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Dutch Softball Team off to Venezuela
 Nederlandse tekst
SCHIPHOL (Neth.) / MADRID (Spain) / CARACAS / CIUDAD GUAYANA / PUERTO ORDAZ (Venezuela) - Day One of the Venezuela Tour was a travel day for the Dutch National Softball Team and it was a long one.
Some, like the Enschede-based players, were on the road for more than 24 hours when they arrived in the hotel in Puerto Ordaz in the (Venezuelan) evening.
At Puerto Ordaz, the Dutch Team will play the first four games of the Venezuela International Series 2010.
On Tuesday-evening, the team will play its first game against host Venezuela.
The travel day started for everyone at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
There, the players and staff arrived between 5 and 5:30 AM to check in for the first of their scheduled flights today.
Of course, some suitcases were overweight, meaning some of the players moved several contents to the luggage of teammates.
First, the team traveled to Madrid, the capital of Spain, for the first leg of their journey to South America.
After checking in the luggage and the taking of a teamphoto, everyone went through customs around 6:30 AM en route to Gate B31 (which closed at 7:42 AM).
There, the Airbus A321/200 of Iberia (photo right) was waiting.
The flight to Madrid left Schiphol 14 minutes later than the scheduled 8:00 AM departure time.
After a 2 hour, 46 minute flight, the Airbus arrived at 11:00 AM at Gate U65 of Terminal 4 of Madrid-Barajas International Airport, which is located 13 kilometres (8 miles) northeast of the city center of Madrid.
By the way, Madrid-Barajas International Airport (left) is the busiest of Spain, the fourth busiest in Europe and the eleventh busiest in the world.
In Madrid, where it was 23 degrees Celsius (75 Fahrenheit) and partly cloudy, the team had more than two hours between flights.
The next flight was the big one which brought the team from Europe to South America.
This time, an Airbus A340-600 of Iberia was the carrier.
The flight originated in Barcelona and had a stop-over in Madrid on its way to Caracas.
The Airbus A340-600 (photo beneath) took off from Madrid at 1:18 PM (23 minutes later than scheduled), then had a nice flight (which lasted 8 hours and 52 minutes) towards Venezuela, where it touched down at Aeropuerto Internacional de Maiquetia Simón Bolivar near Caracas at 3:40 PM local time, which was 10:10 PM Dutch time (time difference is 6 1/2 hours!) and only 10 minutes later than then scheduled time of arrival.
Upon arrival at the International Airport of Caracas, the team was welcomed by protocol members of the Organizing Committee of the World Championship and everything went very smoothly.
The team was immediately assigned a security guard and liaison officer.
The team was then directed passed customs (the liaison took care of the passport control) directly to the baggage claim.
After picking up the luggage, lunch was waiting for everyone.
At the airport of Caracas, where it is 30 degrees Celsius, big screens show promotional clips of the World Championship and everyone is very enthousiastic about the event.
A lot of spectators are expected, as tickets are free and the new stadiums have a capacity of 20.000.
Next, it was off to Puerto Ordaz, but there was a brief delay at the Caracas Airport, which by the way is located on a nice location on the northern coast of Venezuela (photo above).
The team first had to wait at the airport, then in the specially chartered plane, for the arrival of the national teams of Cuba and Venezuela for the joined flight to Puerto Ordaz.
Because of the waiting for the other teams, the scheduled time of departure towards Puerto Ordaz was moved forward a little, but the plane took off at 6:00 PM local time (0:30 AM Dutch time), one hour later than scheduled.
After an one-and-a-half hour flight, the plane arrived at Aeropuerto Carlos Manuel Piar at Ciudad Guayana and their the impact of the World Championship was shown right away.
The teams of Cuba, Netherlands and Venezuela were welcomed by TV-camera crews and media, who interviewed several members of the teams.
Also welcoming the teams was Minister of Sports Victoria Mata.
It also became clear that there was a lot of security, as there was military personnel at the airport, as well as a police-motorcade, including an ambulance, escorting the three busses to the hotel.
On the way to the hotel, all sideways were closed and traffic was put to a hold when the busses approached.
When the teams arrived at the hotel, another welcome party waited for them, as a singing and dancing band welcomed the guests.
Yes, some of the players participated in the dancing!
When everyone was assigned to a room, the players and staffmembers enjoyed a meal, there were more camera-crews in the hotel, but then it was time for some well-deserved rest and and a good night of sleep.
Rebecca Soumeru relocated some contents in the suitcase of Kirsten Scheele
Nathalie Timmermans and Saskia Kosterink wait to check in
Standing at left is 'alternate' Karin Tuk, who came to the airport to wave off the team
Fabienne van Uden and Virginie Anneveld
Nadine Marinus relaxes before departing
Lindsey Meadows and Virginie Anneveld, whose father Paul stands at right
Almost ready
Britt Vonk also has to do some re-arranging of her suitcase
Will there be enough room in Britt's suitcase?
Solange Starrenburg with her mother Monique and Anne Blaauwgeers with her parents Hans and Rineke
The flight is on schedule
Coach Tracy Bunge and Physical Therapist Sanne Oude Egberink wait patiently
Standing in the back are three proud fathers: Ronald Bloeming, Ben Spel and Jan van Uden
Nathalie Gosewehr with her mother Margaret
Solange Starrenburg and her mother Monique
Dagmar Bloeming has a talk with Team Manager Paul Boonstra
Coach Tracy Bunge, Business Manager Rich Hooff and Team Manager Paul Boonstra
Areke Spel distributes 'beesies' to the other players
Time to check-in
The players wait to get their boarding passes
Coach Tracy Bunge writes a last name-tag,
while Team Manager Paul Boonstra talks with Head Coach Craig Montvidas
Almost ready to check-in
In the meantime, family-members look on or have a talk
Left to right: Rinie Scheele, Margaret and Loek Gosewehr, Marjanne Spel, Karin Versluis,
Maaike Tuk, Rineke Blaauwgeers, Myrthe Bloeming and Jacqueline Bloeming
Physical Therapist Sanne Oude Egberink shows the proper batting stance
Some final checks
Chantal Versluis checks in, while Rebecca Soumeru waits
Virginie Anneveld already has her boarding pass
The final check-ins
Media Officer Marco Stoovelaar kisses the players goodbye and wishes them luck
Unfortunately, Marco is unable to be with the team due to working commitments
Coach Nancy Evans embraces Karin Tuk, who is an alternate and will not travel with the team
The team is ready for the trip to Venezuela!
More than 16 hours later, it's time for a new teamphoto, this time after arriving in Caracas
Banners at Aeropuerto Internacional de Maiquetia Simón Bolivar promote the World Championship
The players wait for their luggage
After claiming the luggage, the team got a lunch
Then it's time to check in for the next flight to Puerto Ordaz
The popular softball-team of Venezuela
There was a lot of media at the airport
The Cuban Team waits to board the plane
The most attention of the media of course was for the Venezuelan players
But the Dutch Team also had to pose for the photographers
And do some more posing
A lot of cameracrews and photographers surrounded the teams
Head Coach Craig Montvidas was also interviewed by the Venezuelan media
At the hotel, the teams of Cuba, Netherlands and Venezuela were welcomed with music...
...and dance
The players enjoyed the warm welcome
(thanks to Fred Versluis for sending in additional photos)
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