Return to Holland
Hello everyone. I returned home during the off-season and spent time in NC and TN from October to January. It was nice to be home and spend some time with my friends and family and have all of that good, fat filled American food. haha
I returned to Holland on January 15 so that I had plenty of time to adjust before softball got geared up. I kept myself busy unpacking, getting organized, shopping, as well as having meetings at the club. Inge, my assistant, is about 8 months pregnant so we have a new lady named Gyorgike helping us this year since Inge will be out for a little bit. She is new to coaching and just wants to learn and will be helping with the organizational side of things mostly.
We had our 1st team meeting and practice on the 22nd. Once our Americans arrive our 1st team roster will officially have 10 players on it. To help fill some slots there are 5 girls from the 2nd team that will be practicing with us to see if they can make the team. Returning from last year's team is Laura, Rosanne, Maranca, Marit, Gwen and Lauren. We added 2 transfers with Dinet coming from Tex Town and Judith joining us from Sparks. We will have 2 new American's this year, Amanda Lindsey from Stetson and Elena Leon from Drake (more about them later). From the 2nd team there is Lindy, Nathalie, Mandy, Annamieke and Stacey.
At the meeting the board introduced themselves and addressed the team 1st before we had some sandwiches and soup while the girls got to know each other and catch up. Then I talked with the team about expectations and established some ground rules for the year. By then it was time to head down to the gym. I had planned for the 1st practice to be the time where I taught all the girls all of the things (drills, etc.) that they would be doing pretty much every week. We had made our way through agilities, ladder exercises, throwing and fielding drills when Mirjam, the softball chairwoman, motioned that she needed to talk with me. Apparently there had been a Turkish soccer tournament scheduled to begin at 6 which was exactly in the middle of our scheduled practice time. I had to quickly make a Plan B and took the group upstairs to show them some hitting things before putting them through a leg circuit since we didn't have space to condition in. They were let go a little early and I assured them that would probably be the only time that would happen all year.
On Sunday I had to return to Olympia for the junior team tryout. The plan was for me to take on our junior team this year, but we did not have enough players. Therefore, we will be having a "Haarlem area" top sport junior team where girls from other clubs can come play with us. There were a couple of talented girls who tried out as well as some that show potential so we plan on going forward with the team.
I guess that's about it for now. I am excited to be back and to get the season going. Go Olympia!
I returned to Holland on January 15 so that I had plenty of time to adjust before softball got geared up. I kept myself busy unpacking, getting organized, shopping, as well as having meetings at the club. Inge, my assistant, is about 8 months pregnant so we have a new lady named Gyorgike helping us this year since Inge will be out for a little bit. She is new to coaching and just wants to learn and will be helping with the organizational side of things mostly.
We had our 1st team meeting and practice on the 22nd. Once our Americans arrive our 1st team roster will officially have 10 players on it. To help fill some slots there are 5 girls from the 2nd team that will be practicing with us to see if they can make the team. Returning from last year's team is Laura, Rosanne, Maranca, Marit, Gwen and Lauren. We added 2 transfers with Dinet coming from Tex Town and Judith joining us from Sparks. We will have 2 new American's this year, Amanda Lindsey from Stetson and Elena Leon from Drake (more about them later). From the 2nd team there is Lindy, Nathalie, Mandy, Annamieke and Stacey.
At the meeting the board introduced themselves and addressed the team 1st before we had some sandwiches and soup while the girls got to know each other and catch up. Then I talked with the team about expectations and established some ground rules for the year. By then it was time to head down to the gym. I had planned for the 1st practice to be the time where I taught all the girls all of the things (drills, etc.) that they would be doing pretty much every week. We had made our way through agilities, ladder exercises, throwing and fielding drills when Mirjam, the softball chairwoman, motioned that she needed to talk with me. Apparently there had been a Turkish soccer tournament scheduled to begin at 6 which was exactly in the middle of our scheduled practice time. I had to quickly make a Plan B and took the group upstairs to show them some hitting things before putting them through a leg circuit since we didn't have space to condition in. They were let go a little early and I assured them that would probably be the only time that would happen all year.
On Sunday I had to return to Olympia for the junior team tryout. The plan was for me to take on our junior team this year, but we did not have enough players. Therefore, we will be having a "Haarlem area" top sport junior team where girls from other clubs can come play with us. There were a couple of talented girls who tried out as well as some that show potential so we plan on going forward with the team.
I guess that's about it for now. I am excited to be back and to get the season going. Go Olympia!
I look forward to reading your blogs. You better keep them up to date this year!
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