Stu Cowan: Little League coach, big fan of Canadian Jayden Struble

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A few months ago, I wrote a column about Canadiens outfielder Jayden Struble playing baseball in the 2014 Little League World Series when he was 12 years old.

His Cumberland American team from Rhode Island lost 8-7 to Illinois. After that game, Cumberland coach Dave Belisle gave an emotional speech that was captured on video and went viral. This is the second time Belisle has led Cumberland to the Little League World Series – he also did it in 2011.

Brendan, one of Belize's four sons, contacted me after reading the column and told me about his father's long history as a high school hockey coach in Mount St. Charles, Rhode Island. Belisle's father, Bill, was the longtime head coach there, and after winning 32 state championships in 2016, his son was inducted into the USA Hockey Hall of Fame during his 41 years as an assistant coach.

Mount St. Charles players went on to play in the NHL after playing for Belisle and his father: former Canadian Mathieu Schneider, Brian Lawton (No. 1 overall pick of the Minnesota North Stars in the 1983 NHL Draft), Brian Berard (No. 1 overall pick of the Ottawa Senators in 1995 draft pick), former Minnesota Wild captain Keith Carney and goaltenders Brian Boucher and Garth Snow.

Struble never played in Mount St. Charles, but Belisle and his father worked with him at summer hockey camps. The father-son duo was coached by Struble's stepfather, Eric Slack, who was a captain at Mount St. Charles before playing at Quinnipiac University.

Belisle said Struble was a great baseball player, but hockey was his passion.

“I think baseball was a natural for him, but the game was too slow for Jayden,” Belisle said Tuesday in a phone interview from his home in Cumberland. “He was our center fielder, but he hurt his hand throwing, so we had to put him at first base. He was a bully in center field…could catch anything. He was great at first too. Boy, could he hit a baseball a long way.

“You look at the baseball part of it, what Jayden did on the baseball field helped him focus as an athlete because he was a very aggressive kid,” Belisle added. “He wanted to put the ball in the ball every time. Baseball is not kind to you. You can't vent your frustration and hit someone or play an emotional or physical game. It will test your mind. You made a mistake, it's on you. I think it taught him a lot. It taught him to be calm because he is a very aggressive child. It taught him to overcome adversity, because in baseball, the mistakes you make are made on yourself. I think baseball helped him because he was a great athlete, but he was very demanding of himself. He always wanted to be the absolute best. He was a good teammate and a very humble kid. No matter how aggressively he played, he never boasted. But don't get in his way, don't hurt him,” he said.

Belize believes it's important for children to play multiple sports. He says it's good for the body and mind, gets kids out of a routine, and allows them to make new friends through different sports. There is also a high level of excitement when a new season begins. Belisle believes children should wait until they are 16 before playing a sport.

“You think Jayden is good at hockey and baseball … you should have seen this kid in lacrosse,” Belisle said. “He was a beast. Then when he was 12, we traveled while he was shooting a basketball. He could stand there and take a dip. I said, “Oh my God! He was something else … he really was.”

Belizel grew up in Manville, RI, where the majority of the population is made up of former Quebecois. His father was fluent in French, and when he was a player at Mount St. Charles in the 1940s, the team was called the Flying French. The whole family grew up big Canada fans, so seeing Struble now playing for the team is special for Belisle.

“I see him every game because I get the NHL package here,” Belisle said. “I love it. We were born to be Montreal Canadiens fans, and I am an absolute lifer. I saw them at their best in the late 60's and 70's. I have seen great ones.'

Belizle's father coached at Mount St. Charles until he was 88 years old. The school is now called St. Charles Academy, and Belisle, 64, still helps the high school team as a part-time coach. He is no longer a baseball coach, but still follows the Cumberland Little League team closely and is sometimes asked to speak with the players.

“I love both sports,” Belisle said. “I loved coaching both sports and played both. I can't see my life without both of them.”

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