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EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) -Â The Lafayette field hockey team will begin preparation for the 2001 season with a trip to Holland May 24-June 2. The trip is being funded by College trustee Bill Rappolt '67, who also funded the new AstroTurf playing surface at Metzgar Fields, along with a new scoreboard and bleachers that will soon be added to the facility.
The Leopards plan to use the time abroad to the utmost advantage, competing against five Amsterdam-based club teams.
"The young women on these club teams are 18-24 years old and take these games very seriously," Head Coach Ann Gold says. "In Amsterdam, instead of playing golf or tennis after school lets out or the work day is over, they play competitive field hockey. The teams are part of different leagues that face opponents from across Europe and other visiting programs from the U.S."Â 
The team will also learn about and experience Dutch culture as a guide accompanies them around the city of Amsterdam for four days and the surrounding countryside for the remaining four.
"This is a great experience for the team and the Lafayette field hockey program in general,"says Gold. "It is going to be a lot of fun for the girls to travel together and strengthen the team bond and the friendships they made during the season. Plus, the tremendous impact it is having on recruiting speaks volumes about the importance of the trip to the program."
Some of the sights the team will visit include the Houses of Parliament, the Royal Residence, the Peace Palace, and Madurodam, a miniature city where practically all of Holland has been built on a scale of 1 to 25, a cheese farm, a clog factory, and Zaanse Schanse, a residential community where Peter the Great lived. The team will also go on a boat tour of the canals and have free time to explore the city.
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