by www.baseballeurope.com
This weekend in Zurich the sport park Heerenschuerli in Zurich-Schwamendingen was official opened by the Swiss Authorities of the city of Zurich. This sport park includes a new baseball field with international dimensions and fully equipped with all needed facilities including an artificial light installation.
In presence of the President Marco Iten, the board members of the Swiss Federation and the C.E.B. representative Jan Esselman the first pitch was thrown for the opening game on Saturday 21st August between the Swiss Senior National team and a team of Swiss All Star players. The game ended with a 6 to 5 win for the All Stars.
The field is used in good co-operation by three Zurich Baseball Clubs namely Zurich Challengers, Barracudas and the Lions. Due to this co-operation the field will have every day practice activities or games for the various Swiss league competitions. It will also be a training center for the Swiss National teams.
The field will bring International baseball events to Switzerland. The Swiss Executive Board will investigate and discuss the possibility to organize European Junior or Cadet Championships. Clubs might apply for European Cup tournaments. CEB T.C. Chairman Jan Esselman confirmed that the field is ready for European competitions.
The field contains a special 4 cm wide and 10 cm deep separation between the grass and the dirt of the warning track. This separation of synthetic tartan reduces the maintenance and keeps the warning tracks grass free. The level of this separation is at the same height as the warning track and is fully safe for running actions of the outfielders.
