International Children’s Games 2015 From 24 June through 29 June the 49th edition of the International Children’s Games will be held in Alkmaar (The Netherlands). Athletes from around the world will come to Alkmaar to participate in the following sports: athletics, beachvolleyball, golf, judo, tennis, gymnastics, football, volleyball and swimming. Very busy times for the organisation of the ICG Alkmaar. What happened in the last month? It’s time for a news update! Sports village Around the 10th of June the erection of an enormous sports village on the former DFS site behind the Hoornse Vaart will be started. 4 large sleeping tents and a large lounging tent will be erected by De Boer Tenten and sanitary facilities will be set up. Quite a big job, but as many as 1700 guests will be coming to stay there for six days! Special ICG supplement in NHD In the Saturday edition of the Noordhollands Dagblad on Saturday the 13th of June a beautiful ICG supplement full of fun facts, news and practical information around the Games will be published: really a copy to keep! 379.000 copies of the supplement will be printed. It will be possible for businesses to advertise in this newspaper. For this purpose ICG sponsors will be approached free of engagement by HMC media. However, for other interested parties it is of course also possible to be included here. Please contact Angela Tropper of HMC media for this.Marco van Basten about the ICG Also AZ football club trainer, and ex-football player, Marco van Basten thinks the ICG is an appealing event: “The fact that the ICG is descending on Alkmaar this year after cities like San Francisco, Bangkok and Athens, is something the city can be proud of. Besides AZ, the historical city centre and the Cheese market, Alkmaar has landed an event that focuses the attention on the city. And I wish all the participants and visitors to the ICG at the end of June a fantastic and spectacular event.” You will find Van Basten’s complete column about the Games on our website. More volunteers are needed at the Children’s Games Last week the foundation board gave an overview of the state of affairs at a well-attended second information evening for the city council, associations and sponsors. The organisation of the Games is going well, but we are looking for more volunteers. Many people have already registered but this sports encounter of children from all over the world demands a lot of support. This varies from interpreter to driver, from photographers to a DJ and from making sandwiches to cleaning. You can register as a volunteer via our website. Team Alkmaar ICG 2015 No less than 88 Alkmaar athletes are competing in the ICG 2015. Quite a sizeable group and so they got together with their parents and helpers to meet each other and to get information about the upcoming Games. At this first meeting physical therapists Joost Adams and Jos van Geffen of Fysiotherapie Adams spoke about their role during the Games and their contacts at the hospital in Alkmaar. In any case they will be present during the Games to support the athletes. In the unlikely event that it should be necessary, they will be in direct contact with the doctors at the Alkmaar hospital, the Medical Centre Alkmaar. WIFI The athletes (and not lastly the parents) were very happy with the fact that there will be Wifi on the sports campus; the home front can be contacted quickly. A number of young persons and coaches who have already competed at the Games before talked about their experiences with the people that were present. All in all this first meeting for participants from Alkmaar and surroundings to the Games was a great success and a nice overture to the 24th of June. Next month the complete team will go to the North Sea beach for a joint preparatory training there. Vicgo at Kaeskoppenstad The fantastic Kaeskoppenstad event will take place at the same time as the ICG. With approximately 25,000 visitors Kaeskoppenstad has developed into the largest event of Alkmaar and it brings to life the glorious period of Alkmaar history just after Alkmaars Ontzet (Alkmaar’s Relief) in 1573, when the city is the beacon of hope for the whole nation in its fight against the Spanish army. By gratefully making use of its rich historical setting of façades, bridges and canals, a part of the city is restored to the Middle Ages. You imagine you’re in the 16th century with city gates, about 700 medieval inhabitants, shopkeepers and medieval traditions. ICG mascot Vicgo will be pleased to give you a short impression of Kaeskoppenstad in film clips if you click on the following links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XU483UIC0w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m8W_y8vCQ4 Social media Do you want to be informed daily with news about the ICG Alkmaar? Like our Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ICG2015) page or follow us on Twitter @ICG2015Alkmaar (https://twitter.com/ICG2015Alkmaar)! Contact For more information take a look at our website: www.icg-alkmaar2015.com. If there are any questions, please contact the project organisation of the International Children’s Games Alkmaar via email at info@topeventsregioalkmaar.nl