Last weekend of August. It smells like the end of vacation and consequently the return to work or back to school. In short, it’s not joyful! Fortunately, a breath of fresh air blows a few kilometers from Dijon. Indeed, as every year, the Fénay Cyclones club (in Côte d’Or) organizes its international baseball tournament, dubbed ‘The American Days’. A weekend filled with classic rock (AC/DC, Metallica, Deep Purple, Lenny Kravitz, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc.) and high-quality baseball.
This year, the Cyclones faced the Grenoble Grizzlies, the Bulle Red Sox (Switzerland), Robur 58 (Netherlands), the Dudelange Red Sappers (Luxembourg), the Martigny Minotaurs (Switzerland), the Amsterdam Quicks (Netherlands), and the Saint Just Saint Rambert Duffy Ducks. These were very enjoyable matches to watch, featuring beautiful hits, double and triple plays, pickoffs, and strikeouts, in a festive and relaxed atmosphere.
Philippe Mangione, who manages the Baseball In France page on Facebook, confirms the interest of the Fénay tournament: ‘With the Grizzlies, this is the second year we’ve come here. It’s complicated to make our mark in the regional landscape (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) because baseball remains a niche sport, and in Grenoble, we have a good football and rugby team; so this tournament is a great opportunity to play against very good teams and make ourselves known to other baseball clubs.’
Baseball, but not only! The American Days in Fénay are also an opportunity for other clubs or associations immersed in American culture to make themselves heard. Thus, while American football regularly came to present this sport, this year it’s the turn of the Flèches Revêches to introduce us to Roller Derby (a contact sport played on roller skates on an oval track, players must lap their opponents in a given time without being thrown to the ground or leaving the track), and the Ice Angels to give us a cheerleading demonstration.
The volunteers, for their part, are busy preparing delicious hamburgers or hot dogs, accompanied by fries and to ensure the sound system. On Saturday evening, the night lights up with the traditional fireworks.
A dream weekend, which ended with the victory of the Bulle Red Sox, who made us forget the gray sky and the return to routine. Thank you, Fénay Cyclones!
Interview with Alain Boisneau, the lively President of the Fénay club
BTVF: Can you introduce us to the Cyclones club?
Of course! The club was founded in 1986 by Robert Averso, who discovered baseball in Tunisia with American military personnel present there. He was also an international umpire.
Some players, kids at the time, lived the club’s beginnings and are still there.
It’s a family club and we want to keep it that way! Everyone has their place here, those who want leisure and those who want competition will find their happiness.
As for me, after being vice-president of the club for about 6 years, I took over the presidency in June 2019. I was able to obtain the lighting of the field to be more flexible with training hours, which is a stroke of luck as few clubs have this possibility.
We have about 75-80 licensed players and we’re on a streak of 7 consecutive regional titles (in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region).
BTVF: How did the idea of an international tournament come about, and how do you select the teams?
Sylvain Bernard, the treasurer of the Cyclones, manages the invitations to the clubs. He put together a presentation dossier for the tournament, translated into English, German, Dutch, Spanish, and Italian. Now we have a file of clubs that come regularly. We try to put together a competition of good level. The idea of opening it up to European teams came naturally.
Two years ago, we even had a German team, the Mambo Duro, made up entirely of Cuban refugees; it was very nice!
BTVF: Is baseball managing to establish itself in the region with 2 baseball clubs? What are your relations with the officials (municipal, departmental, and regional)?
Indeed, there are the Dijon Dukes and us. The Dukes are a bit in trouble and some of their players have come to reinforce our ranks. But at the departmental level, it’s important to have several clubs of good level, it’s essential for our sport, it allows us to form a departmental committee and to dialogue with the officials.
At the departmental level, some officials come to certain events (diploma ceremonies), and we receive subsidies from the Council. We also try to maintain a link with officials from surrounding municipalities, it’s our will to get involved in the Dijon conurbation and the cities respond present.
And above all, the mayor of Fénay is on our side. The relations are excellent! He’s a former handball player and someone very attentive. We’re a bit the showcase of the town, people know the American Days.
BTVF: Currently in D3, what are the next steps for development?
We want to focus on our young teams. We would like to set up a 15U tournament, a bit in the image of the American Days. For now, we want to participate in as many tournaments as possible.
Regarding the senior teams, we want to validate our progress in recent years. For two years, we failed at the gates of the D3 Final 4 and we were frustrated, and last year we were hungry, we qualified for the Final 4 in Montigny and we were amazed by the structures of the Cougars club, it gives us motivation! Unfortunately, we did not reach the final but we want to relive those moments.
Fortunately, I am very well surrounded! Whether at the level of the coaches, the club’s volunteers, the players’ parents, the donors and sponsors. The club owes them a lot because these shadow workers are really on top and I am very grateful to them.
BTVF: We can’t talk about the Fénay Cyclones without mentioning Robert Averso (founder of the club, deceased in 2020). Who was he and what does he represent today for the club?
I knew him for a short time, but he always remained faithful to the club. He sometimes came to training sessions and knew how to stay discreet while giving judicious advice to the players. A lover of baseball who left us with the notion of pleasure and involvement. We even retired his number. The old-timers of the club and the Burgundian clubs all have a beautiful image of this ‘great little man’!
Photo credit: Le Bien Public.
Sébastien Dondé.
