Olivet: An American baseball team comes to compete in the Riley Challenge September 28 & 29 At Stade du Donjon

The US Military WarDogs land in France for a tournament organized by the Red Castors Baseball Club with the support of the US Embassy. A free event celebrating baseball and Franco-American friendship.

Discovering America’s favorite sport, a friendly atmosphere, kids’ initiation, food trucks, music, meet-and-greets. Two days of baseball with mixed teams of players aged 16-70. Teams from Rennes, Savigny, Angers, Les Latinos, and Le Mans.

The Riley Challenge was born from the meeting between the Red Castors of Olivet and a group of American septuagenarians and octogenarians who played baseball on a complex of four fields known as the ‘Riley Fields’ from 1958 to 1967. The boys returned to France to participate in a tribute ceremony held on the site of the forgotten fields on May 7, 2022.
Several members of the American group played a key role in helping Elizabeth Riley locate the abandoned fields thanks to their childhood memories. They all remembered Captain Riley, who was involved in baseball coaching, and some of them had fathers who survived the terrible accident that claimed Captain Riley’s life and shocked the tight-knit military community as well as their French neighbors.
The Red Castors of Olivet were deeply moved by the presence of these former players and decided to create a tournament in honor of Captain Riley.

For the third edition of the tournament, the Red Castors will host the US Military WarDogs, an American team composed of active and veteran military personnel from all over the United States, aiming to support military families through baseball.

The WarDogs will not only participate in the Riley Challenge but will also offer baseball workshops and take part in other activities in the region. Accompanied by their families, they will have the chance to discover Orléans and its surroundings and meet members of the French community. The day before the tournament, on September 27 at 4 PM, they will participate in a ceremony at the site of the former baseball fields, ‘Riley Fields,’ in honor of Captain Riley, in the presence of the Captain’s family, followed by a reception at the Hôtel Groslot in Orléans, invited by the international relations services of the Orléans City Hall.

The special opening ceremony of the tournament will take place at 8:30 AM at Stade du Donjon, in the presence of the President of the French Baseball Federation, Thierry Raphet, the teams, and local authorities. The American team will perform their unique tribute to fallen soldiers. The Defense Attaché at the US Embassy, Col. Gabriel Chinchilla, will throw the first pitch of the tournament, in the presence of Captain Riley’s descendants.

BTVF: Third edition 2024, for the following ones in your dreams, how far would you like to take this tournament?

Elisabeth Riley: Every step of this story was the realization of a dream for me, and I am deeply touched by the arrival of the WarDogs as they have a mission to heal trauma through baseball.

But for future tournaments, I think of the participation of a Japanese team… I just spent a month in Japan where I retraced my family’s steps, and there I saw the importance of baseball in the hearts of the Japanese.