Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Tuesday, July 31

We are glad to report that all the dutchies have made it home safely and that Northwest Airlines is still cancelling flights.

The weather in St Louis is just like last week, sunny and hot and dry !!!!
I hope that in Holland the weather is n ice for everyone.
The last of the dutchies to arrive home will need some time to rest up from the tiring ordeal of 2 days of delays at the airport.

Harry and Theo are busy training teams in the evening at CBC from 5:30 pm until 8:30 pm and today they also had a 9:30 to 11:30 am session as well.

bye for now

Terry

Monday, July 30, 2007

Monday, july 30 10:20 pm Str Louis (5:20 am Amsterdam)

30 minutes from now the plane shouild be landing and the dutchies will all be home, back with their families. The long ordeal of getting home is all but over, and now the stories of the trip will begin to be told.

Best of luck to all and thanks

terry
Monday, July 30 6:00 pm

No news from Jan --
that means the dutchies are getting closer to home by the minute --
good for them and their families.

I can imagine how excited all of you will be when that plane touches down in Amsterdam and the drive home home will be full of stories.

Thanks again -- it was a great experience shared by all

Terry
1:29 pm Monday , july 30

from Jan in Detroit

terry,

flight is still on time ,boarding 03.15 , and departure
04.10 !!

If you don't get a call from me , then everything is on
schedule and ON TIME !!!

Regards Jan from DTW
Monday, July 30 -- 11:00 am

There are NOW no more dutchies in St. Louis !!!!!!

they have arrived in Detroit --
I will attach Jan's email to me:

Hello terry ,

we just arrived in detroit !!
boys and girl are behaving well !!

flight is still on the schedule and on time !!!

so hopefully we will arrive in amsterdam on scheduled
arrival time 05.55 AM

pass this email on to Tim as well

enjoy the day , and I'll keep you updated !!

Jan


good news for all

Terry

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Sunday, July 29, 11:40 pm

just got home after spending time with the dutchies at the Hilton Hotel and having a late dinner with them. They were all in good spirtits after play time at CBC and a swim in the Hotel pool.

Jan is holding up quite well as he is doubling up as a travel agent and trying to find flights that will get them home as soon as possible.
Let's hope for the best tomorrow and that they get on their morning flight.

time to go to bed and get some rest --

terry
Sunday, July 29 - 7 pm

another day of disappointment for the remaining 6 dutchies and Jan --
Northwest airline failed to confirm the tickets they gave them and when they showed up on Sunday to fly home, they did not have tickets !!!

Again, after trying everyway possible, they were forced again to stay over in St Louis at the Hilton Hotel near the airport.

We took the group back to CBC to play soccer and basketball in the gym and just to let them play -- they seem ok now, but were obviously disappointed.

The plan now is to leave St Louis Monday at 8:30 am and arrive Amsterdam on Tuesday at 5:55 am -- let's hope that this plan works .

Glad to hear that the first group of dutchies are safely home, and resting up I would imagine.

stay in touch

Terry

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Saturday, July 28, 8:50 pm

wow, what a day !!!!!

Northwest cancelled the flight @ 3:30 pm St Louis and then the scramble for other flights began.

After a long and hectic ordeal at the airport, 6 of the boys and Irene finally boarded a plane for Minneapolis and then to Amsterdam -- arrival 12:40 pm.
On board was: Tom Stuve, Rody, Tim Buurman, Maarten, Jeroen Meyers, Tom Menting and Irene.

The rest of the group will be staying over at Tim Tettambel's house (one of the guest families) and Jan one more night at Hotel Terry !!
The flight arrangements are departure at 5 pm to Detroit and then on to Amsterdam - arrival 11:40 am.

Jan was outstanding with his patience and determination to get everyone home as soon as possible. Therfe were many "close calls", but in the end it was 6 going home and 6 staying another day. The players were beautiful throughout the entire ordeal and took each announcement in stride. They wanted to go home, but did not mind staying over 1 more day.

Please respond as you hear from your children and as they arrive back home.

I will keep this blog active for a while so we can continue to communicate. I know the players will be emailing each other as the new friendships blossom.

I would also like to stay in touch with them for awhile to know how the experience was for them.

more tomorrow as we try again to get everyone home.

Terry

Friday, July 27, 2007

Friday, July 27

We had a great weather day today with cloud cover and a breeze.
The morning session was a demo by the dutchies and then a 6 a side game vs '94 dutchies and '94 St Louis ( dutchies win 3-1). Then we trained the players for 90 min and had a lunch break and returned for a shortened afternoon session. We a penalty kick shootout contest and then Holland vs St Louis with the entire dutch group vs the older players in the camp ('92,'93) --(3-0 st Louis).

We then concluded the camp with everyone wishing each other well and we gave the dutchies a group photo and camp photo to take home.

Tonight the dutchoies enjoy crdinal baseball game and tomorrow to the airport for the flight home.

Thank you again for the opportunity to work with the yoing dutchies on the pitch.

Hope they travel well and return safely.

Please stay in touch and encourage the players to continue to email their new friends. Several of the girls in camp said already they want to return to Holland for camp next year 9New boyfriends??).

bye

tm

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Thursday, July 26, 7:30 pm

The last full day of camp was especially challenging following the late night swim party, but the players responded fairly well.

We finally were able to post more pictures and hope that everyone enjoys them.
As the week is winding down, it will seem difficult to say goodbye to so many new friends, but it was a great experience for all.

The competition is still good and the teams are mixed with dutchies and locals --many new friends for both groups.

Friday is a shortened day of camp, followed by the ball game at night and then saturday its a trip to the airport to bid farewell.

Thank you very much for allowing your children to participate in camp, and for our young players to expand the soccer experience and their view of the world. We very much enjoyed having them here.

We would like to think that the week went very well, and we are looking for ways to make it better in the future.

Hopefully, you received an email from me with 2 sets of pictures -- sightseeing and football.

good bye

tm
Photobucket Album

Pictures - Finally!!!














































Good Thursday Morning,


The children were extremely tired this morning, but still found the strength to make it to camp!


We now have capabilities to load additional pictures... enjoy!!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Late, late Wednesday, July 25 (11:20 pm)

We just returned from the swim party and the kids had a blast !!
We had the pool to ourselves, all the slides, tunnels, diving boards and everything else.

The dutchies spent the day on riverboat ride and then on land for a shopping spree.
When we met back up, I asked what they had bought for me, they all said nothing !
I said maybe they just forgot ???

The 4v4 was very good and Michelle drew a crowd as she was dazzzling the place with moves and goals. She also won the 'unofficial" diving contest at the pool, without much real competition except many, may very poor dives that must have hurt when they hit the water.

Steef ate the most watermelon of all, everytime I saw him, he had a piece and they were always getting bigger. Tim and Kip were wearing new baseball caps from the shopping spree and I think scored the most goals on the night.

Thursday will the last full day of camp with Friday ending at 2:30 and then off to the St Louis Cardinals baseball game that night.

By now the camp is buzzing with new friendships. It has been a great week for everyone and the level of soccer has been good and the competition very keen.

More later and hopefullyt that will include many, many photos.

tm
Wednesday, July 25

we posted 1 picture of Jeroen Meyers and Tim Buurman in the background. We have many more photos to download from a camera onto this site and that will be done tomorrow.

today the dutchies spent the day away from the camp and the locals trained in the morning with the afternoon off. Another sunny day and I hear the rain has stopped in Holland --yeah !!

I wore the KNVB hat yesterday and no one had a problem with it.

Maybe tomorrow I wear the Holland hat- sorry I don't have Vitesse or PSV or the Feyenoord.

we caught up with the dutchies this evening at 5:30 pm for 4v4 play in the neighborhood on grass field, BBQ, watermelon and then to a swim party.

tomorrow, thursday a full day of training.

enjoy the photo of Jeroen and Tim with plenty more to come manana.

bye

TM

Test Picture...


Hopefully more to come today.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Tuesday, july 24

Just finished the morning session under clear skies and a warm sun.
The session started with Jan setting up an activity with the 12 Dutch players while the local players watched as the Dutch players showed the proper way to progress through an activity.
I requested this from Jan as I think it ois very important for our young players to see how earlier, proper training affect performance during a training session. The locals then went into groups and repeated the activites and we finished the morningwith 4v4 games.

The afternoon was hot and the beginning was very sluggish, until the 8v8 games and then eveyone found some energy. The games are very competitive and the players play to win the matches.

In the evening, the sun was down and the temperature cooled a bit and the 11v11 games were very spirited. We divide the camp into 2 divisions, each with 3 teams and the winningf team played the next game and the losing team rested. it was down to the last kick in some of the matches and the spirit was very high.

At the end of the day, we complimented the players for the morning and evenig sessions and said that the afternoon was some good and some bad.

The food has been very good and lots of it. No complaints !!!!
In the interval between sessions, we have done some teambuilding activities and watched some highlights of the goals from WC '06 Germany and a tape on juggling tricks.

On Wednesday, we take a little break in the schedule, much neede as the players are starting to tire, for the dutchies to spend time with the host families and do some sightseeing i n and around St. Louis. The local players will train in the mornig as usual and then have the afternoon off.
The entire camp will meet at a neighborhood school and play 4v4 on a grass field, have BBQ and watermelon, and then enjoy a cool, relaxing time at a local swim park -- they will definitely enjoy that !!!

We are trying hard to post some pictures of the camp, and hopefully that will done when you read this post.

For those of you who have made comments, I brought the dutchies in to read them ooff my laptop.

More tomorrow

TM

Monday, July 23, 2007

Monday, July 23

First official day of camp,was absolutley great !!!
The weather was nice, perfect for the camp photo.
We started the day with all the campers dressed in orange, navy and orange and the coaches in light blue, navy and navy, making for a pretty picture.
We will have the pictures available on Friday for the kids begore the close of camp.
We took a photo of the dutch players and the dutch coaches and each of them will receive a copy from the camp.

The training was good and the games competitive. The teams were mixed today and the locals and dutchies mixed and started building relationships as teammates.

The afternoon sun was warm and the tempo slowed considerably during the training phase.
The competition of 8v8 generated more interest and enthusiasm and the energy level increased considerably.

The lunch and dinner breaks were well received and the fresh strawberries were a big hit with the dutchies. Everyone was very well behaved and the day went without any incidents.

The evening games of 11 v11 were played at an increased level, just from yesterday.
There were many positive comments about the level of play and the competition to be in top group continues to build.
The coaches evaluate the players adter each session and plan the next day based on the player's performance. The general opinion is that the level overall is good.

I wear an Ajax cap during the day against the sun and that was cheered by some of the dutchies and others chanted other clubs, so it was a bit of fun.

I think the first day has set us up for a great week as the players are competing every time against good players.

I will check and see if we can post pictures on this site.

Glad to see your comments and I will contuinue to post a daily report.
As I spoke with the dutch players, they said they were emailing home with their own camp report.
TM
Sunday, July 22

We finally kicked off the camp on a beautiful day !!
Nice temperature and clear skies and a lot of enthusiasm.
Today we participated in the International 4 v 4 festival and played games against camp team and other teams of ethnic origin. As expected, there were some interesting and exciting games.

In the opening game of the day, the Dutch team of 4, jumped out to a 3-0 advantage over a top group of local players only to give up 4 goals to lose 4-3. The other Dutch team also lost its opening game to another group of local players. In the next game for the Dutch teams, the intensity increased and it was all to play for. The day ended with the Dutch teams winning a few more than losing, so all in all, it was a good day for all.

Following the games, everyone went in ti the theater to hear a moving speech from Gilbert Tuhabonye, a genocide survivor and an Olympic marathon hopeful from Burubdi, in Africa. His mesage was one of hope and forgiveness.

Monday will be the first official day of training with 3 sessions during the day and evening.
The weather is expected to be comfortable and the players seem anxious for more.

It was a long day for the staff as well with registration, games, speech and review and evaluation. we are looking forward to another competitive and challenging day on Monday.

As one of the responses said, 'it will be dutch soccer experience versus American spirit of competition.' We saw a lot of that today. The Dutch players seem to be adjusting rather well to the new surroundings.

TM

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Saturday, July 21

Some of the group went to a neighborhood baseball game played by 1 of the children of a host family -- fun in the park !!!

Others spent time at the St. Louis Zoo and in the evening a BBQ was held at one of the host families.

The nice thing is that the host families all live very, very close to each other, so common activities are easy to organize.

TM
As Saturday, July 21, draws to a close, we eagerly await the start of the camp on Sunday. Today, Saturday, we spent the day getting the field set up for the 4 a side Festival.
We have 6 fields, each to be played in a certain way, that should be challenging and entertaining.
The Camp will be divided into 12 teams for the 4 a side, each team with extra players and each team will play 4 games. The weather will be clear and comfortable, with temperature in mid 80s.

TM

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Welcome to the cbc-dutchtouch blog

This will be the official communication center for the International Camp .
We will post daily information.
The weather forecast is very favorable for the weekend and the early part of the week, with temperatuires in the 80s -- and clear and sunny.

We have over 70 players signed up for the camp and the quality level should be very good.
The excitement is building and Sunday cannot arrive soon enough.

TM