Jepson also spent time playing for the University of Texas, Winston Salem-Dash in North Carolina, and in the Pioneer League with the Great Falls Voyagers. He told The Cascade that being on such a wide variety of teams shaped the way he approaches the game today.
“When you’re in the pro ranks you’re playing with guys from all over, not just kids from Texas and British Columbia.”
The upcoming baseball season, beginning in March, will mark Jepson’s third year as a coach. When he first stepped into the role, he leaned on his experience and approach to establish a professional coach-athlete relationship, particularly because he had trained with some of the players during previous off-seasons, he explained.
“I was learning on the go and there [were] kids who I had personally played with, who I was now coaching. I would say on the player-coach side of it, I was more relaxed. There’s times when guys knew that we had to be a little bit serious, but I think just maintaining relationships one-on-one and in a group setting was kind of what helped me at the start. Build their trust and go from there.”
Jepson’s mentality reflects the Cascades’ “climb and conquer” philosophy, with his focus firmly on pushing his team to the top each season while embracing challenges, such as managing a roster that includes 30 more new athletes than last year while still striving to be competitive.
“There’s expectations –– you got to win, right? You got to compete and you got to be at the top,” Jepson said. “Last year we won the regular season, we had the best record we’ve ever had and then we lost in the playoffs … to try and get them all on the same page and get them on the same path to buy in and realize this is how we do things — sometimes it doesn’t go well and sometimes it goes great, but you got to find a way to meet in the middle every single day and not [let] your highs get too high and your lows too low.”
Reflecting on his career, Jepson is grateful for the many people he has learned from throughout his time as a professional player and now a coach, though there is one mentor that stands out.
“Tommy Thompson, I played for him for three years and I really enjoyed his structure and how he went about it, and his energy every single day. So I really try to base [my coaching] off of him. He just brought a lot of juice to every single day.”
Jepson’s first year as head coach was special for him as he brought the Cascades to a championship victory, mirroring his final season of experience as a student when he achieved the same feat as a player at UFV.
“As a player, I feel like you have a lot of control on how the game gets dictated … as a coach you have very minimal.”
Jepson plans to maintain a stream of good work ethic and progress in his players in order to be successful, an attitude that he has no doubt been conditioned to have throughout his career from a rookie who wanted to play baseball, to a pro whose work has paid off in his success.
“At the end of the day, if you compete and you work hard — regardless if you win [or] if you lose — we’re okay with that … but the goal is always to win.”
Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Veronica is a Staff Writer at The Cascade. She loves to travel and explore new places, no matter how big or small. She is in her second year at UFV, pursuing the study of Creative
Writing.