The shoot attracted a lot of attention from passers-by and from the national media. Members of the U12 team appeared on Dutch national television news. Devin Jackson and Sammy Sorensen were interviewed and appeared for approximately twenty seconds on the news report. The "Telegraaf", Holland's biggest newspaper, wrote a report about the shoot and pictured one of our players with Zidane and Barthez. Both the U12 and U14 teams were able to have a team picture with Zidane and Barthez taken and members of the U12 team were able to obtain autographs.

Monday was a "work" day. Thanks to JB's brother Robert, who works as a free lance technician behind the scenes of many commercials and movies, the Crush and the U12s were invited by adidas to participate in a commercial with several French national team players. The U12 boys rose at 5 AM (yes, 0500 hours) to head into Amsterdam to begin filming the commercial, which is expected to air during the Euro 2000 championship this June. There is a possibility that the commercial will be aired in the United States as well. The "New Market" square in central Amsterdam was cordoned off for the shoot and our boys were treated to catering, wardrobe, and the company of several world renowned soccer players, including Zidane (voted the world's best player in 1998), Barthez, and Rame, members of the French national soccer team and world cup title holders. The boys played street soccer with them on cobblestones that were laid in the 1600’s just outside the original gates to the city. They were quite cooperative, and the adidas director was happy with their performance, which consisted of playing street soccer for about 3 hours along with Zidane, Barthez and Rame.

The U14 team had their time in the spot light during the afternoon hours. These guys must lead a charmed life. They sleep in, get a catered lunch, and then get to keep their wardrobe! That’s right parents of the U14 team, most of your boys were treated to head-to-toe wardrobe (hats, shirts, pants, and shoes) by adidas. When the older boys returned to the farmhouse an active secondary market in slightly used adidas sportswear developed between the U12 and U14 teams.
Later that evening:

The U12 boys had their first soccer game against VVZ, an amateur club from Zaandam and the club which Robert plays for.. The members of the club were very gracious. Our U12s were competitive and shared equally in ball possession, but lost by the score of 2-0. This is quite an excellent result, especially considering that all of the players had gotten up at 5:00 AM and that the majority of them had been playing street soccer for several hours earlier that day. The U12 boys were supported in their efforts by the Crush players. The older boys arrived to see the second half in the fine new duds provided complements of adidas to cheer on the younger boys.

Wednesday night was for soccer. The U12 boys got their lesson from Ajax. As we said before, these are the best players from around the world recruited and groomed to play in the professional soccer leagues in Europe. You should see their "clubhouse" and practice facilities. They make Redskin’s Park pale by comparison.

Wednesday, April 19
Wednesday we began the day with a visit to the Anne Frank museum. Parents and players somberly examined the exhibits and learned about the way the Franks spent two years in hiding before being deported to German concentration camps. Everyone was impressed by the exhibits and the significance behind this historic house. Following that we traveled across town on the "Tram," the streetcars that run around Amsterdam, to visit the Van Gogh museum. The boys looked at many of Van Gogh’s works that are included in the museum’s collection that rarely leave Holland. The museum shop was a popular spot to purchase presents.

The good news is that the boys adjusted their game and became increasingly competitive as the game went on. But, Ajax prevailed by a wide margin. Meantime, the U14 boys tasted victory. Playing against VVZ, the U14 boys dominated the game, winning 6-0, evening their record at 1-1.

FYI, we know that some of you have not heard from you kids very often. The primary reasons are the time differences and the use of the computer (which ties up the phone line) to load pictures on the website. We typically leave at 2 or 3 AM Maryland time and go to bed around 5PM Maryland time. The best time for us to call is when you are sleeping and we are trying to be considerate...

We returned to find an excellent dinner waiting for us. Following dinner several members of our party attended religious services at a local church that is four hundred years old. Tomorrow is a soccer day. Both teams are playing against JJ’s former club team. Following the games we plan to take a bike ride. In the evening we will be attending a professional soccer match between Veendam and Dordrecht (maybe it will be on ESPN2, but then again, maybe not).

Saturday, April 22
Saturday…our last night in the Netherlands. We are celebrating in our own style. The boys are watching Bugs Bunny and sharing snacks while the parents share wine and cheese. Today was an eventful day. The U12 team earned their first international victory, 3 to 1 over the U12 VV Wildervank Premier team. The U14 boys continued their winning ways with a hard won victory over the U16, that’s right U16, boys Premier team, 2-1.
After the game, we were treated to lunch snacks and beverages by our local hosts. We have been so impressed by the kindness and generosity of the people we have met here. Each of the clubs that hosted our teams welcomed us warmly and provided kind hospitality.

Many of the boys developed a real taste for vla, a yogurt product that comes in a variety of flavors, but tastes more like pudding than yogurt. Many containers of that were consumed by our troops. The mixture of chocolate and cream was a special favorite.
Messages from people who were hanging around while this was written…..
“Hi Mom!” From Greg Stoker & Matt Moss
Bob Stoker sends his love to: Pat, Kate, and Dave
A belated hello from Ray & Joey to Mom, Jenny, Jimmy and Johnny. Just to let you know how much we miss you and can’t wait to get home to see you all. There is one thing lacking and that’s Momma Gina’s Italian cooking but we have seemed to tough it out. See you on Sunday. Also to the Incontrera’s and Preziotti’s, Tommy and Patrick are doing well, no broken bones yet and Tommy only decked two Ajax players.
“Hello” to Grandma Keuper. That’s “Kuiper” in Dutch, (pronounced cow’ – per). We miss you! Are you taking good care of Popy? Don”t spoil him. See you soon.
“Hello” to Navlette and Eva. We have been taking our “job” very seriously. Notes to follow.
“Hi” to all. Evelyn and Dave
We’re having a great time. Hello from Kevin and Devin. See you soon!
Hi Diane, Kevin & Kristen. We miss you. We are having a great time. Love
Brent and Bryan.

The experience of attending a soccer game here is not like it is at home. There are local clubs that sponsor the teams, but they all have a clubhouse surrounded by beautiful fields. The fields are as nice as the fairways on good public golf courses. The ball actually rolls where you kick it. Each of the clubs has a clubhouse situated amidst the fields. The clubhouses have locker rooms and showers for the players and a club room for relaxation between halves. The kids ride their bikes to the local clubs. The parents sit in the club room and enjoy tea or strong coffee in the morning and beer other times. The half time breaks are longer so that parents can come in from the fields and enjoy a cup of tea (usually served with a tasty cookie). During the games the players who are not on the field sit on a covered bench. At the Ajax (pronounced eye-axe) facility the bench is the professional style like you have seen on T.V.
After the games, we returned to the small town where we are staying. Most of our party took a two hour bike ride through the countryside to see the farms, fields, and small towns. Many of us visited a local bakery that had treats that I cannot describe except to say that they were delicious. Those who didn’t ride bikes returned to the accommodations to play volley-soccer.
The evening was spent at the second division soccer match, which ended in a tie. We sang and cheered with the home fans.
Some things we saw while we were here…
The visiting fans at soccer matches sit in a cage that separates them from the home fans. At the Ajax club the visitors arrive by special train and take a dedicated tunnel into the stadium to seats in the upper deck surrounded by plexiglass. They have dedicated concession areas and never come into physical contact with the home fans. At the division two game we attended a bus delivered the visiting team and a few fans. The bus was parked inside a ten foot tall metal pen that had a gateway to the visitors stands, which we surrounded with a metal cage. We did not have to sit in the visitors section, because we were treated as home fans. Our seats were near the midfield line during the Ajax and Veendam games.