Van der Horst, Welten win 2015 FIH Player of the Year awards

The Netherlands Robert Van der Horst and Lidewij Welten today won the men's and women's International Hockey Federation (FIH) Player of the Year awards, respectively, for their performances in 2015.
It was a hat-trick of awards for The Netherlands as Joyce Sombroek also bagged the women's Goalkeeper of the Year for the second year in a row.
Ireland's David Harte, meanwhile, claimed the men's Goalkeeper of the Year award.
The Rising Star of the Year awards went to Great Britain's Lily Owsley (women) and Germany's Chrisopher Ruhr (men), the latter picking up this award for the second time in his career.

The winners of this year's FIH Hockey Stars were decided by the combined results from online votes, which was open to everyone, and a peer vote from international athletes.
Netherlands captain Horst, who picked up the FIH Rising Star of the Year award 10 years ago, has played exceptionally well throughout 2015.

While the 31-year-old consistently came up with impressive performances at the Argentina Hockey World League Semi-Final and Hero Hockey World League Final, one of the highlights of last year came in August when he led his team to the EuroHockey Championships title in London.
His compatriot, Netherlands midfielder Welten, continued to impress for the women's team with her attacking flair and skills. Her ability to turn matches continues to contribute to the Netherlands dominance in women's international hockey.

The women's team won the FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Final, finished runners up at the EuroHockey Championships and came fifth in the Argentina Hockey World League Final.
Another hugely influential player in the FIH world number one ranked team is goalkeeper Sombroek. With someone as reliable as Sombroek standing at the last line of the Netherlands defence, the remainder of the team plays with huge confidence. Her dominance in the Dutch goal helped her team reach Rio Olympics, where they will aim to become the first women's hockey team to win three consecutive Olympic titles.
Harte's performances in the FINTRO Hockey World League

Semi-Final ensured Ireland get to Rio and his own position as best goalkeeper in that tournament. It was an accolade that he picked up again at the EuroHockey Championships 2015 when Ireland won a bronze medal, the country's first medal at a major international event.
Women's Rising Star of the Year award winner Lily Owsley emerged as a potent strike force for her teams in 2015.
Picked in the first instance for her speed, Owsley has now added skill, creativity and tactical know-how to her arsenal. She played an important role in England's EuroHockey Champions victory by scoring the goal, which took England to shoot-out in the final, which they went on to win.

Since he first wowed the fans with his speed and skill at the Junior Hockey World Cup in 2013, taking the FIH Rising Star of the Year award that same year, Germany's Ruhr has not looked back.
He was an integral part of the German team that won silver in last year's EuroHockey Championship, and was also named Man of the Match in the final of the Argentina Hockey World League Semi-Final in Buenos Aires, and was also joint top scorer at that event.
Speaking about the awards, FIH President, Leandro Negre, said: "Congratulations to Lidewij, Robert, Joyce, David, Lily and Christopher who rightly deserve this global recognition for their consistently exceptional performances during 2015.

"The ambition of the Hockey Revolution, our ten-year strategy for hockey, is to make it a global game that inspires the next generation. These athletes are making this ambition a reality through their stellar performances on the pitch and their commitment to growing the game of it. I hope they use these awards to drive others to achieve excellence and in doing so inspire the next generation of athletes coming into our sport," he added.
Players will be presented with their awards in their respective home countries over the coming weeks.
Along with these recognitions, the FIH will also be awarding the Coach of the Year and Umpire of the Year awards as part of Hockey Stars 2015, which will be announced tomorrow.