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Dutch Team arrives safely in Florida after long delay
 Nederlandse tekst
AMSTERDAM / SCHIPHOL (Netherlands) / ATLANTA, Georgia / TAMPA, CLEARWATER, Florida (USA) -
The Dutch National Softball Team arrived safely in Clearwater, Florida (USA) on Monday, February 28 (or rather Tuesday, March 1) after a long day of traveling.
The day started when the team got together at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport around 11:00 on Monday-morning and ended well after midnight in the early hours of Tuesday-morning local time (which was around 8 AM Dutch time on Tuesday) when the hotel in Clearwater was reached after a long delay.
A severe thunderstorm was the reason for the delay.
Initially, the journey started well, as the KLM Boeing 777 even took off from Schiphol Airport several minutes before the scheduled time.
Most of the nine hour, 40 minutes flight, crossing the 4390 miles between Amsterdam and Atlanta went smoothly.
But when the plane approached Atlanta, the area was stricken by severe thunderstorms, resulting in some heavy turbulence and several flights being diverted.
The KLM-plane had to circle around for more than an hour, but then touched down safely at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at 7:45 PM (local time), 90 minutes later than scheduled.
Due to the weather conditions, there were excessive delays at the airport with some flights getting in with delays varying from 45 minutes to more than three hours.
It was the second time in under a week that a significant severe weather outbreak crossed the south of the United States.
But this time, there were warnings for severe thunderstorms, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes, as well as large hail.
After the team arrived in Atlanta, it had to go through customs, but also had to try to catch it's connecting flight to Tampa, which at moment was scheduled to leave 45 minutes later!
But it became clear soon thereafter that the flight to Tampa also was delayed due to the heavy rain and storm and was postponed from 8:30 PM to 9:15 PM.
But the delay would be stretched to 9:30 PM, meaning the team would be able to catch the flight.
However, while going through customs the team ran into another delay, as pitcher Rebecca Soumeru was taken apart to answer some additional questions in a randam custom inspection.
Half an hour later, Rebecca rejoined the team, which then ran towards the airport train en route to the right gate.
When it approached the gate it was 9:15 PM, so it would be very close to reaching the plane in time.
When the gate was finally reached, there were more delays, as the plane would not leave before 10:30 PM.
So, time to have something to eat and drink at Chili's.
Healthy food of course!
Next, it was back to the gate to board at 9:45 PM.
It didn't come that far, as another delay was announced, this time with a departure time of 11 PM.
Eventually, the flight to Tampa (the eleventh of 12 daily flights by Delta Air Lines between Atlanta and Tampa) took off at 11:12 PM.
Of course, everyone was getting very tired and most players fell asleep spontaneously on the plane in all kind of stances, which the least strange being felling asleep on the table in front of them.
It took the Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 one-and-a-half hour to reach Tampa, where it arrived 2 1/2 hours later than scheduled, touching down at 0:31 AM after midnight.
In Tampa, the sky was clear with a 69 degrees temperature.
At Tampa International Airport, the team is awaited by Peter and Joanne Schuler, André Oudkerk Pool and Nathalie Timmermans, who arrived earlier in the evening from Oklahoma City.
Peter Schuler is the Team Manager of the Dutch National Men Softball Team and has a home in Florida with his wife Joanne, a former infielder, who played in the Dutch softball big league for Amsterdam-based Shell.
Peter and André will assist the team during their stay in Florida and also will serve as the drivers of the two mini-vans.
But the day wasn't over yet.
After collecting the luggage, the bag with bats was missing.
Business Manager Rich Hooff had to wait in line for missing luggage for a long time and learned that the bag was still in Atlanta, but would be delivered the next morning.
Then, finally, it was off to the hotel in Clearwater.
After a short 30-minute busride, the team arrived in the hotel around 2 AM.
Time for a shower and going to bed for a short night, as breakfast was scheduled for the next morning at 8 AM.
The team will have its first practice session on Tuesday, then plays its first game on Wednesday, meeting the team of the University of Michigan.
Complete Schedule USA Tour
Players and staffmembers are checking in at Amsterdam Airport to get their boarding passes
Femke van Dusschoten and Areke Spel have a look at a message
Rookies Dinet Oosting, Eva Voortman and Marisèla de Wind check in...
...while Ginger de Weert, Areke Spel and Fabienne van Uden fill in their cabin luggage nametags
As do Marisèla de Wind and Laura Treurniet
Virginie Anneveld also fills in her name tag
Waiting for the check-in of the luggage
Nadine Marinus and Eva Voortman
Dinet Oosting, Merel Oosterveld and Fabienne van Uden
Business Manager Rich Hooff, Coach Karen Marr, Head Coach Craig Montvidas
and Media Officer Marco Stoovelaar stand together before the team leaves
Coaches Nathalie Franssen and Karen Marr
In the meantime, Physical Therapist Sanne Oude Egberink, Nathalie Gosewehr and Eva Voortman
complete their check-in
Time to check in the luggage
Here, Business Manager Rich Hooff, Karin Tuk and Saskia Kosterink
walk towards the check-in desk
Followed by Solange Starrenburg, Virginie Anneveld, Chantal Versluis and Laura Treurniet
Noëmie Brandjes, Meike Witteveen and Marisèla de Wind also go to the check-in desk,
while Media Officer Marco Stoovelaar and Head Coach Craig Montvidas say goodbye
More players and staffmembers are going to check in their luggage
The luggage is being checked in...
...which also took a while
Oh, oh, some re-arrangements due to overweight
Linda de Weert, Maaike Tuk, Karin Versluis and Jaap Tuk wait, while their daughters
Ginger de Weert, Chantal Versluis and Karin Tuk check in
Before leaving, the team poses for a photo
(thanks to Fred Versluis for the additional photos)
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