Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, for the Journal-Opinion
WELLS RIVER — Michael Fredieu has wanted to be a varsity baseball coach since he was in junior high school. Now, the 50-year-old’s dream is coming true: This spring is his first season coaching the Blue Mountain Union varsity boys baseball team.
“I always believed that when I was done with college, I would immediately be a varsity coach. Now that it’s 25 years later, it’s finally come,” Fredieu said. “I reached out to my old varsity coach and told him I finally got a program of my own. He was superexcited and said, ‘What took you so long?’”
Fredieu started playing baseball at age 3 in Union Parish, Louisiana, with his two brothers. He attended Linville High School where he played first base and pitcher for the baseball team.
“I tell everybody that my first love, my first true passion, was baseball,” Fredieu said.
Fredieu says his love for the game was fostered by the coaches he had growing up.
“I was very fortunate to have some really great coaches that were great baseball people and just great people. They taught me many life lessons that have transpired into my adult life, into my professional career, and into my family life,” he said. “The example that they set for me made a tremendous impact.”
Fredieu moved to Vermont about a decade ago from New Hampshire, where he had been living since 2001. He works for the Caledonia Central Supervisory Union as the human resource director. He spends the rest of his time in ballparks, basketball courts, and playing fields.
Fredieu was the assistant coach for the varsity girls basketball team at Oxbow High School, coached baseball with Bradford Youth Sports, and ran the Bradford youth football program. Fredieu has also umpired baseball for the past seven years, and serves as president of the Eastern Vermont Baseball Umpires Association.
“I’ve always tried to be involved at some level in youth sports because I know there’s a need,” he said.
Despite his extensive involvement in youth sports, Fredieu still wanted to coach varsity baseball. He finally got his chance when Scott Blood, who coached the Blue Mountain Union team for more than 20 years, announced he was stepping down last fall. The school reached out to Fredieu to see if he would fill the position.
“I thought very highly of his professionalism and his ability to control the game, his awareness of different situations, and his knowledge of the rules,” Blood said. “I was really impressed with him as an umpire, and I think that certainly is going to carry over into helping him be a successful coach. I also know that he has a background with baseball that is going to serve him well and serve the kids well.”
The baseball season has officially begun and tryouts concluded on April 3. Blue Mountain’s first regular season game is on April 23 at Paine Mountain.
Blue Mountain Union athletic director Todd Powers has been watching Fredieu get the team ready.
“I think that we’ve got a great group of kids and he’s seeing the level of dedication they have,” Powers said. “I think he’s been very happy with that, and I think that’s just going to keep building.”
High school junior Jacob Roberts of Barnet is on the varsity baseball team.
“(Fredieu) has told us that we all need to be together as one, like one big family,” he said. “No matter what the role is—one through 13 on a baseball team—every kid matters.”
Fredieu hopes that the students in the program will continue to enjoy the game of baseball and use that experience to develop as people. Now that his dream has finally come true, he wants to help the student-athletes on the team achieve their own dreams.
“I want to be the coach that made sure they enjoyed playing the game, being part of the team, and being part of the community. I feel honored to be a part of Blue Mountain and I look forward to helping these kids achieve their goals,” he said.