(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
 Roster Netherlands National Softball Team anounced
Nederlands
 NIEUWEGEIN (Neth.) -
On Friday (June 3), the roster has been announced for the Netherlands National Softball Team for the upcoming World Championship, which will be held next month in Canada.
Before that event, the Orange squad will participate for the third time in the World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City (USA).
The Dutch Team will under the name Team Kingdom of the Netherlands, which also is the name of the National Baseball Team since a few years when it participates in big global events.
The Netherlands Softball Team is currently ranked in seventh place on the World Ranking List of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).
The World Championship will be held July 15-24 in Surrey (Canada), which is also the site of the annual Canada Cup-tournaments.
In the previous three World Championships, the Netherlands squad ended in the top-8 each time.
In 2010, it climbed from the twelfth place to the eighth position, reaching the Play-Offs of the Championship, which then was held in Caracas (Venezuela).
In 2012 and 2014, the Orange squad finished in sixth place when the World Championship was held in Whitehorse (Canada) and Haarlem (Netherlands), respectively.
Recently, the Netherlands Team started its annual Holland Tour, a series of exhibition games throughout the country.
In the current series, the team will play games against men softball-teams.
It will play its next exhibition game this Friday (June 10) in Voorschoten, facing the men softball-team of Adegeest, starting at 8:30 PM.
The series ends on June 27 with a game against the men softball-team of Hoofddorp Pioniers in Hoofddorp.
Other games are played on June 13 (vs. Hoofddorp Pioniers in Hoofddorp), June 15 (vs. Storks in The Hague), June 16 (vs. Spikes in Spijkenisse), June 22 (vs. Quick in Amersfoort) and June 23 (vs. Netherlands Men Softball Team in Zoetermeer).
The team then will travel to Oklahoma City in the USA to participate in the World Cup of Softball, which is held annually to provide Team USA with a high-level tournament to prepare for upcoming events.
The Dutch Team first participated in the event in 2009, then for the second time in 2012.
During the World Cup of Softball, the Orange squad meets Japan, USA, Australia and Canada in the preliminary round.
In the preliminary round of the World Championship, the Netherlands squad meets Pakistan, the Czech Republic and the Philippines.
The following 17 players have been selected for the team that will participate in the World Cup of Softball and the World Championship.
Pitchers:
Ilona Andringa (UVV), Rebecca Soumeru, Ginger de Weert (both Oolders Omaco Sparks Haarlem), Mariëlle Vleugels and Eva Voortman (both FysioExpert Olympia Haarlem).
Catchers:
Anne Blaauwgeers, Karin Tuk (both Oolders Omaco Sparks Haarlem) and Dinet Oosting (FysioExpert Olympia Haarlem).
Infielders:
Virginie Anneveld, Damishah Charles, Maxime van Dalen (all Oolders Omaco Sparks Haarlem), Shareday Christina (FysioExpert Olympia Haarlem), Suka Van Gurp (Terrasvogels) and Britt Vonk (Scrap Yard Dawgs, USA).
Outfielders:
Jessie van Aalst (Terrasvogels), Brenda Beers (FysioExpert Olympia Haarlem) and Chantal Versluis (Sestese, Italy).
Lizzie Clarijs (Terrasvogels), Leonella Elizabeth and Cindy van der Zanden (both Oolders Omaco Sparks Haarlem) have been name alternates.
Brenda Beers will make her official National Team-debut.
Seven players on the roster play for reigning Dutch champion Oolders Omaco Sparks Haarlem, while five are coming from FysioExpert Olympia Haarlem, which last season lost the Holland Series.
Two players play for Terrasvogels and one for Silver League-team UVV.
The remaining two players are active in foreign leagues.
Britt Vonk plays for Scrap Yard Dawgs in the National Pro Fastpitch in the USA, while Chantal Versluis is playing in the Italian Softball League for Sestese.
Both are also eligible to play for their Dutch club-teams, which are Terrasvogels and Sparks Haarlem respectively.
The team is led by Head Coach Juni Francisca.
In 2015, Francisca succeeded Craig Montvidas as Head Coach of the team.
During the European Championship last year in Rosmalen (Netherlands), Francisca was co-Head Coach with American Tracy Bunge.
Montvidas made his debut last year in the National Pro Fastpitch as Head Coach of Pennsylvania Rebellion.
He currently is in his second season with Pennsylvania with Tracy Bunge being his Assistant Coach.
This year, Francisca is the sole Head Coach.
He will be assisted by five coaches, being Stanley Doney (Bench Coach), Karen Marr (Pitching Coach), Edward Franka, Harvey Gumbs and Marcel Schippers.
Lars Looijen became the new Team Manager earlier this year, succeeding Paul Boonstra.
Doney also is the Head Coach of FysioExpert Olympia Haarlem.
(June 8)
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