(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos published with permission of Stichting Topsoftball Zuid-Holland)
 Three Dutch softball-clubs start unique cooperation
Nederlands
 THE HAGUE (Neth.) -
It's that time of the year that most teams are starting (or continue) preparations for the upcoming new season.
Most teams are working indoors or do strength and conditioning workouts.
But on Saturday-afternoon (January 9), there was a lot of outdoor-activities in The Hague and the nearby beach.
There, the players of three different teams from three different softball-clubs took part in a joint practice session.
And that included two teams, who will face each other this year in the same competition, the Silver League.
...The players are ready to start the...
...joint practice session...
(© Photos courtesy of STZH) |
The softball-teams of Birds, Euro Stars and Gophers have joined forces.
Not only are the players training together, the technical staffs of the three teams together set up a development plan and conduct specialized practice sessions.
The Stichting Topsoftball Zuid-Holland (Foundation Top Softball South Holland) (STZH) coordinates the combined activities.
The Stichting, which was founded in 2010, is known for its many initiatives for youth softball with its Blue Angels-program.
Starting this year, the main squads of Birds, Euro Stars and Gophers will work together under the wings of the Stichting, who also compiled a technical staff.
Birds and Euro Stars will play in the Silver League this season.
Last year, Birds promoted to this second highest league.
Gophers is playing in the First Divsion, which is the third hightest Dutch league.
And so, on Saturday, the unique cooperation kicked off and the players held their first joint training at the beaches of Kijkduin, near The Hague.
In a press release, it is stated that the clubs are working together to get a broader base, which is necessary to keep on playing top softball.
Since 2010, the Stichting Zuid-Holland enables youthplayers of club-teams to get additional practice- and game-moments in their Blue Angels-program.
Within that program, several youth-teams are formed, who participate in several competitions as an independent team, while the players also continue playing for their own club.
Birds, Euro Stars and Gophers share the topsport-vision of STZH and took the decision to work together closely by sharing their knowledge, set up specialized trainings and support each others program.
On Saturday, a group of some 50 persons ensembled on a clouded and chilly day.
Players and coaches got acquainted to each other and enjoyed lunch, then a 3 kilometer interval-walk to the nearby beach followed.
After an enjoying ride in the Carrousel Kijkduin, a series of strength and conditiong sessions was conducted.
Near the Carrousel, as well as on the beach.
The first joint practice-day ended with a everyone being addressed by André Prins, the always active and inventive Technical Director of Stichting Topsoftball Zuid-Holland.
He looked back with a good feeling to a successful start of this new initiative.
The technical staff of STZH is formed by André Prins (Technical Director and Head Coach of Birds), Martijn Teuben (Technical Coordinator and Head Coach of Euro Stars) and Mariana Prins-Atanasova (Head Coach of Gophers).
They were joined by Rob Tellekamp (Coach Birds), Tony Janssens (Bench Coach Birds), Anthony Granger (Coach Euro Stars), Edward Franka (Instructor Euro Stars), Wouter Rouss (Strength and Conditiong Coach Euro Stars), Jennifer van der Zanden (Coach Gophers) and Claudia Kranendonk (Coach Gophers).
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
...The players of Birds, Euro Stars and Gophers worked hard, but had a lot of fun during their first joint practice...
(© Photos courtesy of Stichting Topsoftball Zuid-Holland) |
(January 10)
|
