Hans Jorritsma, former hockey player, hockey national coach and team manager of the Dutch football team, died on Thursday in his hometown of Amsterdam after a period of illness at the age of 77. His family informed the ANP on Friday.
Jorritsma played 65 international matches as a hockey player and participated in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal and the 1978 World Cup in Buenos Aires. During the World Cup he caused a stir by not receiving the silver medal from the Argentine dictator Jorge Videla during the ceremony.
As a hockey coach, Jorritsma won the European Championship in 1987 and the World Cup in 1990 with the Dutch men. The Dutch team took bronze at the 1988 Olympic Games. Jorritsma won another gold medal as a coach at the World Cup in 1994, this time with Pakistan. The Netherlands was defeated in the final.
Team manager Orange
After his period in hockey, Jorritsma left for the sports association NOC*NSF, where he started working as a technical advisor to chef de mission André Bolhuis. He ended his career in sports at the KNVB as team manager of the Dutch football team. He held that position from 1996 to 2017. During that period, the Netherlands finished second (2010), third (2014) and fourth (1998) at the World Cup.
“I have always enjoyed the teams I have been involved with, regardless of win or loss. Winning alone always made coming home a little easier,” was one of the statements made by Jorritsma, who was appointed a member of merit by the hockey association KNHB after the world title in 1990.