The Tournament
The Apeldoorn Series is organized by Base- and Softball Promotion Apeldoorn (BSPA) in cooperation with the Baseball and Softball Club Robur’58, with support from the Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Federation (KNBSB).
Dates for the 2011 series are July 5th through July 10th.
Dates for the 2011 series are July 5th through July 10th.
The Series is a youth tournament that was first organized in 1988. Prior to then Robur’58 hosted games and daytrips for teams from the USA that came over to play ball in Apeldoorn and see Europe and the Netherlands. All together the BSPA and Robur’58 have over 20 years of experience in organizing baseball and softball events for teams from all over the world. Last years series included teams from France, Sweden, The UK, The Netherlands, and the U.S. The tournament website can be found here.
Travel
We should plan to arrive in The Netherlands no later than July 3rd. We will fly into Amsterdam and then take the train to Apeldoorn. Most flights from LAX are 1-stop, and average around $1500. We looked into charter flights last year and they didn't seem to be any cheaper. We'll look into it again this year. Travelers may end up booking their own flights.
Make sure to get passports for everyone traveling! Here's the U.S. State Department website on passports.
Lodging
The tournament organizers will arrange in-home stays for as many players and parents as possible. There's also a hostel within easy walking distance of the ballpark. The website is http://www.stayokay.com. Select the Hostels tab and scroll down for Apeldoorn. If we have a large enough group we should be able to negotiate a good rate with Stayokay, all meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) included in the price. They'll even pack lunches to take to the ballpark. Coach Togneri has also found some houses to rent in Apeldoorn.
We are talking to EF Tours about directing our tour. EF Tours organizes European field trips for VHS Spanish and French classes.
Apeldoorn & the Netherlands
General information on the city of Apeldoorn can be found here. There’s an English button in the upper right hand corner. There are lots of things to do and see in Apeldoorn and the surrounding area, and in the rest of the Netherlands. It's quick and easy to get from one end of the country to another. When we're not playing ball we can take a day trip to Amsterdam to see the Anne Frank House, bicycle around the amazing sculpture gardens at the Kroller-Muller museum, visit the Monkey Park, or the summer palace of the Dutch royals, Het Loo.
English is spoken widely in The Netherlands, so language is not an issue. Holland is a great 'starter country' for the inexperienced traveler. Where is it?
Some images of Apeldoorn..
At the ballpark...
'W' = ball, 'S' = strike, 'U' = out
Great snack shack!
