(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
 Netherlands Kingdom Baseball Team travels to Cuba
Nederlands
  THE HAGUE / NIEUWEGEIN (Neth.) -
On Sunday (January 10), a Dutch social trade mission will leave for Cuba.
The delegation is led by Lilianne Ploumen, the Netherlands Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation.
Participating in the mission are 77 businesses, as well as sport-representatives and cultural organisations.
With the mission, which runs through January 13, it is intended to build a broad relationship with Cuba.
The baseball-team of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is amongst the athletes that will be part of the trade mission, which will be made by a delegation of more than 120 persons, including representatives of Curaçao and Aruba.
Also traveling to Cuba are representatives of the Feyenoord Academy (soccer), as well as former Netherlands Soccer Team-player Pierre van Hooijdonk, who will represent the project Worldcoaches of the Netherlands Soccer Association.
During the mission, a baseball event will be held during the mission to highlight the special ties that exist between the Netherlands and Cuba through this sport.
The game between the national teams of Cuba and the Netherlands is scheduled to be played next Monday (January 11) at the legendary Estadio Latinoamericano in Cuban capital Havana, starting at 5:30 PM local time.
The last time, the Netherlands National Team played in Cuba was in 2003 during the World Championship.
The last time, the two countries met each other was two months ago during the Premier12 in Taiwan.
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...Managers Hensley Meulens and Roger Machado...
(© Both Photos: Henk Seppen) |
BNR Radio reported on Wednesday (January 6) that the group of businesses that participates has a wide variety, including architects, beer brewers, sportclubs and even the Residentie Orchestra.
,,The intention is to do business, but also building a good and wide relationship with Cuba'', Minister Ploumen said.
The Netherlands Kingdom Team will be lead by Manager Hensley Meulens, who selected 16 players for the trip to Cuba.
Ten of the players participated in the Premier12.
New in the squad are Ramses Jamanika and Ruderly Manuel.
To make room for this exhibition game, the schedule of the Serie Nacional has been adjusted.
The teams now will play a double-header on Saturday, resulting in a free day on Monday in order to give Manager Roger Machado the opportunity to use the best players for his team.
On Tuesday, the Netherlands-players will conduct a clinic for Cuban children.
The Feyenoord Academy will conduct soccer-clinics for children.
Manager Hensley Meulens selected the following players:
Pitchers
Wendell Floranus, Ramses Jamanika, Ruderly Manuel, Diegomar Markwell and Shairon Martis.
Catchers
Gianison Boekhoudt and Dashenko Ricardo.
Infielders
Carlton Daal, Michael Duursma, Andruw Jones, Sharlon Schoop and Hainley Statia.
Outfielders
Chris Garia, Dwayne Kemp, Gilmer Lampe and Kalian Sams.
Of this team, Boekhoudt, Kemp, Markwell, Ricardo (Curaçao Neptunus), Duursma and Lampe (L&D Amsterdam Pirates) play in the Dutch big league.
Jamanika and Manuel play in the Curaçao Baseball League, but a few years ago, Manuel played in the Dutch league for Sparta-Feyenoord.
The remaining players play in professional leagues.
Joining Meulens in the coaching-staff are Sidney de Jong and Wim Martinus, while Pepijn van Ingen travels with the team as Physical Therapist.
(January 8)
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