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

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

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 known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, and competed for the Netherlands at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly 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 ...

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 bet ...

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, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. 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, author, columnist, singer-songwriter, playwright, critic and former comedian. Biography Van 't Hek was born and raised in the Gooi, an upper-class region to the sou ...

References

External links

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KNHB Profile

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