Macha Alexandra van der Vaart (born 17 April 1972 in

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

) is a former

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

midfielder from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, who played 151 international matches for the Dutch National Women's Team, in which she scored seventeen goals. She made her debut on December 9, 1998 against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

(1-1), and was a member of the team, that won bronze at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and silver at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. She retired from international competition after the Athens Games.

External links

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Dutch Hockey Federation
1972 births Field hockey players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Dutch female field hockey players Living people Olympic field hockey players of the Netherlands Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Sportspeople from Alkmaar Olympic medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics HC Bloemendaal players {{netherlands-fieldhockey-bio-stub