Ferlon Jesus Gijsbertha Perez, born 1996, has played for the Mexico National team from 2008 until present. In 2023 he decided to go to Switzerland in order to coach the Therwil Flyers NLA team, one of the most successful baseball teams in Switzerland. From 2021 to 2022 Ferlon played for the Mannheim Tornados, one of the most successful German baseball teams. In 2008 he won third place in CABA world baseball classic and in 2010 second place in PanAmerican in Nicaragua. In 2011 he was awarded Champion and best pitcher in the league pre-university, in 2013 Champion and MVP in the league pre-university. Ferlon had some outstanding coaches in his career who influenced him a lot: Juan Cerros, ex MLB pitcher, Arturo Gonzalez, one of the best pitchers in Mexico, Roberto Kelly, ex MLB player and world series champion with the Giants, Roenis Elias, current MLB pitcher with Seattle and Onelki Garcia, current pitcher in Japan with the Hanchi Tigers.
In this interview with Xecutives.net, long time Therwil Flyers sponsor, Ferlon answers questions about his baseball career and his coaching approach and reveals what makes baseball a special sport.
Xecutives.net: Ferlon, you’ve been the NLA coach of the Therwil Flyers now for 4 months, succeeding John Baum, who was very successful and lead the Therwil Flyers multiple times to the championship. Why have you chosen to come to Switzerland in order to train and coach Swiss baseball players?
Ferlon Jesus Gijsbertha Perez: I decided to come to Switzerland because in 2021 I had to play here for 2 months and the truth is that I felt very comfortable with the team and the city. I liked it a lot and when I was given the opportunity to return as a coach and player I didn’t think twice. I’m very happy to be able to continue playing and helping the young people here in Switzerland.
Xecutives.net: Some players and other coaches have told me about their coaching approach. What do you like about coaching and what is your coaching motivation?
Ferlon Jesus Gijsbertha Perez: What I like about being a coach is being able to help the youngest to like baseball in the same way that I like baseball and to be able to motivate them to give their maximum effort in each training, so that they improve their level of play more and more and to being able to form good players and also being able to form good human beings so that helps them in their daily life.
Xecutives.net: You did an outstanding baseball career in Mexico, where you come from. What are your first memories regarding baseball?
Ferlon Jesus Gijsbertha Perez: My first memories are when my dad took me to training when I was 8 years old since he was the coach of the team and that helped me a lot to be able to stand out in baseball. I have very good memories of the little leagues since I had to go to many tournaments to which my parents always supported and accompanied me.
Xecutives.net: You’ve had some great coaches, some of them are very famous, playing in Mexico, in US and even in Japan. What have you learned from those coaches and living baseball legends?
Ferlon Jesus Gijsbertha Perez: I have been lucky enough to have had very good coaches throughout my career and what I have learned the most is the discipline they have when it comes to training. They have given me very good advice on how to improve in this area and I try to take the best of each of them to apply it in my daily routine.
Xecutives.net: What makes a good coach?
Ferlon Jesus Gijsbertha Perez: I think the main thing would be to be able to transmit the confidence to the young people to be able to ask you any questions you have based on what you are teaching them and to have good communication to be able to get ahead. I think that is what a good coach has to do, to give the youngsters the confidence to give 100% in everything they do.
Xecutives.net: You have years of experience playing baseball. What skills and experiences will you add as a coach to the Therwil Flyers organization?
Ferlon Jesus Gijsbertha Perez: Always have a good training plan to be able to focus on the points where we have to work more to be able to reach the time of the season at a very good level and talk to the young people about some of my experiences in professional baseball so that they learn more about baseball.
Xecutives.net: Many Swiss tend not to know this, because baseball still means a marginal sport, a Randsport, as Mike Sundman, John Baum, Björn Jensen Derendinger and Sebastian Zwyer told me in lots of talks about baseball. Baseball is a very complex and complicated game. It takes years for players to know everything and to behave strategically on the field. What appeals to you personally about baseball? What does this sport have that others don’t?
Ferlon Jesus Gijsbertha Perez: For me, baseball is the king of sports. It has so many ways to develop a game that you never know until the last out falls. I’ve been playing since I was 8 years old. There are still things that I keep learning from baseball.
Xecutives.net: Why is baseball so popular in South America, also in Mexico, where games are watched by millions of spectators, similar to football here?
Ferlon Jesus Gijsbertha Perez: It’s very popular because in Mexico it’s played almost all year round. There’s winter and summer season and the stadiums are big and beautiful, so people like to go and enjoy a good game that is also used to go and have a good time with friends and family. Baseball has become more popular lately since many of the Latin American players are playing in the best baseball league in the world, which is the MLB in the United States.
Xecutives.net: What are your plans in the near future?
Ferlon Jesus Gijsbertha Perez: My plans are to return to Mexico for a few months to be with my family and continue improving as a coach to be able to provide better training to young people. In January I want to return to Switzerland and start with the training plan with the Flyers in all categories to prepare and be ready for when the season begins and compete for first place in all categories from youth to NLA.
Xecutives.net: The NLA Flyers team has just won second place in the NLA Swiss Championship behind the Zürich Challengers. What is it in your opinion that makes the Therwil Flyers one of the best Swiss teams?
Ferlon Jesus Gijsbertha Perez: What makes the Flyers one of the best teams it is that they have a very good organization in the board of directors. They make sure that the players have everything they need to develop on the playing field and the board, coaches, parents always support each other. It’s a big family that is always united. I think that has made the Therwil Flyers one of the best clubs in Switzerland.
Xecutives.net: Dear Ferlon, thanks for taking your time for this interview. Xecutives.net wishes you and the Therwil Flyers a lot of fun playing baseball and all the best for the next baseball championships!
© 2023 by Christian Dueblin. All rights reserved. Other publications are only allowed with the explicit permission of the author.
More interviews and reports from the world of baseball:
- Mike Sundman about the history, young players and the strategy of baseball
- John Baum about baseball and good baseball coaching
- Björn Jensen Derendinger über die Parallelen zwischen Baseballfeld und Opernbühne
- Sebastian Zwyer über den “Randsport” Baseball, die Schweizer Baseball-Gemeinde und seinen Heimclub, die Therwil Flyers
- Xecutives.net gratuliert den Therwil Flyers – Swiss Baseball Champions 2020
