London Wayfarers Hockey Club is delighted that Niels Rudolphus has joined us as Boys’ Head Coach. This is fantastic news for our thriving Junior section, especially on the Boys’ side as we add more Dutch influence to the London Wayfarers “hockey revolution”.
Niels has hockey in his blood and has an outstanding hockey CV, both as a player and as a coach. He has played National League in the Netherlands, Spain and the UK playing for de Kieviten, Delft Students, Valencia Club de Hockey and Teddington.
As a coach, Niels has various coaching degrees from the KNHB (Dutch Hockey Federation) and has been coaching both Junior and Senior teams for many years. The Junior Boys’ and Girls’ teams which Niels has coached have played at the highest level in the Netherlands. Niels has worked closely with players who play at the national levels for the Netherlands.
In addition to his playing and coaching experience, Niels has also been Director of Hockey at HC Ypenburg, a young and ambitious Dutch club with 1000+ players, which is a good mirror on where London Wayfarers is today.
This is an exciting time for London Wayfarers Hockey Club and for our players. The Junior section goes from strength to strength with a total membership now c550. We continue to grow the Boys’ section at all ages and welcome keen & sporty boys to apply to join our “hockey revolution”.
We are lucky to have a very strong coaching group across the Boys’ section with Lead Coaches Mark Thirlway/Andrew Dakin (U10), Matt Dean (U12), Adrian Darley/Edward Ballsdon (U14) & Niels co-leading U16 with Marcel van Eldik, as well as a host of assistant and parent coaches. Mark & Matt are Surrey Hockey Coaches, and Matt is also involved with England Hockey. In addition, with the London Wayfarers GK Academy, led by Barbara Pawson, London Wayfarers Boys has the strongest coaching line-up we have ever had…exciting times for everyone as we continue to grow our Boys’ section and also build ever-stronger bridges between the Boys’ and Mens’ sections of the club. In particular, the Boys’ section are hugely grateful for all the coaching (and umpiring) support from London Wayfarers Mens’ teams.
We are delighted that Niels has joined London Wayfarers. Please look out for him, say hello and make sure that he has a big Orange & Black London Wayfarers welcome!