Patric Schindler
What do baseball and American football have in common? Not only are they among the top four most popular team sports in the US (along with ice hockey and basketball), but they are still inscrutable to most European sports fans. If guesswork were a sport, baseball could certainly help. While the European fan base in American football is steadily growing, it is stagnating in baseball. The best way to find out why the hitting game has such a difficult time, especially in Switzerland, is to go to what is probably the most beautiful town in the Seeland.
The only player from Seeland who is fighting for points in the National League A lives in Aarberg. Sven Ambühl can understand very well why so many people who are interested in sports do not find access to his favorite hobby. If he hadn’t been born into baseball, maybe he wouldn’t be a Swiss U23 national team player today and wouldn’t hit a ball on the Aarolina, home of FC Aarberg, but kick a round piece of leather. At the age of six, the 22-year-old tried to hit a ball with a stick for the first time. Apparently with success, because Ambühl was enthusiastic about baseball right from the start and always wanted to know more about this sport. “I then looked for a club in the area and went to the Bern Cardinals for the first training session,” says Ambühl. The enthusiasm for baseball has remained to this day.
“I know some people who get bored with baseball,” explains the Seeländer. Anyone who is not willing to invest the time to understand the philosophy and complex rules of the sport will probably never be interested in baseball. In order to get closer to this sport, you need perseverance not only when studying the meaning and purpose of this game, but also during a game. “A baseball game can last up to three hours,” says Ambühl. That can be exhausting not only for the players, but also for the spectators. “That’s why it’s all the more important that you know the rules and the tactics. Then you can enjoy such a long game, »says the Cardinals player. Switzerland would probably have to wait a long time before a player made it into North American Major League Baseball (MLB). “There are only a few Swiss who currently play baseball in an American college,” explains Ambühl. Even making the step from there is incredibly difficult.
YB plays just around the corner
The NLA season begins for the Bern Cardinals on Sunday. Ambühl welcomes the Zurich Barracudas with his club – twice on the same day. The first game is scheduled for 11 a.m. and the second at 2 p.m. The Cardinals play on the Grosse Allmend. Your playing field is a stone’s throw away from the Wankdorf Stadium. At the start of the season, Ambühl doesn’t expect many fans – the reason is not the less spring-like weather, but the fact that on average around 40 fans watch the Cardinals home games. “Most of the viewers are relatives or acquaintances,” says Ambühl. The Bernese stadium would actually be predestined to motivate many passers-by to watch a game. But there you are back on square one – if you don’t deal with this sport, you hardly watch a game for a long time. Although baseball doesn’t move the masses in Bern, Ambühl appreciates the family atmosphere in the club all the more. “We often eat something together after the game. The opposing players also join in,” says the catcher and outfielder. Because fair play is very important in baseball.
Ambühl’s appetite for the new season is great. “The last two years have been difficult because of the pandemic. A lot had to be improvised in the training sessions,” says Ambühl. This even led to the Cardinals looking for a training hall via a newspaper ad. The Bernese found what they were looking for at a farmer in Ried near Kerzers and converted a warehouse into a training center. “We set up nets there so that we could practice the shots,” explains Ambühl.
After losing the playoff final two years ago, the Bernese missed the playoffs last season. “That mustn’t happen to us anymore,” says the Seelander. The aim is to get into the top four teams in the regular season. “These are qualified for the playoffs.” The knockout phase begins in August. Until then it will be played. In the summer, Ambühl also wants to qualify for the U23 European Championship in Lithuania with Switzerland. He hopes that he will playfully find his old strength. “Because I earned the lieutenant, I couldn’t focus on baseball as well,” he says. Now he wants to spend more time on his sport again. In addition to studying at the University of Education in Bern, baseball is a good change.
Brennball as initial ignition
It shouldn’t come as a surprise if Ambühl, as a teacher, wants to make baseball palatable to his students. It is quite possible that he will start with Brennball. A game that most people at school enjoyed or still enjoy. Brennball and baseball are similar. Ambühl still has plenty of time before he graduates to figure out how to get kids and teens to play a game that most adults find boring for up to three hours. The fact that children and young people like to do the opposite of adults is likely to play into the hands of the Aarberger in his ambitious project.
1000 players in Switzerland
Baseball has also existed in Switzerland since 1980. On November 11th took place in Reussbühl, Lucerne, between the Lucerne White Sox and the Zürich Challengers that first baseball game. instead of. In 1982 a Swiss championship was held for the first time with the Challengers as the first champions. There has been a softball championship since 1987
Swiss Baseball & Softball Federation (SBSF) licensed around 1000 players. mt/pss
