Caitlin Johanna Philomena Dijkstra (born 30 January 1999) is a Dutch professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as defender for

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German language, German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. I ...

club

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

and the Netherlands national team.

Club career

Dijkstra's father Meindert was a professional footballer, though both are in no way related to

Edsger W. Dijkstra Edsger Wybe Dijkstra ( ; ; 11 May 1930 – 6 August 2002) was a Dutch computer scientist, programmer, software engineer, mathematician, and science essayist. Born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Dijkstra studied mathematics and physics and the ...

. She grew up in

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

as a supporter of NAC, but played for RKVV JEKA as NAC had no girls' section. She progressed to CTO Eindhoven, where she combined football with studies, before she signed for reigning national champions

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

in 2018. She made her first team debut that October as a substitute in a daunting

2018–19 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2018–19 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 18th edition of the European women's club football championship organised by UEFA, and the 10th edition since being rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League. The final was held at the Gr ...

tie with

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. With Ajax she won the KNVB Women's Cup in her first season with the club. In April 2021 Dijkstra decided to leave Ajax for

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

upon the expiry of her contract that summer. Ajax's acquisition of Stefanie van der Gragt had reduced Dijkstra's opportunities to play in her favoured defensive role. At Twente Dijkstra signed for one year with the option of an additional year. She made her league debut against VV Alkmaar on 27 August 2021. Dijkstra scored her first league goal against

Excelsior Excelsior may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...

on 19 December 2021, scoring in the 75th minute. On 22 June 2023, it was announced that Dijkstra would leave Twente to join Wolfsburg, but would spend one more year on loan at Twente. During her second spell at the club, she made her league debut against SC Telstar VVNH on 16 September 2023. During her second spell, Dijkstra scored her first league goal against

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

on 21 April 2024, scoring in the 90th minute.

International career

At youth level Dijkstra played three times for the Netherlands women's national under-17 football team and 26 times for the Netherlands women's national under-19 football team. She played six times at under-20 level, including at the

2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its i ...

in France. She then served as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the under-23 selection. In September 2021, national team

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Mark Parsons called up Dijkstra to the senior

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

squad for the first time. On 29 November 2021 she played the full match in a 0–0 friendly draw with

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in The Hague to win her first official

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

. She scored her first goal on 19 February 2022 in a 3–0 victory against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. On 31 May 2023, she was named as part of the Netherlands provisional squad for the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

. Alongside Lize Kop and Romée Leuchter, Dijkstra had to drop out of the Netherlands squad. They were replaced by Jacintha Weimar, Ilse van der Zanden and Fenna Kalma.

Personal life

Dijkstra is in a relationship with Vera ten Westeneind.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dijkstra goal.''

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dijkstra, Caitlin 1999 births Living people Dutch women's footballers Eredivisie (women) players FC Twente (women) players Netherlands women's youth international footballers Netherlands women's international footballers AFC Ajax (women) players Frauen-Bundesliga players VfL Wolfsburg (women) players Footballers from Breda Women's association football defenders UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate women's footballers in Germany 21st-century Dutch sportswomen