Bonn Capitals Gets Appointed The European Champions Cup

For the second time in three years, the Bonn Capitals will host a top European baseball event. In 2019, the club hosted the European Championship, in 2022, the club will organize the European Champions Cup, the top club tournament in Europe.

At a congress in Rome, the European Baseball Confederation, officially to be called WBSC Europe from 2022, decided to appoint the ECC to the Bonn Capitals. During the 2021 edition in Ostrava, the Bonn Capitals made it to the final in which it fell to Parmaclima 6-4.

According to the chairman of the Capitals, Udo Schmitz, the experience the club has with organizing the European Championship, will help them a lot. Organizing a tournament like this, with two groups of four teams, is a daunting task. First of all the round-robin, then the relegation games, the semi-finals, and the final. But the club has created an organizing committee right away.

Also, the city of Bonn and the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia have been approached for some financial help as a big tournament like this is hard to finance for a baseball club alone. Both the city of Bonn and North-Rhine Westphalia have agreed on their support.

The mayor of Bonn, the North Rhine-Westphalia secretary of state of sporting affairs, and the chairman of the DBV (German Baseball Federation) all claimed to be happy about the appointment.

For the first time in years, only four baseball leagues will be represented in this tournament. The Italian Serie A will be represented by champion San Marino and ParmaClima. The German Bundesliga will be represented by champion Heidenheim Heideköpfe and host Bonn Capitals. The Czech Extra Liga will be represented by champion Arrows Ostrava and runner-up Draci Brno and the Dutch hoofdklasse will be represented by champion L&D Amsterdam Pirates and runner-up Curaçao Neptunus.

The facility of the Bonn Capitals is very suitable for a tournament like this. With back-to-back baseball fields, four games per day can be played. The tournament is scheduled from June 7 through June 12.