And We're Off!
Just as the MLB season kicked off earlier this week so to did Norwegian baseball take a step closer to what is usually a very brief summer. Last night (April 7th) a collection of three teams from the Oslo area traveled an hour or so south to Fredrikstad to play a late night indoor tournament. Fredrikstad has a full size football (soccer) field indoors with a fairly high ceiling. It provides enough space to play an indoor game with relatively few impediments that come with playing in a small space.
The creativity necessary to play in such a place is quite remarkable. The mound is a makeshift structure built out of pallets and plywood covered by an old carpet. Our backstop is a series of three soccer goals with tarps hung over them and the outfield fence is a loose hanging elongated tennis net. Setting up the field takes about an hour and taking it down adds an additional 30 minutes. We begin play at 9pm. and finish at three in the morning as the prices are considerably cheaper at later hours.
It's a promising event I hope to expand next season by establishing sponsors and creating a more competetive environment. It is important for the development of baseball here that we have indoor facilities to combat the often late arriving spring. Kind of our own little Metrodome!
The season opens in Norway in a little less than a month, barring anymore snow and assuming the temperature and rain continues. The National Team kicks off its season at the end of May with the Nordic Championships in Karlskoga, Sweden.
The creativity necessary to play in such a place is quite remarkable. The mound is a makeshift structure built out of pallets and plywood covered by an old carpet. Our backstop is a series of three soccer goals with tarps hung over them and the outfield fence is a loose hanging elongated tennis net. Setting up the field takes about an hour and taking it down adds an additional 30 minutes. We begin play at 9pm. and finish at three in the morning as the prices are considerably cheaper at later hours.
It's a promising event I hope to expand next season by establishing sponsors and creating a more competetive environment. It is important for the development of baseball here that we have indoor facilities to combat the often late arriving spring. Kind of our own little Metrodome!
The season opens in Norway in a little less than a month, barring anymore snow and assuming the temperature and rain continues. The National Team kicks off its season at the end of May with the Nordic Championships in Karlskoga, Sweden.
posted by Andy Johnson at 1:55 PM
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