Approximately 5 million of the 17 million people in the Netherlands are registered to one of the 35,000 sports clubs in the country. About two thirds of the population older than 15 years participates in sports weekly.
Carlos José Retegui is an Argentine retired field hockey player, who is nicknamed Chapa. He was a member of the National squad from 1989 to 2006 and competed in three Summer Olympics. In 2006 he was dismissed from the national team by his former teammate and head coach, Sergio Vigil.
Marc Lammers is a Dutch former field hockey player and head coach. In the past, he led the Spanish women's national team from 1999 to 2000 and the Dutch women's national team from 2000 to 2008. Under his guidance, the Dutch team won the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, and gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Later he also coached the Belgian men's national team until 2014, with whom he became European vice-champion. As a player, he earned five caps for the men's team. Lammers played for sixteen years in the Netherlands' first division, Hoofdklasse, with HC Den Bosch, HC Tilburg and Oranje Zwart.
Minke Smeets is a field hockey midfielder from the Netherlands. Her current team is Laren.
Lisanne Freya de Roever is a Dutch field hockey player who plays as a goalkeeper for Dutch club SV Kampong. She made her debut for the Netherlands national team on 5 March 2005 in a friendly match against Malaysia.
Eefke Mulder is a Dutch field hockey player, who played as a midfielder for Dutch club NMHC Nijmegen and the Netherlands national team. She made her debut for the national team on 2 June 1997 at the Champions Trophy in Berlin.
Naomi van As is a Dutch field hockey player who plays as a forward/midfield for a Dutch club MHC Laren.
Wieke Elisabeth Henriëtte Dijkstra is a Dutch field hockey player, who plays as midfielder for Dutch club Laren.
Alyson Regina Annan is an Australian field hockey coach and retired field hockey player, who earned a total number of 228 international caps for the Women's National Team, in which she scored 166 goals. Since 2022, she is also the current head coach of the China women's national field hockey team.
Sophie Polkamp is a Dutch field hockey player, who played as defender for Dutch club Stichtse Cricket en Hockey Club and later for Amsterdamsche Hockey & Bandy Club (AHBC).
Maartje Goderie is a Dutch field hockey player, who plays as forward for Dutch club HC Den Bosch. She also plays for the Netherlands national team and she was part of the Dutch squad that became World Champion at the 2006 Women's Hockey World Cup and which won the 2007 Champions Trophy.
Maartje Yvonne Helene Paumen is a former Dutch field hockey player. She is currently the assistant coach for Dutch club MOP. She previously played for Dutch clubs Oranje Zwart and HC Den Bosch and Belgian club Royal Antwerp. She also played for the Netherlands national team and she was part of the Dutch squad that became world champions at the 2006 Women's Hockey World Cup in Madrid and the 2014 Women's Hockey World Cup in The Hague. She also won the 2007 Champions Trophy and the 2011 Champions Trophy. With 195 goals in 235 games, she is the all-time top scorer for the Dutch national team. She is also the all-time top scorer in the national Dutch hockey league, the Hoofdklasse.
The Netherlands competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. This was announced in an official statement on the NOC*NSF website. In the statement they named the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games as a highlight in sports to which a lot of sportspeople, coaches and the Dutch sports fans would look forward. The Netherlands aimed for a top 10 nations ranking in the Olympics as well as a top 25 ranking in the Paralympics; they ended up ranking 12th at the Games.
Hans Peter Minderhoud is a Dutch dressage rider.
Roderick Weusthof is a field hockey player from the Netherlands.
Marilyn Agliotti is a field hockey player from the Netherlands, having previously represented South Africa. After her move to the Netherlands and award of a Dutch passport, she represented the Dutch national team.
Salman Akbar is a Pakistani field hockey player and coach. He is a former captain and goalkeeper of the Pakistan Men's Hockey Team. A veteran of 230 games, he has represented Pakistan in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. He lives in Holland now.
Jamie Dwyer is an Australian field hockey player. He currently plays for YMCC Coastal City Hockey Club in the Melville Toyota League in Perth, Western Australia. He previously played for the Queensland Blades in the Australian Hockey League. He debuted for Australia as a junior player in 1995, and for the senior side in 2001. He played over 365 matches for Australia and scored over 244 goals. He represented Australia at the 2004 Summer Olympics where he won a gold medal and the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics where Australia won bronze medals. He has also represented Australia at the 2006 Commonwealth Games where he won a gold medal and the 2010 Commonwealth Games where he also won gold. He has won silver medals at the 2002 Men's Hockey World Cup and the 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup. He won a gold medal at the 2010 Men's Hockey World Cup and the 2014 Men's Hockey World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players to ever play the game.
Edward "Eddie" Clyve Ockenden is an Australian field hockey player. He plays in the midfielder and striker positions. He turned professional in 2008 and has played for teams in the Netherlands. He plays club hockey, having competed for a New Zealand team and Hobart, Tasmania side, North West Hobart Graduates (NWG). He also plays for the Tassie Tigers in the Australian Hockey League. He has represented Australia on the junior, intermediate, and senior level, earning a silver medal with the 2005 U21 team at the Junior World Cup.
Tina Bachmann is a retired German field hockey player. She represented Germany in two editions of the Olympic Games, and also often played as a midfielder and an experienced central defender. Bachmann was also a member of the Germany women's national field hockey team who attained a great success in the mid and late 2000s, capturing three gold medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2006 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy, and 2007 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship.
