Canyon High School sophomore Maci Dunagan had never been on airplane before her trip to Paris and the Netherlands in late January to compete with other American softball players in The Cup.
Selected as one of the participants to compete on one of six teams from the United States, Dunagan was joined by her mom, Michele, who helped coach Team Chaos, the team that Maci played on.
There were also 10 teams from countries across Europe.
“It was so much fun,” Maci said in a recent phone interview. “Everyone was so nice out there. All the Europeans were all speaking their language, which is so unique because, you know, we don’t really hear that out here.”
Normally used to playing on outdoor fields, The Cup had games played indoors.
“I already knew that it was going to be indoors, but I did not expect it to be like that,” Maci said. “They had two separate fields, and they would have a curtain right in the middle dividing them.”
Before making their way to Rotterdam, Netherlands, for The Cup, the Dunagans were able to visit Paris and Amsterdam. Maci said Amsterdam was her favorite, while Paris is “a little overrated.”
“Amsterdam, they’re all really friendly out there. And I love the high-rise buildings,” Maci said, adding that she got to visit the house that Anne Frank hid in during the Holocaust, among other historical venues in the Dutch capital.
The Cup has been providing “motivated high school fastpitch softball athletes with the unique opportunity to learn, play and experience a new level of softball” against professional athletes for over 25 years, according to the tournament website. It was founded by Kirt Whiteside, who had daughters who grew up playing softball in Ohio before continuing to support the sport after they started their own families.
The Netherlands was chosen as the tournament site due to it being “the heart of fastpitch softball in Europe,” according to the tournament website.
Maci said she played against other high school-aged players as well as women in their 40s.
One of the highlights of the trip, Michele said, was when Maci was named the MVP of Team Chaos’ game against Team Olympia out of the Netherlands, one of the top teams in Europe. Maci’s team was winning 4-0 at one point but eventually lost to the Dutch champions, 6-5.
But what came after the tournament was a surprise to both of them.
One of the coaches for one of the European teams asked what Maci’s future plans are, as players in Europe start playing professionally at 16 or 17 years old.
“Getting a call from him like that was, you know, I was shocked,” Michele said. “I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’”
Maci said she is “definitely driven to try and do that” at some point as she seeks to continue her softball career after high school.
Both mother and daughter are set to return for the 2026 edition of The Cup, but this time, Michele has been asked to lead a team of her own.
“I currently have six already on roster, and so we are diligently recruiting right now,” Michele said. “But it’s a very slow process because this is a very cool situation, and we want to make sure we have the right athletes on the field.”
Maci said she can’t wait to go back next year and make more memories with her mom. But before then, she has her spring high school season at Canyon, which only recently got underway.
Canyon has started the season 2-3 entering Thursday, with Maci recording five hits, including a double, five runs scored and two RBIs.
“We should expect good news, honestly, because our team, you know, we’re all jelling with each other,” Maci said. “It’s definitely different this year. We’re all starting to bond now and all of that. So, I think we’re going to do really good this year.”
