Valour FC leader Jean-Baptiste prepares for return to pitch

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This article was published 08/03/2022 (1649 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Beast is back.

In fact, he never left.

Valour FC defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste spent the offseason in Winnipeg rehabbing a torn ACL in his left knee. The 29-year-old from New York couldn’t have picked a tougher year to stick around in the ‘Peg, but clearly it didn’t scare him away.

“I don’t know how I did it, but I endured it all. And mind you, the first half of it I did it without boots or anything, they were all back in New York,” Jean-Baptiste told the Free Press after Valour’s training session on Tuesday at the WSF Soccer South indoor field.

“You see how these runners have the holes in them so they’re really breathable? Yeah, it was killing my toes. They were practically numb as soon as I left the house. But it was good. It was nice to actually be here and see things for a little bit… But shoot, you hit a few -30 C days and -15 C starts feeling like a walk in the park.”

Last season started out as a walk in the park for Valour. They went on a franchise-best 6-0-1 run to start the year and Jean-Baptiste looked like an early MVP candidate. But everything came crashing down after that seventh game when Jean-Baptiste heard a crunching sound in his knee. Winnipeg’s professional soccer club ended up going 4-5-12 without their locker room leader on the pitch and missed the post-season.

“Knowing what my role was on this team and not being able to be on the battlefield with them hurt because if I say something in the locker room, people get it, but on the field is when you kind of need those words, those actions, that bit or organization that I pride myself on. You need it more on the field. It’s hard when you say it off the pitch and hope that it transfers over to the games,” said Jean-Baptiste, a co-captain last season with veteran midfielder Daryl Fordyce.

“It hurts. You question a lot of things. Is your voice diminishing in the locker room? But a lot of guys reassured me that I’m still the guy that they’re going to follow so it helped a lot, but the results last year didn’t make it any better.”

Valour’s woes led to head coach and general manager Rob Gale, the man responsible for bringing Jean-Baptiste to town in 2020, being let go and replaced by former Vancouver Whitecaps FC assistant Phillip Dos Santos in September. Instead of cleaning house and bringing in a new leader, Dos Santos re-signed Baptiste, a veteran of 41 MLS matches prior to coming up north, one month later for 2022.

“He’s a fighter, a leader, a player that has a lot of influence in the locker room,” said Dos Santos

“… People believe a lot in what he brings to the field on a daily basis. It’s an important piece. I don’t like to single out guys. I don’t do that often. But I think he’s an important piece to our back line. It’s not a secret.”

The question is: when will Jean-Baptiste return to the lineup? As the team scrimmaged on Tuesday, Jean-Baptiste, who suffered the injury in July, was on the sideline doing strength and conditioning drills with a trainer.

Valour heads to Victoria next weekend to play a trio of exhibition matches against Pacific FC, York United FC and Vancouver Whitecaps 2 of the new MLS NEXT Pro league. Valour’s season opener is April 10 against FC Edmonton at Clarke Field. After three games on the road, Valour will play their home opener May 1 at IG Field against Forge FC.

“He’s not going to be ready for Game 1 of the season. We’re hoping to start seeing him with the team on the field doing exercises when we get back from Victoria. So, that for us, and for him more than anything, would be a boost,” said Dos Santos.

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When Jean-Baptiste does make his return, there’s a good chance he’ll have a familiar face behind him in net in Jonathan Sirois. The 20-year-old from Montreal was the CPL’s goalie of the year last season while on loan from CF Montreal. A loan for 2022 hasn’t been finalized yet, but Sirois is currently in training camp with Valour. The favourite to land the backup keeper job is another Montreal native, 22-year-old Rayane-Yuba Yesli. The 6-7 goalie was drafted third overall by Valour in the CPL’s 2021 U Sports Draft out of the Université de Montreal and spent nearly four months training with the team before being let go.

“We have an agreement (with CF Montreal). There’s still some small hold ups, but we’re confident and we believe that (Sirois) is going to be here with us,” said Dos Santos.

“Now, I also like the work of a guy like Rayane. Rayane has been very good. I think we could be looking at someone that’s going to be here and provide security and a future for this club when it comes to a goalkeeper. We’re really impressed with him. It’s good to have that problem as a coach where there’s going to be competition in goal.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.