Herman Kruis, the man who led the Netherlands indoor women's hockey team to remarkable performances in the past, is now ready to bring India to the top. Hockey India hopes to achieve their goals this year under his direction
Hockey India (HI) on Tuesday announced the appointment of Herman Kruis as the new high-performance director with the Dutchman serving in the position till September. (More Hockey News)
He will oversee the national junior and senior programmes of Hockey India, including the coach's education pathway among other tasks, an HI release said.
Kruis, who is from the Netherlands, has over two decades of coaching experience and was earlier appointed as coach of Indian men's and junior women's teams to oversee their preparations for the FIH Men's Junior World Cup and FIH Women's Junior World Cup respectively.
In his vast coaching experience, Kruis has worked with Den Bosch ladies – a club based out of the Netherlands – as their head coach and during his tenure the team won the European Cup eight times in a row.
He was also the head coach for the Netherlands indoor women's hockey team from 2006 to 2008 and he was also the head coach for the Netherlands outdoor team from 2008 to 2010.
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In his most recent stint, he was the chief coach of the Belarus indoor and outdoor team from 2016 to August 2023.
Kruis is a certified FIH coach-educator. "He will oversee the various programmes run by Hockey India including the junior and senior programmes," said HI president Dilip Tirkey.
Expressing his delight at being appointed as the high-performance director, Kruis said, "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."