(Story & Photo by Marco Stoovelaar)
  Dutch Umpire Wout van der Horst invited for Senior League Softball World Series
Nederlands
  WILLIAMSPORT, Pennsylvania (USA) / WORMER (Neth.) -
Veteran Dutch softball-umpire Wout van der Horst has received an invitation to officiate during this years Senior League Softball World Series, which will take place in July/August.
Van der Horst received the invitation on Wednesday (January 4) from Tom Rawlings, the Director of Umpire Development for the Little League Organization, which is based in Williamsport (Pennsylvania, USA).
...Wout van der Horst...
...third World Series...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
Van der Horst, who is active for a long time in the highest Dutch softball-league, has a long association with Little League International.
Since 2004, he has officiated in twelve European Little League Championships in different age groups in Germany, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands.
That includes last years Championship in Breda and Moergestel (Netherlands).
Van der Horst also was an umpire on two earlier World Series.
In 2009, he officiated at the Junior League World Series in Kirkland and in 2013, the Little League World Series followed in Portland.
His assigment for the upcoming Senior League World Series will be his last for a World Series.
According to the league-rules, an umpire can be active only once in one of the World Series-tournaments.
After an assignment, an umpire has to wait at least four years to be invited for a next World Series-appearance.
Based on the recommendation from European Regional Director Beata Kazsuba from Poland, Van der Horst was selected to be one of the Umpires in the 2017 Senior League Softball World Series.
This will take place July 30-August 6 in Lower Sussex (Delaware), where the games will played at the Lower Sussex Little League Complex at Roxana.
With this assignment, Little League recognizes Van der Horst's commitment and service to Little League International and honors his performance and dedication to the sport.
The Senior League Softball World Series in the age-group of 13-16, is one of seven World Series organized by the Little League-organization this year.
In the same period, the Junior League Softball World Series (age 12-14) takes place in Kirkland (Washington).
Following these two events is the Little League Softbal World Series (age 11-12) in Portland (Oregon).
There are four baseball World Series.
First, on July 30, the Senior League Baseball World Series (age 13-16) and Intermediate 50/70 Baseball World Series (age 11-13) open in respectively Easley (South Carolina) and Livermore (California).
In August, the Junior League Baseball World Series (age 13-15) follows in Taylor (Michigan).
The series of tournaments ends with the famous Little League Baseball World Series (age 11-13) in Williamsport (Pennsylvania).
Until last year, there are were Big League World Series (age 15-18) in baseball and softball.
These events began in 1968, but were discontinued after last year.
On July 19-23, the European Championship for Senior and Junior League Softball will be hosted again in the Netherlands.
Later that month, the Little League Softball Championship will be held in Kutno (Poland), which also will be the site for the Little League and Junior League Baseball-EC.
The Senior League Baseball-EC takes place in Novara (Italy).
The Netherlands Little League Championships will take place on June 17 and 18 in Hoofddorp.
The Senior League Softball World Series are being played since 1976.
The event is hosted annually in Roxana in Lower Sussex since 2004.
The State of Delaware is located close to Washington, DC, Baltimore (Maryland), Philadelphia and Atlantic City (Pennsylvania) at the East Coast of the USA.
There also is a Dutch connection with the area.
In the first half of 1613, Dutch navigator Cornelius Jacobsen Mey discovered and named both Cape May and Cape Henlopen (originally Hindlopen, named after the Dutch city of Hindeloopen) in the Delaware Bay.
In 1631, Sussex County became the site of the first European settlement in Delaware, which was a Dutch trading post named Zwaanendael at was now is the city of Lewes.
The settlement was established after Dutch captain David Pietersen de Vries had landed along the shores of the Delaware River.
The history of Little League Baseball began in 1938 in Williamsport.
In that year, Carl Edwin Stotz (1910-1992) plays a game with his two nephews, who are too young to play organized baseball.
Mr. Stotz then created a three-team tournament and on June 6, 1939, the first Little League-game was played in Williamsport.
The rest is history.
In August 1947, the first Little League World Series is played.
In the fifties, the first leagues outside the USA were organized and international teams started participating.
In 1957, Monterrey from México becomes the first team outside the USA to win the World Series.
In 1959, the Howard J. Lamade Stadium is built which is the site of the Little League World Series since then.
In the sixties, there are 5,500 leagues worldwide.
In the seventies, a softball-program is created with Little League Softball.
In 2001, Volunteer Stadium was added in Williamsport to become the second site for the annual tournament.
Nowadays, Little League is being played in more than 80 countries with more than 2.4 million children participating each year.
Taiwan is the recordholder with 17 Championship-titles in Little League Baseball between 1969 and 1996.
(January 5)
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