Maria van der Schaaf - Baseball expert

Dutch native Maria studied computer science at Radboud University and University of Twente, culminating her formal education with an MBA at Twente School of Management. She has years of experience working as a consultant in the field of program and process management, processes and process design, IT strategy and information policy, and account management. She also co-founded a company providing advice and training services for B2B companies in the field of strategic account management based on a self-developed model in which “connection between supply and demand” formed the core. 

Maria has a wealth of personal experience with top sport: she was a Dutch champion on the Dutch Finswimming Team (pool and open water swimming). It was this previous experience with competitive sport that helped her provide optimal guidance to her son Stijn in his own top sport career as a baseball player (Scimitars Baseball Academy, Dutch team U15/U18) in combination with his demanding high school curriculum (university preparatory education – VWO). She also successfully guided her son through his journey to a professional baseball contract with the Boston Red Sox. Additionally, she has acted as an official scorer (level 2) for Scimitars and HCAW’s Overgangsklasse team (second highest national level). She has been actively involved in supporting the organization of various (international) baseball events and tournaments, including Battle at the Castle (Oosterhout, NL), PUC Paris U15 team Baseball Culture Tournament (Rotterdam, NL), and Pony League in the Czech Republic.

At UStudy, Maria will support baseball activities and act as a first-line source of information for the parents of baseball players who are considering taking the step to up their game in the US.