Hockey India Selects As Director of High Performance, Herman Kruis

Herman Kruis was named as the new high-performance director of Hockey India (HI) on Tuesday. The Dutchman will hold the role till September.

According to a statement from HI, among other responsibilities, he will be in charge of the national junior and senior programs, which include the coaches education route.

Dutchman Kruis, who has been coaching for more than 20 years, was previously named coach of the Indian junior women’s and men’s teams, managing their readiness for the FIH Women’s Junior World Cup and FIH Men’s Junior World Cup, respectively.

In his extensive coaching career, Kruis served as the head coach of the Netherlands-based Den Bosch Ladies, a team that won the European Cup eight times in a row while he was on the squad.

In addition, he served as the head coach of the Netherlands women’s hockey team from 2006 to 2008 for their indoor program and from 2008 to 2010 for their outdoor program.

From 2016 until August 2023, he served as the head coach of the Belarus indoor and outdoor team, which was his most recent position.

Kruis has a FIH coach-educator certification.

HI President Dilip Tirkey said, “He will oversee the various programs run by Hockey India, including the junior and senior programs.”

“The Indian teams are on the cusp of creating history and I look forward to utilizing my expertise in helping the teams and Hockey India in achieving their goals for this year,” said Kruis, expressing his happiness at being named the high-performance director.