Maria Thomas van 't Hek (born 1 April 1958) is a Dutch 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 ...

striker who played 221 international matches for the Dutch national field hockey team, in which he scored a total number of 106 goals. He made his debut on 24 September 1976 against

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, and competed for the Netherlands at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

in Los Angeles, California. After his hockey career he became the head coach of the Dutch women's hockey team, with whom he won two bronze

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

medals, at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and 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 ...

. Furthermore, the Netherlands won the European title twice (1995 and 1999) with van 't Hek in charge. He resigned after the Sydney Games and became a radio presenter of a popular sports program called ''Langs de Lijn''. Van 't Hek is the younger brother of Dutch comedian and publicist

Youp van 't Hek Joseph Jacobus Maria "Youp" van 't Hek (born 28 February 1954) is a Dutch comedian, author, columnist, singer-songwriter, playwright, and critic. Biography Van 't Hek was born and raised in the Gooi, an upper-class region to the southeast o ...

External links

*
KNHB Profile

1958 births Living people Dutch male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players of the Netherlands Dutch field hockey coaches National team coaches Field hockey players at the 1984 Summer Olympics People from Naarden SV Kampong players 1990 Men's Hockey World Cup players Dutch radio presenters Sportspeople from North Holland 20th-century Dutch people 21st-century Dutch people {{Netherlands-fieldhockey-bio-stub