Leafing through the pages of the history of the Diving Ducks Wiener Neustadt, an Austrian baseball club founded in 1987, known throughout Austria and competing internationally in both men’s and women’s competitions; it seems that initially the founding members did not exactly want to play ‘hit-and-run’ baseball, but rather rugby, which was subsequently ruled out due to too many bruises and pain. The aim remained to play a sport for tough blokes, and if rugby was too ‘demanding’, perhaps American football would be a good idea – and besides, helmets and padded kits might impress the girls. The group of friends sent one of their number on a mission to London to find and buy the necessary kit, but he returned to Wiener Neustadt with a baseball bat and a glove. So what do we do now? Well, let’s play baseball!

And what do ducks have to do with it?

There was sport, and surprisingly, plenty of people who wanted to play baseball. The club had been founded, but now it needed a name. There were plenty of suggestions: Roter Stern Wiener Neustadt, Vorwärts Wiener Neustadt, or Lokomotive Wiener Neustadt. All sounded grand, but none were particularly convincing. And, as always, the magic of music came to the rescue – more specifically, the opening lines of a blues ballad that go: “If the river were whisky and I were a duck, I’d dive right to the bottom and never come back up again”. And so Diving Ducks came into being – and that wasn’t all: once the name had been chosen, the colours for the first shirts were also decided – brown and powder blue – because someone said at the time: “If we want to be ducks, we have to look like them”. What began as the dream of a group of slightly mad friends has grown into a project that is now a well-established sporting organisation, occupying a leading position in the Austrian and indeed European baseball scene.

A vision that has become a wonderful reality

Since 1987, the Diving Ducks Wiener Neustadt have grown year on year and can now boast a men’s team in the Baseball Bundesliga, Austria’s top division, two women’s softball teams, one slow-pitch softball team, a youth programme with teams in every age group and a wealth of trophies in the club’s trophy cabinet. However, 2021 was the year in which history was made. For the first time since their inception, the Diving Ducks won the national title by beating the highly decorated Vienna Metrostars in the final. The ‘ducks’ from Wiener Neustadt, after five second-place finishes in the Bundesliga, finally succeeded – as the first club from Lower Austria to do so – in lifting Austrian baseball’s top trophy. This victory earned them a place in the Champions Cup and the chance to represent their country at the Federation Cup in Antwerp, where they finished in a brilliant third place. This winning streak has continued unabated, leading the Diving Ducks to reclaim the Austrian championship title again last year – proof that an idea and a vision can become a great, tangible and splendid reality.

Nurturing new talent and always believing in them

Working with the youth teams is a huge commitment, but it also brings enormous satisfaction because the young players who choose baseball and the Diving Ducks’ colours have the opportunity to play sport at a high level, and many of them have gone on to become first-team regulars. It’s an ongoing endeavour, a passion that never fades, because to achieve our goals we must commit ourselves, work hard and always believe in ourselves. These are all values that form part of the Macron philosophy which underpins this club, and which has a special connection with baseball because the brand – now a world leader in sportswear – was founded in 1971 in Bologna, starting out precisely as the exclusive distributor of American brands of baseball equipment.  Had he known, Erich – the friend sent to look for kit in 1987 – could have travelled a shorter distance and found it in Bologna, rather than going all the way to London.