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Stars of the I.S.C. - - - - - December, 2004
(A Tribute to the Past, Present, and Emerging Stars of the I.S.C.)
Putting the “International” in International Softball Congress
Gilles Fournier and the Ballerup (Denmark) Vandals
Gilles Fournier (make that Doctor Gilles Fournier) is the moving force behind the Ballerup Vandals, winners of the Danish National Championship for five consecutive years, and the 2003 European men’s fastball champions.
Fournier, a Rheumatology Specialist at the Back Center of Copenhagen in ‘real life’, is a transplanted Canadian who has devoted his considerable skills to promoting the cause of fastball in Europe since his move from his native Ontario to Denmark over 10 years ago.
But his love of fastball started many seasons before he led the Ballerup Vandals to the 2003 European championship and an invitation to the International Softball Congress World Tournament in Fargo, ND this past August.
With his father having played in the ISC World Tournament in 1969, it is no surprise to learn that young Gilles recalls his youth as a series of assignments as “bat boy”, and his summers being spent “at ball parks every weekend”.
But another “ball” game was in his blood, and he became an outstanding young baseball player - - - a player who was good enough to spend time playing with “A” teams in the
minor league program of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Following that venture, young Fournier was off to school. First it was to Toronto for a B.S. degree in Biology. He followed that with a Doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine. It was in Toronto that he met his Danish wife (who is a Chiropractor). The young Fourniers moved to her native Denmark where Gilles headed to complete a degree from the medical school at the University of Copenhagen. His specialty in Rheumatology he considers “a natural transition from his experience in Chiropractic medicine.
And how does this busy young medical professional become a bulwark of Danish fastball? Sort of simple really: there was a ball park near the residence of the young couple; Gilles wife spotted a man with a bat and asked, “Where does this get played around here?” And in the words of Fournier, “Two years later I was appointed the coach of the Danish National Team!”
The Ballerup Vandals have been a dominant team in Denmark fastball circles. The 2004 season saw them capture their fifth consecutive Danish national crown. This followed their marvelous season in 2003 when they traveled to Italy to win the fastball championship of the continent of Europe.
The team has been in existence for 15 years and is a part of a club which also sponsors a 2nd Division team; a Women’s team; a Junior (under 15) team; and a Super Seniors (over 40 - - and 100 kilos) team.
The Vandals were invited to compete in the 2004 ISC World Tournament following their European championship. The team is sponsored by the town of Ballerup and by an Irish pub (“The Globe”) in downtown Copenhagan. And the players did their part to finance the trip - - - and the World Tournament experience. Fournier explained that, “We are used to paying to play.” Each played raised or coughed up $2,000 to enable the team to compete in Fargo. The venture saw the Vandals finish with a 1 – 3 mark in pool play, missing the playoffs in the ISC event.
Although Ballerup failed to repeat as European champions in 2004, falling to the Allerod Penguins (another Danish team), Fournier is optimistic about his team and also optimistic about Danish fastball, claiming that, “The best pitchers in Europe come from Denmark.” He explained that men’s fastpitch is the only ball game played in Denmark, noting that there is very little baseball or slowpitch softball.
So let’s hear it for our December, 2004, “Stars of the I.S.C.” Doctor Gilles Fournier and his Ballerup Vandals - - - a force in European fastball and now veterans of an International Softball Congress World Tournament.
Gilles Fournier can be contacted at: sb.herre.landshold@dbasof.dk
December 23, 2004
By: Gordon Wise
ISC Information Officer
http://www.iscfastpitch.com
sgwise@woh.rr.com