(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Fred Versluis)
 Netherlands Team-recordholder Britt Vonk to play for Olympia Haarlem
Nederlands
 HAARLEM (Neth.) -
Veteran short stop Britt Vonk, who since last year has played the most games in the Netherlands National Softball Team, will play for reigning Dutch champion Olympia Haarlem in the 2023 season.
This year, the infielder played for Tex Town Tigers, the club where she also started her career.
...Britt Vonk...
(© Photo: Fred Versluis) |
When Britt Vonk made her big league-debut at age 15 in 2005, it was the start of an impressive career which brought her all over the world.
Since then, she played in the Dutch big league for Tex Town Tigers, Alcmaria Victrix and Terrasvogels.
Coming season will be her 17th in the highest Dutch league.
Vonk also played in Italy and Australia and professionally in the American National Pro Fastpitch.
After making her big league-debut in 2005 with Tex Town Tigers, Britt Vonk played seven seasons for the club from Enschede.
There, she developed into a talented, powerhitting short stop with great defensive skills.
In 2010, Vonk was TTT's leading hitter with a .446 batting average.
From 2011 on, Britt Vonk played in the softball-team of the University of California at Berkeley in five seasons.
With the Golden Bears, she played in two NCAA College World Series.
In between her college-seasons, Vonk played in nine games for Tex Town Tigers in 2011, then briefly for Alcmaria Victrix in 2012 (13 games) and 2013 (six games).
In the 2014 season, Britt Vonk was on the roster of Terrasvogels for the first time.
When she returned from her college-season at Berkeley, she made her presence known immediately in her first game for the Santpoort-team, hitting a walk-off grand slam homerun.
She was very productive in the sixteen games she played for Terrasvogels, hitting .585 with 24 basehits including five homeruns, scored 22 runs and batted in 18.
Five international seasons followed from 2015 on.
In that year, Vonk played for La Loggia in Italy, followed by three professional seasons for Scrap Yard Dawgs in the American National Pro Fastpitch.
With this team, she won the Championship-title in 2018.
In the winter-season of 2016-2016, she played for Queensland Heat in Australia, with whom she won the title.
In 2017 and 2018, she again played in a few games for Terrasvogels in Dutch big league before and/or after the NPF-season.
In 2019, Britt Vonk returned to Italy, where she played for Bussolengo.
The same year, she also returned to Tex Town Tigers for whom she then played in four games.
From 2020, Britt Vonk played in three full seasons again in the highest Dutch league for Tex Town Tigers.
In 2020, she was TTT's best hitter with a .473 batting average and also scored the most runs (29).
In the 2021 season, Vonk led both TTT and the big league with a .538 average.
In that year, she also played in the professional Athletes Unlimited in Chicago (USA).
This season, Britt Vonk was the second-best hitter of Tex Town Tigers with a .438 average, behind Dinet Oosting (.458).
But she led the team in runs scored (43), stolen bases (25) and on-base percentage (.570).
Britt Vonk made her debut in the Netherlands Softball Team 2008 and then participated in the Olympic Games in Beijing (China).
With her 17 years, she was the youngest Dutch athetle during the Games.
Since 2008, Vonk has been a regular player in the National Team.
With the Orange Team, she participated in five World Championships, eight European Championships, three World Cup of Softball-tournaments, two Canada Cup-tournaments and the Olympic Qualifier in 2019.
In 2021, Britt Vonk became the record-holder in most international games played in the National Team.
Through this year, she has played in 196 games.
(November 15)
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