© BELGIUM
The Belgian hockey association announced on Thursday that Michel van den Heuvel will not continue as national coach of the Red Lions after the Olympic Games in Paris (July 26-August 11). The 59-year-old Dutchman took over from New Zealander Shane McLeod after the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
The Dutch top club Bloemendaal announced in a press release on Thursday that Van den Heuvel will be their new T1 next season. He says goodbye to the Belgian federation, which has already started its search for a replacement. “But currently the focus is entirely on preparing for the Olympic Games in Paris,” the association emphasized.
“Our main objective with the Red Lions is to succeed in defending our 2021 Olympic title in Paris 2024,” Van den Heuvel said in a statement. “This means that I, together with my entire staff and group of players, want to put all my energy and focus into that objective over the next five and a half months. Today’s announcement has no influence on this in any way.”
© BELGIUM
Van den Heuvel became national coach of the Belgian hockey men in September 2021. Previously, he had been a member of the technical staff since November 2015. As T1, he led the Lions to silver at the World Cup in India last year and bronze at the European Championships in Mönchengladbach, Germany. In January, the Belgian men qualified for the Paris Games at the qualifying tournament in Valencia.