Tjerk van Herwaarden Position: Technical Director/Coach Experience: 3rd Year Alma Mater: HES '97

Embarking on his third season on the coaching staff, Tjerk van Herwaarden has been with Maryland during both of its championship runs, coming to College Park in July of 2005 as an assistant coach. During the summer of 2007, he was named the team's Technical Director/Coach.

"Tjerk has had an incredible impact on the Terps, as we have captured back-to-back NCAA titles," said head coach Missy Meharg. "His patience and ability to read tactical adjustments are major strengths. His game knowledge is not only evident in training sessions but also in video work and fundamental teaching sessions."

A native of the Netherlands, van Herwaarden has gained extensive coaching experience and knowledge of the game having served as an assistant coach, head coach and technical director at every level over the last decade.

Prior to joining the Maryland coaching staff, van Herwaarden had served as 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, since 2003. His main focus was 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 was coach for the KNHB, the Royal Dutch field hockey association, youth development program for five years and was a coach conductor for the same organization, where he planned course programs and the educational structure for coursework related to field hockey.

In the spring of 2006, van Herwaarden was named an assistant coach of the US Men's National Field Hockey team, traveling to tournaments in Bermuda and China. Her will be on the sidelines for the 2007 Pan American Games in Brazil, as well. He has also coached the women's U16 team in 2006, traveling to his home country, and the U19 team in Argentina in 2007.

In 2006, van Herwaarden was selected to work with the U.S. Field Hockey's new men's Regional Training Center and was also head coach of the Maryland Thundersticks women's team, which won 2006 USFHA Elite Performance Training Center National Championship.

Van Herwaarden is the owner and co-founder of Worldcamp USA, which runs Dutch field hockey camps in the United States, and also serves as technical director. He has been a clinician for seven years at the National Field Hockey Festival and is a KNHB Level A and B licensed coach.

Van Herwaarden was also an account manager for SNS Bank in the Netherlands dating back to 1999 until leaving his post to come to Maryland. 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.

 

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