Kylie Stinson just returned from playing in The Cup, an international fast pitch softball tournament held in the Netherlands January 16-18. At the tournament she played on the
Minnesota Frost team against teams from countries such as Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Kylie, a freshman at Houston High School, was one of the youngest players there; some of the other players were as old as 30 and six of them had competed in the Olympics. This was the 30th annual Cup tournament. Games were broadcast to nearly 30 countries; you can find broadcasts on YouTube.
Kylie first learned about the tournament when her mom Shannon saw it on Instagram.
“I never even knew it was possible (to enter such a tournament)!” Kylie exclaimed. At first Kylie was hesitant to apply; she was leery that it might be a scam.
Kylie was interviewed virtually and submitted videos of her playing. After signing commitment papers, she and her mom raised the $4,000 fee by selling raffle tickets. The Minnesota Frost held some practices before heading to the Netherlands so the team mates could get to know each other.
At The Cup, Kylie played in four games. She wasn’t sure how Minnesota Frost placed, but she knew it wasn’t in the top four. The team had, however, played against Roef!, the Netherlands team that finished second during the tournament. Minnesota Frost lost 2-1 with bases loaded to Roef! The tournament winning team was Olympia, also from the Netherlands.
Kylie found it interesting to hear all the other teams and players speak in different languages while they played them.
Rules for the indoor tournament games were very different than regular softball rules.
Batters started with a 1-1 count which made the games go faster. Bases were five feet closer; there were bleachers in back of first and second base. If the ball was hit to those areas, the player had to stay on first base. If the ball was hit to the bleacher area behind the shortstop, there was a two base limit. If a batter hit the ceiling twice, she was declared out. Apparently, experience helped, Kylie said she never saw a Netherlands team player hit the ceiling!
When Kylie first arrived at the competition, she was told by organizers that she would meet friends that might be in her wedding. At first she didn’t believe it, but now she does! She plans on staying in touch with many of her new friends.
After the three day tournament, the girls had seven days to tour in the Netherlands and France. They visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Kylie had read Frank’s book, “Diary of a Young Girl” and thoroughly enjoyed visiting the home. She found the rooms in the home bigger than she had expected.
Kylie visited the Windmills of Rotterdam, went up to the second level in one and had dinner in it. She also visited Notre Dame. Kylie was impressed that all the buildings were preserved just as they were originally; she wished that the United States had such a preserved history.
Kylie was disappointed that she didn’t get to enter the Louvre due to ongoing strikes, but found the pyramids at the Louvre gorgeous at night.
At the Eiffel Tower, Kylie and her mom took the elevator halfway up the tower and walked around the outside of the tower. Kylie shared that the lights on the tower twinkle for 10 minutes every hour when the tower is lit. Kylie’s mom had studied in Paris and been there seven times so she was able to help Kylie explore Paris.
When asked what her favorite part of the entire experience was, Kylie replied that it was meeting all the people she got to play with. Kylie was asked to come back again by the organizers; she said she’d like to return again, but would need to again raise funding.
Kylie shared, “The experience made me open up – there’s so much more than where we live!” She wants to travel more and would love to visit Italy.
The food was so much more healthy in the Netherlands. Kylie was surprised to learn there was no ranch dressing there, but found the “mayo” to be a delicious blend of flavor! She loved the crepes in France as well as the waffelstrudels in Amsterdam. Waffelstrudels (also
called stroopwaffels) are thin waffles with a filling of caramel or Nutella. The Italian pizza Kylie ate on the trip was declared the best she had ever eaten!
Purchasing items was a little unsettling to Kylie. Just clicking buttons on a device when you couldn’t read the prompts felt uncomfortable. Euros with one and two Euro coins and bills in
five, 10 and 50 denominations were a change for Kylie.
When Kylie came back to Houston, she quickly got back in the swing of things. That same weekend she played in a softball tournament at a field house in EauClaire, Wis. Kylie plays with the Winona Winstars Velocity 16U team. She also plays domeball in Rochester every Sunday.
Kylie has come a long way since she started playing Tball and baseball following in her brother’s footsteps. Kylie had been a baseball pitcher when her chiropractor suggested she switch to softball. It was quite a switch for Kylie with the underhand slower pitching and closer bases, but after her second season she fell in love with softball and loved her coach!
In the future Kylie hopes to play D2 at a college that is “close, but not too close.” As a freshman, she has plenty of time to think about that.
Kylie’s advice to anyone considering joining The Cup experience is, “If you ever get the opportunity do it! I was scared at first. I’d SO do it again! it wasn’t just the softball, but all the traveling!” Her only regret about the experience was that she was very young and maybe should have waited until she was a little older. She also wished she’d stayed out later her last night in Paris!
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