When courage meets determination and moral values are on display, we can say we’re facing a remarkable person. Baseball TV France met one of them. Interview with Charlène Salzborn.
BTVF: Who are you, Charlène Salzborn?
C.S.: Mother of two boys, I’ve been playing sports since I was six years old and have been with the Mulhouse baseball/softball team, the Royals, for 16 years. In addition to being a player, I’ve also been the club’s secretary for many years.
I am President of the Association that I opened as part of my Youth Publishing House ‘Aux Editions Kashmir’ for one year now.
For the upcoming school year (on October 14th), I will be joining the second promotion of the Club des 300 femmes dirigeantes.
Regularly, I also practice running with our two dogs. I am a great lover of reading and music! Nothing is impossible between private, professional, sports, and associative life. When you do what you love, you are capable of great things! I think it’s important to be passionate and interested in what surrounds us.
BTVF: You play baseball and softball, how did you get into these sports? You play in the German federation, how does that work?
C.S.: I discovered this sport when I was in middle school. It was part of the program, and one of our players came to lead a session. That’s when I met the Mulhouse Royals club. At the start of the school year, I signed up and never left!
Our baseball team is affiliated with one of the teams in Neuenburg (Neuenburg Atomics 2), and we participate in the Baden-Württemberg championship in the ‘Landesliga Herren II’.
Every year, under the colors of Mulhouse, we also participate in a tournament in Switzerland, organized by the Dulliken team, where we face higher-level teams. Thus, we have already been able to play against the Swiss National U23 team or the Italians from Bergamo.
The Atomics club of Neuenburg also organizes a tournament every year where we present ourselves with an Alsace team to face Swiss, American, and German teams. It’s an important annual event that no player misses!
We are also present in Mixed Fast and Slowpitch Softball. To integrate new players more quickly and easily, we regularly play slowpitch matches. Fastpitch is more occasional. We regularly participate in tournaments and in different forms where the game is fast and intense!
BTVF: You published a children’s book about cancer, can you tell us how this book came about?
C.S.: This book was born after my dad’s cancer. My eldest, who was advanced in speech, asked me a lot of questions: ‘Why is he sick? What’s his illness? Why is he in the hospital? Why can’t we see him anymore?’ All this against a backdrop of COVID and confinement… To answer his questions, my first reflex was to look for a book that explains the disease, even death, but with simple words. I didn’t find any. So, I decided to write him a story to explain it, and it worked! By sharing it around me, the story really came to life, improved. I tried to get it published, and the feedback from publishing houses was the same: ‘Beautiful story, touching and moving, unfortunately, it doesn’t fit our editorial line.’ So, I took the problem from the other end by creating my own Youth Publishing House, specializing in difficult topics for children. After 11 months of work with the CCI, accompanied by an advisor, building a solid file, contacting an accounting firm, and finalizing with the bank, it was born. Ten days before my dad’s death, when we learned he was in the terminal phase after 18 months of fighting, I told him about this project. He already knew the story, had read it, and approved. My last promise was that I would succeed in publishing his story, creating my publishing house, and selling the books. Today, we have sold more than 150 books. I also chose to donate 1 euro per book sold to La Ligue Contre le Cancer in the Haut-Rhin department.
BTVF: Recently, you became interested in a one-armed baseball player and made a book about him, tell us about this adventure?
C.S.: It’s the true story of Maxime (HAFID), a player in Montpellier. He came to Mulhouse for his studies. For this second story, I really wanted a story full of life, that sparkles, and gives hope and courage. I didn’t hesitate long to reconnect with Maxime and ask for his permission. We exchanged extensively so that I could gather as much information as possible about his childhood, how he perceived things, how he reacted to the difficulties and obstacles encountered. I wrote the story, proposed it to him, and it was validated!
For the little story, in the book, there is an illustration taken from a photo during a tournament in Neuenburg where we play with the Alsace team. This photo went viral on social media and reached the United States, where it was shared a considerable number of times!
BTVF: Your publishing house is thriving, your charitable partnerships structure your publications, what are your goals?
C.S.: I have only one goal: to live off this passion for books!
BTVF: You have just been awarded by the Club des 300 femmes dirigeantes. What does this award mean to you?
C.S.: I am of course delighted to be part of this second promotion! It is important for me to promote women’s sports and the place of women in sports in general. These are opportunities like these that allow us to be heard, known, and recognized in everything we can undertake and to be supported.
I would thus be honored to be able to bring my knowledge and know-how within the club and to be able to establish several projects.
I am already very lucky to be very well surrounded by the Royals and to be supported by each of them! Together, we go further.
BTVF: What can we wish you?
C.S.: That taboos are broken and that words are freed. I think it’s important to put words early, especially if the child asks.
And of course, that sales take off! That, whether near or far, we are, will all be concerned at one time or another.
