(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Euro Stars)
 Steven Manson new Head Coach of Olympia Haarlem
Nederlands
 HAARLEM (Neth.) -
New Zealander Steven Manson is the new Head Coach of Golden League-team FysioExpert Olympia Haarlem, the club announced on Thursday-afternoon (March 14).
The reigning champion was the last team without a Head Coach.
All eight teams now have a Head Coach for the upcoming season in the highest league.
Last Tuesday, Terrasvogels announced that it will be led by Stefan Vessies this year.
...Steven Manson...
...new Head Coach of Olympia Haarlem...
(© Photo: Euro Stars) |
Both Manson and Vessies never coached at the Golden League-level.
This season, they will be two of the four rookie Head Coaches in the highest league.
The others are Jeroen den Duijn and Glennsig Polonius, who are the Head Coaches of respectively Twins Oosterhout and Hoofddorp Pioniers.
Last season, these two teams promoted to the Golden League, which was expanded from six to eight teams.
The Talent Team Holland will be the ninth team in the league, playing its games on Sunday.
Like for Terrasvogels on Tuesday, a long search for a new Head Coach finally ended for Olympia Haarlem on Thursday.
After last season, Head Coach Stanley Doney and his Assistant Inge Duin-Consent stepped down.
Doney, who led the team for four seasons, returned home to New Zealand, while his assistant retired.
Bench Coach Sandra Gouverneur and Pitching Coach Henk van Zijtveld remained in the coaching-staff.
They got company recently from Ingeborg Berk-Cleeren, but the team was still looking for a new Head Coach.
Last season, Terrasvogels and Olympia Haarlem faced each in the Holland Series to play for the championship.
While being the two most successful teams, remarkably enough, it took a long time for these two teams to find a new Head Coach.
Both will participate in an European Cup-tournament again this year.
Terrasvogels is the record-holder with participations in European Cup-tournaments.
With the naming of Steven Manson, Olympia Haarlem again looked abroad for a new Head Coach.
Manson succeeds fellow New Zealander Stanley Doney.
In November 2014, Doney had succeeded American Caroline Powell, who had led the team since 2010, the year in which Olympia Haarlem had returned to the highest league.
In 2008, Olympia Haarlem had relegated.
The last Dutch Head Coach of the team was Han Consent, who coached the final two games of the 2009 season when it played in the second hightest league.
Until that moment, Wendell Hato had been the Head Coach, but he was unable to coach the final two games due to working commitments.
By taking over the coaching back then, Consent returned as Head Coach of the main-squad after having stepped after the 1988 season, which then ended a long period of having led the team.
Consent's daughter Inge Duin-Consent had been an Assistant Coach since 2010, before retiring after last season.
Steven Manson is no stranger to Dutch softball.
Last season, he was the Head Coach of Euro Stars in the Silver League.
He also was associated to Blue Angels Softball Academy as a pitching instructor.
Manson guided Euro Stars to a tie for third place with Amsterdam Pirates.
The head-to-head results between the two teams also was a tie (2-2).
Thereafter, the Team Quality Balance was in favor of Amsterdam Pirates, which therefore qualified for the Promotion/Relegation Series against Golden League-team DSS.
Also last year, Euro Stars participated for the first time in an European Cup Tournament.
On its home-site in Capelle a/d IJssel, the club hosted the European Cup Winners Cup Tournament.
The team played several fine games, including a very suspenseful one against Sparks Haarlem, and finished in eighth place.
Steven Manson has an eye for detail and has a long career himself playing men softball for many years.
Besides being a strong pitcher, he also showed offensive power, helping his teams to win games.
Amongst the teams Manson played for are Miramar, Wellington Lancers and Porirua City United Panthers.
He pitched for the last team in 2010-2017 in the Wellington Softball Assocation.
With his teams, he participated several times in Intercity Competitions, as well as in the National Fastpitch Championship Tournaments.
In 2007, Manson played for Thomson Area Merchants from Illinois (USA), with whom he then participated in the ASA Men's Major Fast Pitch National Softball Tournament.
(March 14)
Related Article:
 Stefan Vessies new Head Coach of Terrasvogels. (March 12)
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