Sinterklaas arrived in Cape Coral last night. All the Dutch Lions reunited at the Florida Gulf Coast house office with their teammates, coaches, and parents to celebrate. This special orange event was based on the real Dutch tradition where Sinterklaas replaces our Santa Claus. He always arrives to the Netherlands from Spain by boat, welcomed by a huge festive Dutch parade and children screaming of excitement. He comes a month early with gifts for all children who behaved well during the year, and distributes the presents on the 5th of December.
We recreated the custom of the gift exchange between relatives and close friends within all teams. For the occasion, each player was randomly assigned another player on their respective team. All gifts came with a nice note about the recipient wrote by the donor. Coaches and parents were enchanted by the turn out of such a nice team bounding moment, while children were thrilled to give and receive. It was a wonderful night, filled with fun and delight.
