Carolien Stadhouders leaves the role of Director of Umpires to Raoul Machalet

Press release European Softball Federation

Carolien Stadhouders steps off after four years of dedicated work as the Director of Umpires for the European Softball Federation. Replacing her will be Raoul Machalet, the previous Softball Europe Deputy Director of Umpires in charge of the development.

Raoul comes highly regarded within the umpire group. He umpired for ten years, before retiring in 2016. Immediately after, he became an Umpire in Chief for Softball Europe tournaments. Last year, he started working on the development of new umpires, spreading his passion for softball to his colleagues.

“I want to thank Carolien for all she has done for softball in Europe, in the role of umpire, UiC, or Director of Umpires. I do believe Softball Europe will continue on the values that she established,” said Softball Europe President Gabriel Waage, “I also want to welcome Raoul in his new role as Director of Umpire. The 2021 season awaiting us will be challenging, but, I am sure, Raoul and his team will provide expert officials to Softball Europe events.”

Although Carolien is stepping off as the DoU, she will continue her role as Regional Umpire Coordinator with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), being the liaison between Softball Europe and WBSC and will support Raoul as an advisor. “I am very glad that Carolien will continue as our WBSC Regional Umpire Coordinator within the WBSC, where she is highly respected at the very top of our sport”, Softball Europe Technical Director Mike Jennings commented.

As appointed to the role, Raoul Machalet commented: “It is with great pride that I accept the position of Softball Europe Director of Umpires. I am truly humbled by Carolien Stadhouders’ proposal to follow her in this role. She and I have worked together for many years and I can only hope that I am able to bring the same amount of passion for Softball and the same drive around the development of our umpires and continue to further our program.”

Carolien Stadhouders stated: “I want to wish my successor Raoul and his team lots of success for the future. I am convinced that they will do a great job for European umpiring. I am glad that I can continue to contribute to this job in the role of WBSC Regional Umpire Coordinator.”