- Teun de Nooijer
Teun Floris de Nooijer (born
March 22 ,1976 inEgmond aan den Hoef ,Noord-Holland ) is afield hockey player fromThe Netherlands , who twice became Olympic champion with the Dutch national squad: in 1996 and in 2000. He currently plays for Dutch sideHC Bloemendaal .Life and work
He made his debut on
June 4 ,1994 in a friendly match against New Zealand. Since then the midfielder played over three hundred international matches for the Dutch. OnApril 4 ,2007 he earned his 350th cap for theNetherlands national field hockey team , when the team defeatedBelgium (7-3) in a friendly inBoxtel ,Noord-Brabant .De Nooijer started playing hockey at the age of nine, with his brothers in the backyard of their house. He joined
HC Alkmaar at the age of eleven, and was selected for the Dutch under-16 team 2 years later. At fifteen, De Nooijer made his debut in the senior men's league withHC Alkmaar , and two years later, he first played in Holland's elite league withHC Bloemendaal . After two seasons wearing the number 11 shirt, De Nooijer switched to the number 14, made famous byJohan Cruijff , and has worn it for club and country ever since. [ [http://www.eurohockeyleague.eu/ehl-2007-2008/ehl-participants/players/teun-de-nooijer Teun de Nooijer | Euro Hockey League ] ] The number was later bestowed on the signature stick he helped to create, the Dita Giga #14.De Nooijer played for
Alkmaar before moving toHC Bloemendaal . After the 1998 Hockey World Cup he played for a couple of months inGermany , at Harvestehuder THC. In the final of the 1998 Hockey World Cup in Utrecht he scored the golden goal in the final againstSpain . De Nooijer was named "World Hockey Player of the Year" in 2003, 2005 and 2006 [ [http://www.worldhockey.org/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,1181-144740-161956-5331-262662-news-item,00.html De Nooijer claims record third WorldHockey award] , "worldhockey.org", September 16, 2006] by theInternational Hockey Federation (FIH). De Nooijer created history when he won the award, which was presented byJacques Rogge for a record third time. The only other men to have won the award more than once are de Nooijer’s former team mateStephan Veen (1998, 2000), and AustralianJamie Dwyer (2004, 2007).Earlier in 2006, de Nooijer was the decisive factor in the
Champions Trophy final as the Netherlands claimed a record-equalling eighth crown and de Nooijer's sixth. [ [http://www.worldhockey.org/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,1181-144740-161956-5331-262662-news-item,00.html De Nooijer claims record third WorldHockey award] , "worldhockey.org", September 16, 2006]De Nooijer is married to Philippa Suxdorf, herself a former German international hockey player with 154 caps under her belt. They have 3 daughters, seven-year-old Philine, five-year-old Lilly, and two-year-old Nana. [ [http://www.eurohockeyleague.eu/ehl-2007-2008/ehl-participants/players/teun-de-nooijer Teun de Nooijer | Euro Hockey League ] ]
References
External links
* [http://www.knhb.nl/oranje/interlandhistorie/cDU300_Interlandhistorie.aspx?intPlayerId=167329 Dutch Hockey Federation]
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