Swiss Toros, Supercup Champion 2018
In 208 the Swiss Toros were the first Europan team to win the ESSL Supercup 2018 and they did it in an impressive way by winning all their games. This season their goal is to improve their level of play and to bring home some more trophies on their way to a top European team. We interviewed Cesar Correa the coach of the Swiss Toros:
(Q) Why did you choose Swiss Toros as a team name?
(A) The Swiss Toros were founded in 2014 by Xabi Hernandez. From the beginning on the Swiss Toros were a multicultural team including Swiss players and “homesick softballers” from the Caribbean states of Cuba, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic. The name “Toros”, or “Bulls” in English, was chosen because it represents the “crazy wildness” and the determination that we leave on the field every time we play. It’s also a very well-known Spanish word since it is related with the “Corrida de Toros” (bullfight).
(Q) Why did you join the ESSL?
(A) Since 2015, we played in the Swiss League and in the ESSL with results that gave us a lot to improve. Starting in 2017, I joined as a coach and thanks to the hard work of all the team members, we started to see our great future ahead. We became a team with synergy, saw our potential and exploited it to be the competitive team we knew we could be. This led to us to win the Swiss championships and to achieve international success. In 2017 we won the Freising’s Buttermaker Tournament and reached third place at Almere’s Windmill Classic in the same year. We wanted to go further. Therfore, we decided to test our level in the most important slowpitch league in Europe and decided to participate again in the ESSL 2018 (after a one year break). We finished the ESSL League as the 4th best team. But the icing on the cake was definitely to be the first non-US team to win the Supercup title and became “The ESSL Supercup Champion 2018”.
(Q) What do you expect from this season?
(A) This season is really important for us. We want to expand our horizons and to establish ourselves as one of the most important teams in Europe. Beside that, and as usual, we want to keep bringing joy to all our fans on the field with our skills, determination, passion for the game, and our “party mood dancing”. We also want to make new friends and support the expansion of the ESSL in the upcoming years. The ESSL is a large community and we are happy to be part of it. We always enjoy super competitive and intense rivalries with all the amazing teams participating.
(Q) How would you describe your team’s playing philosophy?
(A) We are not just team mates, we are a family. We love playing together and enjoy it in/out the softball field. We are always spreading joy and laughs everywhere we go. Our team philosophy can be described with the Spanish baseball term “Pelota Caribe”. That’s a generic name to define the characteristic style of playing baseball in the Caribbean. It is a very aggressive and rascally way of playing that includes lots of running, stealing, hit and runs, etc. Basically playing smart and going for every chance we have to take advantage of a play, and make more runs. No doubt you have seen Rafael Ferrer and Jose Posada for example, hitting an inside-the-park home run with a swing where a regular player would barely get a double. Simply amazing.
(Q) How do you see the future for slowpitch in Europe and for the ESSL?
(A) ESSL will always have an important role in the development of Slowpitch Softball in Europe. The teams are getting increasingly competitive, setting the bar higher every year. We are happy to be part of this family, and we look forward to support its development in the upcoming years with our participation.
(Q) Anything else you want to say?
(A) We are looking forward to heat the field in this 2019 season. We always bring fun, joy, and laughs to all our fans. We want to be the most exciting team to be seen in the ESSL this year.
