From losing a 6-0 game to a top-notch team, to visiting the Anne Frank House, to attending a game featuring one of the most famous soccer teams in the world, the group of soccer players who recently returned from a trip to Holland had an unforgettable experience.

The 19 girls and 20 boys, all high school and early college-aged players, spent the high school vacation week with Robbie and Tammy Krul of the Caribou-based Dutch Soccer Academy.

Robbie Krul, a native of Delft, Holland, is licensed to coach by the Dutch National Soccer Association. Tammy (Thibodeau) Krul, a Caribou native, was a member of the women’s soccer team at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, N.H., where she was a member of teams that won two Division II national championships. The two met while they were both attending and playing for Franklin Pierce.

The husband-and-wife team has been running DSA camps since 1997, but this was their first Holland trip.

“Everything was awesome, from the games to the sightseeing,” said Lauren Harrigan, a Caribou High senior who plays for the Vikings and has attended the DSA camps over the years.

The group left April 16 and flew into Amsterdam. Saturday was spent getting organized with a practice session at night, and Sunday the players got a taste of professional soccer. In the morning the group had a tour of the stadium in which Dutch team Ajax plays, and that afternoon the players went to a game between Ajax and RBC Roosendaal, which ended in a 1-1 tie.

On Monday the teams toured Amsterdam, saw the canals and the Anne Frank House, the building where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis during World War II. That evening the boys and girls DSA teams both had games against AFC Amsterdam, one of the top youth teams in the country.

The girls lost 6-0 – an eye-opening experience, Harrigan said.

“They play a completely different game there,” she said. “It’s more of a possession game. And they use the ‘keeper a lot, which is something we don’t see here in the U.S. that often. It’s a lot of passing and making the other team work for it. It’s hard to stop. I know I did a lot of running.”

The DSA boys and girls teams played a total of four games. The girls rebounded with a 1-1 tie Tuesday against a team called De Vecht and then earned a 6-0 win of their own against Pijnacker Wednesday.

The group did more sightseeing, including a trip to Rotterdam where the players toured the 607-foot Euromast tower, and went to Belgium at the end of the week. They arrived home at almost 4 a.m. Sunday.

The DSA players came from high schools across Aroostook County, including Fort Kent, Fort Fairfield, Houlton, and Madawaska. There were six Caribou High girls, including Harrigan. Her brother Eamonn, who plays for the Caribou boys team, also went to Holland.

“I had played with all the girls before, either in high school or with DSA,” she said. “Everybody got along really well.”

Sportsmanship recognized

Basketball teams from Houlton, Piscataquis, Hodgdon, and Washburn high schools were among the winners for sportsmanship at the Maine Principals Association tournaments in February.

The Houlton girls and Piscataquis of Guilford boys were the Eastern Maine Class C winners, while the Hodgdon girls and Washburn boys picked up EM Class D banners.

In Class B, the Maranacook of Readfield boys and Winslow girls won the Eastern Maine sportsmanship honors.

Bangor swept the EM Class A banners.

In Western Maine, the Cape Elizabeth boys and Gorham girls won the Class B banners. The Georges Valley of Thomaston and Traip of Kittery boys and girls won sportsmanship honors, respectively, in Class C. In Class D, the Valley of Bingham boys and Vinalhaven girls took home banners. The Marshwood of Eliot boys and Sanford girls took honors in Class A.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.