(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
 Dates announced for 2024 edition of Baseball Week Haarlem
Nederlands
 HAARLEM (Neth.) -
The Organizing Committee of the biennual Baseball Week Haarlem announced the dates for its next edition, to be held next year.
On Tuesday (July 11), it was announced that the 31st international Baseball Week will take place July 12-19, 2024.
In February of this year, Peter van der Aart became the new Chairman of the Organizing Committee.
He succeeded Guus van Dee, who headed the board in the previous two editions in 2018 and 2022.
The 2020 edition of the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the press release, it was also announced that the National Teams of Japan and Chinese Taipei will join the Netherlands in the field of participants in 2024.
Other participating countries will be announced later this year.
In the release, it is stated that ''the board of the Baseball Week Haarlem is happy with the commitment of these two Asian baseball superpowers and is enthusiastically looking forward to the tournament in 2024''.
Japan will participate in the tournament for the sixteenth time and the twelfth consecutive time since 2000.
Japan first participated in 1978 and then won the tournament, as it also did the next two times when it was in Haarlem in 1982 and 1994.
...The Netherlands won the Baseball Week in 2022...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Chinese Taipei also is a regular participant and will be in Haarlem for the fourteenth time.
The team participacted is all tournaments between 2000 and 2018.
In the press release it is mentioned that ''the participation of Chinese Taipei next year will be extra special, given the 400th anniversary of trade relations between Taiwan (in international sports-competitions referred to as Chinese Taipei) and the Netherlands in 2024.
The tournament offers a unique opportunity to demonstrate the strong bond between the two countries. to celebrate''.
In the press release, chairman Peter van der Aart said:
,,We are exactly one year away from the start of a new edition of the Baseball Week.
In 2024, we also will look forward to a great Baseball Week Haarlem, with a strong field of participants, great atmosphere, enthusiastic volunteers and dedicated partners!''
It is expected that tickets will go on sale in the Autumn.
The Haarlem Baseball Week was first organized in 1961.
Back then, the game were played at the Municipal Sports Grounds, located at the Badmintonpad, the former home-site of Kinheim.
Since the second edition in 1963, the historic Pim Mulier Stadium is the site of the international tournament.
In 2022, the 30th edition of the Baseball Week was won by the Netherlands, which then won 6-1 in the Final against Curaçao.
The National Amateur Team of the USA finished in third place, followed by Japan, Cuba and Italy.
The Netherlands, which not only is the host, but also is the lone team to have participated in all editions, won the event five times.
Besides winning last year, the Orange-squad also won in 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2016.
(July 11)
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