Sydney Van Der Merwe

Sydney Van Der Merwe is the DI Head Field Hockey Coach at Sacred Heart University.

Sydney Van Der Merwe took over the Pioneer field hockey program prior to the 2016 season coming to SHU with nearly 15 years of field hockey experience.

Before SHU:

• Came to Sacred Heart after spending the previous two season as an assistant coach at Missouri State, where he helped execute practices and game preparations, including scouting the opposition. He also assisted in all aspects of recruiting and student-athlete development. During the fall of 2013, he assumed the responsibilities of the Head Coach while she was on maternity leave
• Prior to MSU, Van Der Merwe served as the Head Varsity Coach at the Hathaway Brown School for four years helping the Blazers to four straight North East Ohio Championships. In just his second season, he led Hathaway Brown all the way to the 2008 Ohio State Championship, followed by a pair of State semi-final appearances before falling in the title game in 2011
• Van Der Merwe first broke into American collegiate field hockey as an assistant coach at Oberlin College in 2006 helping with recruitment, team practice and creating pre-season training programs
• Since he left Oberlin, Van der Merwe has been coaching with USA Field Hockey's Futures Program. In 2009 and 2010, he led his U16 Region 9 Team to back-to-back National Futures Championships