ABOUT DARREN

Darren Doucette has a passion for Baseball. He lives it, breathes it and dreams it. This drives him to be the best instructor and coach he can be, and to help kids become the best players they can be. To Darren, this doesn’t stop at skills training. He believes on top of a solid foundation must be a level of commitment, workmanship and devotion. He believes the best players are not only well qualified, but are also the best teammates and lead both on and off the field.

Growing up, like many young kids, Darren dreamed of playing for a Major League Team. His determination and unmatched love of the game, ensured it to happen. The journey was not quick and it certainly wasn’t easy, but the experiences are worthy of a best-selling book!

After stand-out years in the Dartmouth Minor Baseball Association, he was invited to attend Ulster Junior College, New York, on a baseball scholarship. Darren played varsity baseball at Ulster from 1990-1992. He was voted to the ‘All-American’ team following his ’92 season. His number 25 was later retired by Ulster.

In 1992, Darren was the St. Louis Cardinals 25th overall draft pick. His first professional home run in June 1992, was a grand slam winner in Niagara Falls vs Detroit Tigers affiliate. He hit the game winning home run, at home, in Hamilton, Penn on Canada Day, in front of an estimated crowd of 8000. He was the only Canadian in the league at that time.

He spent 7 years in pro baseball as a player, hitting coach and manager. He competed with, and against some of the all-time greats, including Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez. Darren won 2 league championships in his 7 pro years.

He retired as a player in 1998 to become manager of the Adirondack Lumberjacks, making him, at age 27, the youngest manager in all professional baseball. His number was once again retired by the organization. Darren is the only Nova Scotian to both play and manage professional baseball.

In 1999, Darren returned home to take over as player/coach of the Dartmouth Moosehead Dry, helping them capture back to back national senior titles in 2004-2005. Darren won 2 Triple Crowns while with the Dry. The rare triple crown has only happened 3 times in the 39-year history of the league. Darren has done it twice.

In his 15 years with the Dry, they captured an unprecedented 10 Provincial Crowns. Darren is the all-time NSSBL leader in Home runs with 181 and RBIs with 632. He also led the NSSBL in RBIs 8 of 16 seasons.

In 2005 Darren was named to Baseball Nova Scotia’s “All-Century Team” as one of the top players produced by this province in the past 100 years.

He has represented his country twice in the World Baseball Challenge. He was Designated Hitter for Team Canada in 2011 & Head Coach at the 2013 event.

From 2010-2013 Darren was Program Director/Head Instructor for Jays Care Foundation Baseball Clinics in Nova Scotia. This program is sponsored by the Toronto Blue Jays and introduces 4-6-year old to the game of baseball

From 2010-2013 He was an Associate Scout for the Florida/Miami Marlins, and Associate scout for the Atlanta Braves from 2014-2015.

In 2014 Darren established Darren Doucette Elite Baseball inc.

In 2015, he took the role as Head Coach of Dartmouth Arrows 11u AAA team. – NS and Atlantic Champions. They remained undefeated in Provincials and Atlantic’s and finished with a record of 44-7 overall.

He was also hired by Baseball Nova Scotia to travel the province providing BNS coaches with the ” Doucette Hitting System”.

In 2016, he became an Associate Scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks, as well as being named to the elite coaching staff for Team Atlantic at the Toronto Blue Jays T12 Tournament at the Rogers Center.

He returned in 2016 as Head coach Dartmouth Arrows 11u AAA team and took a rebuilt team with only 1 returning player from the previous championship team and finished with a 3-1 record in Provincials, and just shy of gold medal game.

He was also named Assistant Coach of Team NS 13u team as they represented the province at Nationals in London, Ont.

In 2017, he was Head Coach of the Provincial and Atlantic Champion Dartmouth Arrows 13u AAA team

He served as Assistant Coach of 13u Team NS which represented the province at the National Championships in Repentigny, Quebec.

He was once again named as one of the coaches of Team Atlantic at the Toronto Blue Jays T12 tournament, and coaching the team to a Gold Medal game.

ABOUT TODD

Todd Parker grew up in Dartmouth and played all his minor ball in WPW and Dartmouth Rep. He is a former NSSBL all-star catcher for the Dartmouth Moosehead Dry. He assumed the role of player/coach for the Dry and led them to multiple NSSBL titles and a National Title in 1998. He ranks near the top in several offensive categories with the Dry, including 5th in career home runs and 7th in career RBI.

Upon retiring as a player, Todd moved into a coaching/instructing role. Some of his highlights include Head Coach of both the Canada Games and Youth Selects Teams, and his current role as Coach of the boy’s NS 17U High Performance Team. He is widely regarded as the top catching instructor in Atlantic Canada. The Darren Doucette Baseball Academy is pleased to have him on board as Catching co-ordinator.