van Herwaarden Joins Field Hockey Staff As An Assistant Coach
5/17/2005 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
May 17, 2005
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland head coach Missy Meharg has announced that Tjerk van Herwaarden has been hired as the new assistant coach of the Terrapin field hockey team for the upcoming season. A native of the Netherlands, van Herwaarden brings extensive coaching experience and knowledge having served as an assistant coach, head coach and technical director at all levels over the last 10 years.
"Tjerk has been associated with hockey in the United States for quite some time and is familiar with the NCAA Division I game and it's needs for advancement," said Meharg. "Having conducted a variety of coaching certification courses for the Royal Dutch Field Hockey Association, Tjerk brings an internationally progressive level of technical skills, tactical intellect and set-piece knowledge to both the University of Maryland and the USA. We look forward to having Tjerk with the Terps."
Since 2003, van Herwaarden has served as the head coach of the Gooische women's team 2nd division in the Netherlands, which is considered to have the best field hockey competition in the world. His main focus has been on development of technical and tactical skills.
From 1999-2003, van Herwaarden was an assistant coach of the Kampong 1st Ladies club team. Kampong reached the semifinals of the National Championship in back-to-back years. While with that team, he mentored some of the country's top field hockey players, who went on to win a silver medal at the Athens Olympics and are currently members of the National team.
Van Herwaarden has devoted much of his time teaching the sport of field hockey. He spent five years as a youth development coach for the KNHB, the Royal Dutch field hockey association, and was a coach conductor for the same organization, where he planned course programs and the educational structure for course work related to field hockey.
Van Herwaarden is the owner and co-founder of Worldcamp USA, which runs Dutch field hockey camps in the U.S., and also serves as technical director. He has been a clinician for six years at the National Field Hockey Festival and is a KNHB Level A and B licensed coach.
Van Herwaarden has also been an account manager for at SNS Bank in the Netherlands dating back to 1999. He also was a guest speaker at the National Field Hockey Coaches Association convention in 2005. He earned a business economics degree at HES, the college for economics in Amsterdam, in 1997.
