Claimed:Mathieu Baptiste Biography [Final 10/10]

[iRockstar 307]

PLAYER NAME: Mathieu Baptiste

HEIGHT: Six Foot One

WEIGHT: One Hundred and Eighty-Five Pounds

BORN IN: Marieville, Quebec

JUNIOR TEAM: Quebec Ramparts

POSITION: Center

SHOOTS: Right

 

What if I told you, Mathieu was different? What if I told you, he was unique in many ways, and what if I told you...Mathieu wasn't really Mathieu? At least, he wasn't born a Mathieu, and that is where the story begins. From the day of birth, the Baptiste family welcomed a beautiful, healthy, large and in charge baby girl. Her name? Audrey Rose Baptiste. When she was born, her parents, Marc and Angelica were ecstatic. They had the kid they had dreamed of having, as they had trouble in the past trying for a child. This was their miracle, and things would only go uphill from there. In the coming years, the Baptiste family would grow again, two beautiful babies again, two strong, big boys to top off the family with three wonderful kids. They grew together, loved together and always were around one another, and really they grew a bond that no one could ever break. As the three became a little more independent, that is when the unthinkable would happen. Audrey was not developing the same way as other girls in her school, and it was starting to show, really, a lot of people started to question whether or not Audrey really was a girl, despite being built like one, and it was her upcoming birthday where things took that change. 

 

On her sixth birthday, skipping through the younger years, Audrey made an announcement. As she went up to her mother and her father she announced, she was not a girl. She did not like girl things, she hated barbies and she hated princesses. She loved the mud, she loved the outdoors, she was special, she was not a she in her eyes. She loved playing with her brothers, she was happy being the person she was, and because of that, her family had to make a crucial decision, and the very next week, that decision was made. After talking with doctors who advised that she was corrupted by something in the media and told both Marc and Angelica that she needed to see a therapist, they brought her to a doctor that was specializing in changes that would make Audrey into a little boy. At first, a sinking feeling in their stomachs, how could they decide if they wanted to go through with this? But then, they remembered something, that they didn't want their little girl to feel like an outcast, that they didn't want her to feel, like something that people would make fun of, they wanted her to feel good in her own skin, and so they decided it was time, and with a few simple procedures, and a long recovery time, the world was finally introduced to Mathieu Baptiste. 

 

Luckily for Mathieu, growing up, kids didn't care if you were a boy or a girl, they respected you and cared about you regardless. His brothers? Easily the most satisfied about the change, they may have lost a sister, but they gained a brother, and to them, that was an awesome change. As Mathieu grew older, no one knew his secret, no one knew what he had done because back in that day, people still shunned the unknown, they still looked at you funny, and he didn't want to be in the limelight for the wrong reasons, he wanted to be in the game for the right reasons. Being the oldest of his siblings, and with all the stuff he's went through, graduating elementary school was something he really needed to push himself to go further in life. With the hormones helping him grow, Mathieu easily became one of the tallest kids in his graduating class, and he wasn't close to being done growing. He was right on schedule with the rest of the kids in his school, no one suspected a thing, and high school was just a cake walk for him. 

 

As high school started, Mathieu found that his first semester wasn't really too fun. He had all his hard classes to begin the school year, and with so many changes over the last couple of years, he really didn't know what to expect. He was the oldest at his old school, now he was coming in with kids bigger than him, older than him, likely even cooler than him, and he didn't want to be a reject that he had always feared he would be. However the total opposite happened just two days into the school year. Mathieu found out about hockey tryouts, and he was ecstatic. Mathieu had been skating since he was little, his parents took him out to Ottawa to go skating on the Rideau Canal and he was absolutely in love with it, because of his skating ability, he figured this couldn't be that hard, however he found it extremely challenging to begin with. As he went to tryouts, he wasn't really the greatest, in fact, he dropped the ball quite a few times, and because of that, the coach cut him. Mathieu was absolutely heartbroken, his world had come crashing down around him, he just wanted to fit in, and those dreams were taken away from him. When he went home? He vented to his parents, taking out all his frustration on the coach who in his mind? Didn't have a clue what he was doing, so his parents decided the best thing to do would be to put him in lessons, and let me tell you something, they worked! 

 

In his second year, grade ten, he noticed that the hockey team was again doing tryouts. After failing the first time and focusing strictly on his studies and practicing, he figured this time would be better. With so much hard work and dedication to prove himself, he had put a lot of money and effort into making this time his time, and it certainly paid off, every penny spent from his parents made it so worth it, when the list went up just one week after tryouts...and he seen his name on the listings. He couldn't have been happier, he was over the moon and he was really ready to prove himself, and that's when he also met his best friend in the whole world, someone he would stay friends with pretty much forever, or so they hoped. His name was Kingston, he was on the team last year and so he knew his stuff. He basically took Mathieu under his wing as he was older than him, and that's when Mathieu learned from the best. Over the course of the school year, Mathieu would improve in all major areas of the game, especially his speed and his shooting ability, and with those new found talents, Mathieu would actually end up leading the high school team in points and would win the MVP in the yearly tournament, and people were on notice. 

 

This is why in his final two years of school, the team would welcome him back to the team with open arms, and give him captaincy each time. Without knowing his secret, people accepted him, people around school really connected with him, and for Mathieu? He was happy to just be part of the guys, and his brothers could see the happiness in his eyes. While the brothers stayed close, it seemed like Mathieu and Kingston were also growing in a bond that would stay unbreakable, until they both decided in their final years that their futures would be different, and Kingston would be moving on and parting ways. While they'd keep in touch, they'd be doing two totally different things, as Mathieu seen a future in hockey, while Kingston wanted something more. As the school year ended and the graduation ceremony ended, that would be the last time recently that they would see one another, a tragic friendship pretty much ending, but it was for the better. 

 

As we just stated, the two parted ways, while Kingston went off to university, Mathieu decided to stay in Quebec to go to college, and because of that, some people started to take notice of his hockey skills, especially the hometown team. The Remparts were fairly consistent with being one of the better teams in their respective leagues, and they wanted Baptiste bad. So bad, that they made trades to ensure that in the upcoming draft, he was going to the team, and they did just that. Baptiste wouldn't have to wait long to hear his name called, a top five pick in the draft after word of mouth about his skill. The Remparts at the time had a very skilled group of individuals running the show, and they had one in particular that Mathieu became very fond of, and that was Stephane Savard. He was one of the trainers on the team, and he was always pushing the kids to do their best, and in his very first season, he'd become one of the best scorers in the whole QMJHL. His stats were as followed. 

 

50 goals along with 40 points would put Baptiste at the top of the game. He was the leading scorer in the regular season for the first season, and he was named MVP on the team as well as receiving the Jean-Beliveau Trophy for being the scoring leader that year. With his name now out there, a lot of other teams took notice, a young kid growing up with this much talent is rarely seen every single season, and after the NHL stole names such as Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel from other leagues, it was obvious that the QMJHL might now have a gem of their own. But the biggest question was at the time, is Mathieu Baptiste ready to push himself to become even better than he already is? Is there more in the tank for himself? Well according to the coaching staff for the Remparts, there certainly was, and Mathieu was very prepared to make it all happen. In the next season? He'd top his point production and scoring production to make people really show the best of the best. 

 

In his second year with the team and in his draft eligible year, Mathieu would once again show-up big for the team, bringing them all the way once again but this time, winning the playoffs and obtaining the cup. This time around, he came very close to almost doubling his point production, scoring 86 goals and adding a total point value of 156 points. After a season that he had before, this was just blowing his old season out of the water, and again, people began to take notice. Two leagues in particular took notice, and that was the VHL/VHLM and the NHL. Baptiste now had a choice, would he go to the better league (VHL/VHLM) or would he take the route of going to the old best and see if it decides to rejuvenate? Well we all know the decision. 

 

The biggest question marks now, are what can we expect out of this young up and coming sniper? Well, for him, we can expect to see the speed absolutely take off in the years of the future. Baptiste prides himself in being one of the best skaters in the league and he's going to continue to make that a priority. After his skating, comes his keen ability to snap a shot off in the direction that no one could ever even see coming. Being that he is different, he likes to take those kind of trick shots that people really don't expect, like from the sharp angle on the side of the net or around the back, through the legs and in. He's a stylish player and that is something that makes him unique, something we can expect in the major leagues to be something he'll do a lot more often. Finally, being the position he is, his face-offs is another key attribute that allows him to flourish on the ice. A lot of centers he has faced in the juniors have said he's one of the hardest players to go up against at the dot simply because he's forceful on the puck, can push them out of the way, and can move the stick in a way that no one can even compare to. Because of all of this, Baptiste is going to be one of the biggest offensive threats in the league, it'll just be who decides to take a shot on him. 

 

In comparison to the real life players out there, you're looking at a Ryan Kesler, Patrice Bergeron and possibly even Jonathan Toews type player. As he ages, he plans to add some body mass, he plans to even grow a couple more inches as his doctors have told him, he's not done growing. Because of all of that, we can already see similar qualities between himself and the centers just named. He's good on the dot, he's got a wicked shot, he likes the big body plays and being involved physically, and he can skate circles around his opposition. If he can continue to work and grow like we stated earlier, it'll be one heck of a threat and a center almost everyone will want to have on their team. 

 

OOC: Just a little note here, I did this because my friend who was transgender unfortunately took his own life just two days ago while away on vacation. I wasn't told until yesterday and it's left a huge hole in my heart. I've been friends with him before he made the transition so to speak, so I have known him as both, and it absolutely breaks my heart. I just want people to know this is not something meant to be offensive, as I personally know the person that has gone through this, and this was a last minute decision to make this my biography, thanks for understanding.

[Baozi 1,658]

Sounds like a great friend

 

Sorry for your loss bro.

[Tylar 219]

Overview: 5/5 - Amazing biography with amazing story telling. Probably one of the best biographies I've read since i've become a grader. There's a lot of talk about transgender now (Caitlyn Jenner) so hopefully society will be more accepting. Sorry for your loss

 

Grammar: 3/3 - I didn't catch anything else. Fantastic writing.
barbies = Barbies 

 

Presentation: 1/1 - Looks great!

 

Over 1000 Words? 1/1

 

Overall: 10/10

[CowboyinAmerica 2,887]

Claimed