On Sunday, the Challengers Baseball & Softball Club Zurich held its 46th Annual General Assembly at the Linde Oberstrass restaurant in Zurich. President Mindy Siemers reviewed the 2025 season, which saw a silver medal for the U12 Juveniles and two third-place finishes in Softball and the Baseball NLA, as well as the debut of the newly formed slowpitch team and a whole bunch of club and team events, clinics, and school projects.
Treasurer Nicola Ernst presented a very positive financial report, the profit from which will be mainly reinvested in coaching in the coming season.
Furthermore, the board introduced the new coaching staffs of the various teams for the 2026 season, in particular David Castillo, who will be the new head coach of the Baseball NLA-Team, and presented the Challengers “Next Generation” concept, which focuses on the targeted development of young players. Isabelle Tan explained the club’s activities within the framework of the “Atleta” project, which aims to increase the participation of girls in city-wide club sports. Lara Müller presented the next steps regarding this topic and provided an overview of the follow-up project for 2026/27 within the framework of the UEFA Women’s Euro Legacy, in cooperation with the City of Zurich, aimed at promoting girls and women in football and other sports.
The board will be expanded for the upcoming season. The resignation of Isabelle Tan will be compensated for by the newly elected members Karen Hendren, Jean-Claude Nicod, and Noam Blickenstorfer. The current members Carlos Nepomuceno, Un-Hie Gonzalez, Nicola Ernst, and President Mindy Siemers were unanimously re-elected for another year.

The Challengers Baseball & Softball Club wishes everyone in the Challengers family a happy and healthy holiday season.
 

While the baseball and softball fields are closed and the clubs are busy planning for the upcoming season, the Challengers competed in ten frames instead of nine innings at Bowling West in Schlieren on Friday evening. Although strikes were still the goal and a perfect game is a rare occurrence, the focus this time was on socializing. Nearly 30 Challengers – from juniors to active players, coaches, board members, and former greats – spent two hours knocking down pins. At the end, President Mindy Siemers presented the Golden Pin to Tate Stone-Frisina, who, according to unofficial results, knocked down the most pins.

Thanks to the early end of the season due to the European Baseball Championship, which will take place at the end of September, the traditional Challengers Veterans’ Game took place earlier than ever before. The beautiful weather, contrary to the forecast, contributed to the fact that around 40 former, current, and future greats ultimately battled for hits, runs and outs. Among others, Thomas Blank, Armin Blickenstorfer, Harry Bregy, Nick Lehmann, Chris Palatinus, Benny Räber, Manuel Schretzmann, Willy Schaub, Tobias Siegrist, and Pieter Zandt demonstrated that they haven’t forgotten their baseball skills.
Honorary President Marianne Blickenstorfer flew in especially from South Africa, Nick Siemers interrupted his stay in the USA for the traditional event, and Gary Kochlefl, the 1998 Swiss Champion, and Peter Rothenhäusler, the 1986 Swiss Champion, were among the spectators. Veteran’s Game also means that the father gets a hit aagainst his son, who retaliates with a pickoff, the batting order consists of 13 players, and then there’s lively discussion including beer and sausages. Once again the Veteran’s Game was a complete success.

Serge würfelt
Am Freitagabend fand in der AXA Arena in Winterthur die Zündwürfel Pokalnacht 2025 statt – ein grosses Fest zu Ehren des Zürcher Vereins- und Breitensports. Hunderte Gäste feierten die nominierten Ehrenamtlichen und Vereine in einer stimmungsvollen Atmosphäre.
Wir freuen uns sehr, dass Serge Künzler für seine langjährige und unermüdliche Arbeit im Challengers Baseball und Softball Club Zürich in der Kategorie „Ehrenamt“ nominiert wurde. Serge engagiert sich seit über 25 Jahren für den Verein – als Spieler, Coach, Vorstandsmitglied und treibende Kraft hinter zahlreichen Nachwuchsprojekten. Mit seiner Leidenschaft und seinem Einsatz hat er massgeblich dazu beigetragen, den Baseball- und Softballsport in Zürich aufzubauen und weiterzuentwickeln.
Der Sieger der Kategorie wurde durch ein Würfelspiel bestimmt – dabei hatte Serge leider kein Würfelglück. Dennoch wurde er für seine herausragenden Verdienste mit einem Pokal und CHF 500 Preisgeld ausgezeichnet.
Wir danken Zündwürfel und Zürcher Kantonalverband für Sport herzlich für die Organisation dieses besonderen Abends und gratulieren Serge von ganzem Herzen. Wir sind stolz, ihn in unserem Verein zu haben!