At baseball club HCAW in Bussum there is not a bit of weed left and all chairs are as good as new. The club is organizing the European Baseball Championship for club teams and that is about to start. Tonight is the first game against the ‘Rouen Huskies’ from France.
Last year, HCAW became national champion for 24 years, which automatically means that you can participate in the European Championship for club teams. “Unfortunately you don’t get as much money as in football, but it costs a lot of money,” says chairman Bas Veerman. So the club decided to organize the event so that they can offset the costs. And it worked.
Baseball enthusiast Bernie Elfrink has been appointed tournament director and has had a lot to do this past year. “There are strict rules from the European baseball association that you have to adhere to,” he says. The biggest challenge turned out to be arranging transport. They’ve been doing that for a long time. But don’t forget the hotels and sleeping places for the teams and referees.
To trust
At the moment about sixty volunteers are putting the proverbial ‘dotting the i’ and then it’s up to the team itself. “We have made preparations up to and including the end of the tournament. So we secretly assume that we will play on Saturday evening. And that means that we are in the final”, hopes the chairman.
And trainer Danny Rombley is also confident. “In any case, it’s always nice to represent your country in Europe. I’ve experienced it myself as a player, now for the first time as a coach. It’s always a good feeling, nice tension,” he explains. He tries to give his players to enjoy themselves. “The game is the same. I always say, the ball is still white with red seams, that will not change at whatever level you play. And if we play like we normally do, we can go very far in this tournament” , he concludes.