For youth teams from Haarlem — a 20-minute drive
Interactive game park · Beverwijk
An outing for the
youth team from Haarlem
indoors, so it goes ahead
Fifteen children, a team kitty that is not bottomless and a date you do not want to move yet again. Twenty minutes' drive from Haarlem, or simply by train.
- €24.50 per player, from 5 people
- Direct train Haarlem–Beverwijk, every half hour
- 1.5 hours of play with a break in between
An end-of-season outing that cannot be rained off
You manage a youth team in Haarlem, or you are the parent who arranges this sort of thing. Something has to be organised: fifteen children, a team kitty that is not bottomless, and a Saturday you only know will stay dry two days beforehand.
PlayKinetix is an indoor game park on the Handelskade in Beverwijk, about twenty minutes' drive from Haarlem. 9 game rooms that keep you on your feet the whole time: light-up floors that react to your feet, walls of buttons that light up, challenges you only crack by talking to each other. Everyone gets a wristband that keeps score.
It goes ahead, whatever the weather is doing outside. No cancellation, no messages on Friday evening about a plan B.
Yes, at your own ground it can be free
Let us be honest about that. A games tournament on the pitch with a barbecue afterwards costs the club next to nothing. But June in the Netherlands is wet about as often as it is dry, and whoever thinks up that tournament, sets it up, runs it and clears it away again at half past ten is usually the same volunteer who has been doing everything all season.
Here nobody has to think anything up. The rooms do the work, the wristband keeps the score, and for the first time this year the staff can simply watch — or join in, which rarely ends well for the staff.
And playing here does not mean sitting. No screen, no controller. There is running, and a fair amount of shouting.
The hassle is in the cars, not in the distance
Twenty minutes sounds like nothing, until you have to do it with fifteen children. Then it is about who drives, who picks up later, and that one child nobody thought of.
For Haarlem there is a way out that most outings in the region do not have: the train gets there without a change.
- By train. Haarlem and Beverwijk are both on the Kennemerlijn, every half hour, no changes. From Beverwijk station it is an 8-minute walk. For a team that is allowed to travel on its own, the whole driving rota disappears from your list.
- By car via the A9. From the Amsterdamsevaart onto the A200 towards the Rottepolderplein, then the A9 through the Wijkertunnel, the A22 at the Beverwijk interchange, off at exit 2. About 17 kilometres.
- Or via the N208. Through Santpoort, Driehuis and Velserbroek, and on through the Velsertunnel. Shorter in kilometres, not in minutes: more traffic lights and more village centres.
- Parking is free and right outside the door. We are on a business park, not in a city centre. No car park, no parking disc.
The Velsertunnel is the bottleneck on the route through Santpoort. During maintenance everything is diverted via the A9.
What it costs, with no surprises afterwards
Two fixed team prices, per person and from as few as five people. Half an age group or a small girls' team fits in just as well.
Sport Deal
- 45 minutes of play
- Break with crisps
- Unlimited squash
- Then another 45 minutes
Do the sums with us: fifteen players on the Sport Deal is €367.50. That amount is fixed in advance. And you can hold a date with no obligation before you book definitively — handy when you still have to run it past the parents.
How to arrange it without group-chat chaos
- 1Step 1Pick a day that actually works
On Wednesday and Thursday you can start until 18:00, on Friday and Saturday until 22:00, on Sunday until 18:00. On Monday and Tuesday we are closed.
- 2Step 2Hold the date, still with no commitment
The day is blocked out for you while you are still winning the parents round.
- 3Step 3Pass on the numbers
The rate is per person from five upwards, so a team that turns out slightly smaller does not run into trouble.
- 4Step 4Come in and play
Wristbands on, a short briefing, and then the team works its way round the rooms. Crisps and squash halfway through, then on again.
Two moments in the season when this fits
The obvious moment is June. Last training session done, trophies handed out, and then something fun. The catch is that half of Kennemerland has the same idea at the same time; whoever is early has more days to choose from.
The second moment is almost never used, and in Haarlem of all places that is strange. Haarlem is a baseball city — international baseball has been played in Haarlem-Noord since the sixties — and baseball and softball run through the summer. Those youth teams are indoors in winter. The same goes for the winter break in the field sports: January, no fixtures, a team that does not see each other for three weeks.
In those months, indoors is not a stopgap but the only option left. Our rooms notice nothing of the season. Want to see what the team is in for? Take a look at the game rooms.
What team managers usually ask first
What does it cost for fifteen players plus three supervisors?
Everything is per person, so it is easy to work out: eighteen people is €441 with the Sport Deal and €477 with the Plus. Supervisors who go into the rooms themselves pay the same rate. Tell us in your request how many people will really be playing.
There are eighteen of us. Will half of us end up waiting?
No. The park holds 70 people in total, so you only fill part of the space. The team splits into small groups across the 9 game rooms and rotates, so everyone plays everything.
Can we come on a weekday after training?
On Wednesday and Thursday you can start until 18:00. If your team only comes off the pitch at 19:00, that will not work — we would rather say so straight away. Friday and Saturday evening do work: then you can start up to 22:00.
Is this not too childish for an older youth team?
There is no bunting and there is no entertainment crew wandering about. What there is: a wristband that counts every score and delivers a final standing. With a team that is used to wanting to win, ten minutes in nothing else gets talked about.
Other towns nearby
Is your group coming from a different town? Then the route and the journey time are set out separately there.
Blocking out a date costs nothing yet
Let us know which week you have in mind and roughly how many players are coming. Then we hold the date with no obligation, so you can sound out the parents at your own pace. There is more about groups on schools and sports clubs.