In 2014, my family and I moved to San Diego for six months. During that time, my brother and I attended public high school. We played baseball regularly at school and I fell in love with the sport. We also often visited Petco Park, where the San Diego Padres played. Going to a ballpark like that as a Swiss was a whole new experience. The whole atmosphere was different, the people were much more open and friendly and there was a whole show around the game. It was more like entertainment than a baseball game. There were booths everywhere and something to do or eat. Also, the soldiers were honored at every game and we had to sing the national anthem before every game. We also had to sing it at the beginning of every day at school. Ironically, I got to sing the American national anthem before the Swiss national anthem. I was immediately fascinated by the sport and the whole culture that had developed around it, and that fascination has remained with me to this day.
Challengers Zurich
When I got back from San Diego, I immediately started playing baseball in Switzerland. It wasn’t easy because the sport is not very popular in Switzerland. To this day, there is only one official baseball field in the country. I started with the Challengers Zurich, where I still play more or less today. In Switzerland you don’t move up after the first division and you play in the first division from the age of 18, no matter how good you are, so the first division is a bit of a joke. I compare it to the county league in Germany. There are people from all walks of life, students still in training, but also fathers with steady jobs. Due to these circumstances, there is no fixed number of players at practice, as most people don’t take it too seriously and just show up when it suits them. Games also only take place on weekends. Since the only real baseball field is in Zurich, the other teams often just don’t come because they don’t feel like it or don’t have the time. Nevertheless, I love the sport and will continue to be involved, even if I’m not as active as I used to be.
