NEW DELHI: Hockey India on Tuesday announced the appointment of Herman Kruis, who has over two decades of coaching experience, as coach of Indian junior men and junior women hockey teams.
During his stint in India, he will oversee the preparations of Indian Junior Men’s and Women’s Teams ahead of FIH Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup 2023 in Malaysia and FIH Women’s Junior Hockey World Cup 2023 in Santiago later this year.
In his vast coaching experience, Kruis, who hails from Netherlands, has worked with Den Bosch ladies – a club based out of Netherlands – as their Head Coach and during his tenure the team won the European Cup eight times in a row.
“He was also the National Head Coach for Netherlands Indoor Women’s Hockey Team between 2006 to 2008 and he was also the National Head Coach for the Netherlands Outdoor Team between 2008 to 2010,” an official release said.
In his most recent stint, he was the National Head Coach of the Belarus Indoor and Outdoor team from 2016 to August 2023. Kruis is a certified FIH Coach-Educator.
“Hockey India is delighted to welcome distinguished senior Coach Herman Kruis to our national program for the junior teams. He will oversee the ongoing preparations of the Junior Men and Women’s teams and I believe his experience will further boost our prospects at the FIH Junior Hockey World Cup 2023. He will be working closely with Tushar Khandker Coach India Junior Women’s side and CR Kumar Coach India Junior Men’s side,” Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey said.
Kruis said he is looking forward to his new role with Hockey India.
“There are some very talented players in the Indian Junior Men’s and Women’s hockey teams. The next four months leading up to the Junior World Cups are exciting and at the same time an important phase in the teams’ preparations. I look forward to working with them to achieve the desirable results.” (ANI)