The Bundesliga baseball players from the Haar Disciples will be cooking on the back burner in the future. Neither the current coach Charles Poe will get a new contract, nor will foreign import players be used. The second division team is deregistered. And with newly promoted Gauting Indians, the Disciples have a serious rival in the region.
The Haar Disciples will shine in new splendor next year – at least in the literal sense and in the dark. This is due to a floodlight system with LED technology that was recently installed in the Eglfing Ballpark and will also enable baseball players to play evening games in the future.
However, it is questionable to what extent the Disciples will shine in the new Bundesliga season in a figurative sense. Because unlike before, the club no longer wants to rely on foreign import players. And the contract of coach Charles Poe – according to press spokesman Tom Wolf, “the best coach we ever had” – has not been extended either. The reason in both cases: After the Disciples were in “serious financial problems” this year, according to Wolf, the club has to save money.
According to the spokesman, the trigger for the financial problems this season was the withdrawal of a private investor who had originally promised a five-figure sum but was then no longer able to raise it, said Wolf. This put the club in a “difficult situation”. The financial problems have now been solved and the club is economically sound again. “But in this situation some people in the club woke up,” says Tom Wolf. “And the budget was completely evaporated.”
Club wants to give its own offspring a chance
As a result, the Disciples no longer sign import staff, as is common practice with most Bundesliga clubs. According to Wolf, “outstanding players” like US pitcher Ryan Bollinger or Breland Almadova will no longer be seen in Haar. Instead, last year’s third-placed team in the Bundesliga South wants to give their own youngsters a chance – knowing full well that this will probably reduce the club’s sporting ambitions.
“Of course we would like to get back into the playoffs. But it is more realistic that we will go to the playdowns next season,” says Tom Wolf. But the club’s new management – Daniel Wolf and Tom Krüger have recently been responsible for competitive sports – have decided on this path in view of their recent experiences. “The problem is that the costs and requirements in the Bundesliga are getting higher and higher,” says Tom Wolf. “At the same time, it is extremely difficult to make money with baseball in the Munich area.”
Therefore, the club now wants to reduce costs – including in the coaching position. The American Charles Poe will no longer return to Haar after just one year. We are already “in final discussions” with a successor, says Wolf. According to him, the new coach will be introduced this year.
However, he will no longer prepare his team for the season in the winter training hall in Vaterstetten, which the club had rented specifically in previous years. This extra also fell victim to the red pencil, says Tom Wolf. And there is another cut. The Disciples have withdrawn their reserves from the 2nd Bundesliga. The reason for this was the many scheduling conflicts with the first team’s games, says the spokesman. “It was extremely difficult for us last season.”
Newly promoted Gauting is a serious rival in the region
The Haarers, however, will continue to be represented in the highest German league – just like their neighboring club Gauting Indians, which has made it into the Bundesliga. The newcomer is trained by an old acquaintance – namely the former Haarer sports director Christopher Howard. A sign that the Disciples are becoming a serious rival in the region is a personnel statement that the Gautinger team recently published. The 17-year-old junior national player Felix Ströll is moving from the Disciples to the Indians. (ps)
