World Hockey Pitch Turns Orange

(source: www.fihockey.org)

The Netherland's trademark orange was draped over the WorldHockey
Player of the Year awards with three Dutch players dominating the
honours at today’s presentations in Sydney.

Dutch forward Teun de Nooijer today returned to Sydney – scene of his
epic performances in The Netherlands’ march to Olympic gold in 2000 –
to claim the WorldHockey senior men’s Player of the Year award for the
first time and stand alongside compatriots Mijntje Donners and Maartje
Scheepstra who gave the Dutch a clean sweep of the women’s awards.

A sprig of local wattle was mixed in today’s presentations with
Australian forward Grant Schubert breaking up the Dutch domination by
claiming the young men’s Player of the Year title.

Netherlands captain Donners, one of the most passionate and effective
players in women’s hockey, is the first Dutch player to win the senior
women’ award which dates back to 1998.

De Nooijer joins former Dutch captain Stephan Veen, the inaugural
winner in 1998 and 2000, as the second Netherlands player to win the
coveted men’s award.

Scheepstra, a cool-headed defender, and Schubert, a prolific
goalscorer who has added new bite to the Australian attack, emphasise
the exciting new talent emerging on the international hockey circuit.

International Hockey Federation secretary-general Peter Cohen today
hailed the four winners as magnificent role models in world hockey.

“Our game is blessed with outstanding players who represent
themselves, their countries and their sport with distinction and we
are proud to acknowledge these four champions of the year and thank
them for their part in making world hockey a better game for their
presence and skills,” Mr Cohen said.

“All four winners came from impressive fields of nominations and we
congratulate not only the four Players of the Year but all those who
were considered for the awards. They have all made for a wonderful
year of world hockey.”

The winners were chosen by two panels – one for the men’s game and the
other for the women’s – made up of accomplished coaches and esteemed
media representatives.

De Nooijer was chosen from a field of 10 nominations including Sohail
Abbas, Wasseem Ahmed (Pakistan), Pablo Amat, Xavier Ribas (Spain),
Chauhan Devesh, Dilip Tirkey (India), Jorge Lombi (Argentina) and
Australian pair Troy Elder and Brent Livermore.

Donners’ success comes amid the BDO Champions Trophy for women’s
hockey in Sydney where she has reinforced her value to the Dutch team
as a strong-willed leader. She won the senior women’s award from a
field comprising team-mate Minke Booij, Australian duo Katie Allen and
Julie Towers, Argentine midfielder Luciana Aymar, China goalkeeper Nie
Yali and team-mate Fu Baorong, Spain’s striker Nuria Camon and Japan’s
midfielder Sachimi Iwao.

DeNooijer and Donners have continued the Dutch reputation of cleaning
up in Sydney where The Netherlands women’s team won the World Cup in
1990 and the men’s team won Olympic gold in 2000.

The judges’ decisions in the men’s section can be compared with the
fans’ voting in the polls of the FIH website at www.WorldHockey.org.

Previous winners of the awards in the senior sections are –

Men’s Player of the Year

1998 S. Veen (The Netherlands)
1999 J. Stacy (Australia)
2000 S. Veen (The Netherlands)
2001 F. Kunz (Germany)
2002 M. Green (Germany)

Women’s Player of the Year

1998 A. Annan (Australia)
1999 N. Keller (Germany)
2000 A. Annan (Australia)
2001 L. Aymar (Argentina)
2002 C. Rognoni (Argentina)