in 2018, and to Beata Kaszuba-Baker, the Director. What Jeff Chapman taught me was crucial in my European career in the following seasons: Euro U12 in 2019, Euro U23 in 2021, and the Confederation Cup in 2022.
After 3 tournaments for the Europe-Africa zone, two in Little League in Poland and one Senior League in Italy last year, I decided to try my luck and apply for the World Series. With two finals behind the plate in three tournaments, I thought I had some arguments to make. And I hit the jackpot!
The challenge? It’s quite simple: since I’ll be the only European, I’ll have to represent the umpires of the old continent as well as all my French colleagues, alone in the middle of 10 American umpires, 1 Puerto Rican, and 1 Canadian, under the eyes of the ESPN cameras, thousands of spectators, and no doubt millions of viewers!!
In fact, the challenge for an umpire is strangely similar to that of the teams that enter the Little League (as in any world competition, for that matter): first, you qualify in your region, then you represent your country in Europe, then, if you’re lucky, you go to the United States to try to go as far as possible in the World Series.
On the sports side, 6 international teams representing the ‘regions’ Canada, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Australia, the Caribbean, and Europe-Africa, will challenge 6 American teams in a very ‘USA vs. the rest of the world’ bracket.
On the officials’ side, it’s a bit the same: a little Frenchman alone in the middle of 12 umpires from the American continent… a final with 6 umpires… mathematically, it’s worth a try, right?!
BTVF: To succeed in this project, you are seeking help. Can you give us the details?
The logic is rather simple: the Executive Committee of the French Baseball and Softball Federation had budgeted a global ‘Little League’ envelope of around €500 for the 2023 season.
As I explained very transparently on the ‘I Believe In You’ platform, we are 4 umpires officiating in Little League Europe this year: Ludovic Meillier, Gilles Neyraud, and José Luis Enrique Villalba Lozada in Poland, and myself, in Italy for the Europe-Africa ‘regional’ tournament and in the United States for the World Series.
Just the trip to the U.S.A. represents at least 2.5 times the amount of this envelope (in addition to the flight, the rates for transporting our umpire bags of over 20kg are far from negligible, and we don’t choose the dates as if we were going on vacation!)
Of course, we could debate for hours whether the Federation was right or wrong to budget this envelope… but that won’t make the plane move…! I’m more of the type to act rather than complain: I had the idea of this crowdfunding before knowing the federal budget and even before knowing if I was selected for the SLBWS!
For me, it’s also a unique opportunity to talk about French umpires. I designed my participatory financing project in this sense: I reminded that in 2023, 8 French umpires are assigned to European Baseball competitions (1) and 3 to European Softball competitions (2). I also reminded, but who forgot, that Serge Makouchetchev participated at the beginning of the year in the World Baseball Classic. It’s still an exceptional season for French umpires!
So for me, this small envelope is perhaps an evil for a good… finally a better, for 2024. Because personally, I plan to apply for the World Series next year: we won’t be able to say that it wasn’t planned!
BTVF: What can we wish you?
What can you wish me? To live a unique human and sporting adventure. In both cases, I will do everything I can to make it happen…
(1): Fabien CARRETTE-LEGRAND (European Championship), François-Xavier CHAFFOIS (Federation Cup Qualifier – Pool B), Nathan POLIS (Confederation Cup), Stéfan LARROQUE and Ludovic MEILLIER (Euro U12), Julien TOMBEUR (Euro U23), Franck BENASSEUR and myself (Champions Cup).
(2) François Mays, Nicolas Roux and Benjamin Milgrom
Photo credits: Glenn Gervot, JC Delisle
