(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Fred Versluis)
 Stanley Doney back as Head Coach of Olympia Haarlem
Nederlands
 HAARLEM (Neth.) -
New Zealander Stanley Doney returns as Head Coach of Olympia Haarlem.
There, he succeeds Gregory Grampon, who led the team this year in his first season.
Grampon stepped down due to working commitments, which made it not possible to combine it with coaching.
...Stanley Doney will be back with...
...Olympia Haarlem in 2021...
(© Photo: Fred Versluis) |
In the shortened 2020 season, Olympia Haarlem closed with a 13-9 record to finish in fifth place.
The team had six games left to play when the season was abruptly halted on October 14 due to stricter measures against the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Last year, Olympia Haarlem played in the Holland Series and defended its Championship-title, but was left empty-handed against Roef!, which captured its first title.
The fifth position of this season is the lowest for the team since it also ended up in fifth place in 2012.
Olympia Haarlem was the Dutch Champion in 2017 and 2018 when the team was coached by Stanley Doney.
After having led the team for four seasons, he returned to New Zealand after the 2018 season.
He was succeeded by Steven Manson, who stepped down after completion of the European Cup Tournament, which followed the regular season.
During the postseason, Assistant Coaches Ingeborg Berk-Cleeren and Sandra Gouverneur led the team.
In his first season (2015), Doney led Olympia Haarlem not only to the Play-Offs, but also to its first Holland Series.
The club's predecessor DSC '74 played in the Final (and won the title) in 2003.
In the 2015 Holland Series, what then was only a best-of-one, Olympia Haarlem lost 3-1 to Sparks Haarlem.
In 2016, Olympia Haarlem again reached the Play-Offs, but then was eliminated for the Finals Weekend.
The following two seasons were very successful, as Doney led the team to the Championship-title.
In the Holland Series, Olympia faced the two most successful teams ever.
In 2017, Olympia Haarlem swept Sparks Haarlem 2-0 in the best-of-three and in 2018, the team swept Terrasvogels 2-0.
Since the 2016/2017 (winter) season, Stanley Doney has been the Head Coach of the women's team of Howick Fencibles.
The team's home-site is in Howick, which is an eastern suburb of Auckland and plays in the Premier Women's League in New Zealand.
Besides being active in the Netherlands, Doney also coached in the United Kingdom and Denmark.
In 2003-2006, he was the (playing) Head Coach of the Gladsaxe men's softball-team in Denmark.
In 2004 and 2005, he also was the Sports Instructor for the Danish Federation.
In 2008-2013, Doney worked for the British Federation as a Coach for both women and men softball.
In these years, he coached the Girls Under-13 team (2008-2009), the Women's Under-19 (2010) and Men's Under-19 (2011).
He then coached the Great Britain Men's National Softball Team in 2012 and 2013, winning the bronze medal at the 2012 European Championship.
In 2013-2015, Doney was the National Programme Manager of Great Britain Softball.
In 2016, Doney was a member of the coaching-staff of the Netherlands National Women's Softball Team, which then finished in an all-time high fourth place at the World Championship in Canada.
In 2019 and this year, Stanley Doney was the Head Coach of the New Zealand National U23 Softball Team, with whom he participated in the Canada Cup in 2019.
Former Terrasvogels-catcher and former Italian National Team-player Kate Gentile was the Battery Coach of the 'Major Sox', which is the nickname of the U23 Team.
One of the players was Tyla Morrison, who in 2016 also played for Doney at Olympia Haarlem.
Earlier in 2019, in January, Doney was the Assistant Coach of the 'White Sox', the New Zealand National Team, during the Asia Pacific Cup.
(November 14)
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