Sacred Heart University

Sydney Van Der Merwe has been the head coach of the Sacred Heart University field hockey team since 2016, bringing nearly 15 years of prior coaching experience to the program.
 
Van Der Merwe led the Pioneers to the Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship in 2023, marking the program's second NEC title.  
 
Before joining SHU, Van Der Merwe served as an assistant coach at Missouri State University from 2013 to 2015, where he was instrumental in practice execution, game preparation, and recruiting. During the fall of 2013, he assumed head coaching responsibilities while the head coach was on maternity leave.
 
Prior to his tenure at Missouri State, Van Der Merwe was the head varsity coach at Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, from 2008 to 2012. Under his leadership, the Blazers achieved a 61-11-4 record, securing four consecutive North East Ohio Championships and winning the Ohio State Championship in 2008.
 
Van Der Merwe began his U.S. collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Oberlin College in 2006, contributing to recruitment and training programs. He has also been involved with USA Field Hockey's Futures Program, leading his U16 Region 9 Team to back-to-back National Futures Championships in 2009 and 2010.
 
Internationally, Van Der Merwe served as high performance director and assistant athletics director at Krugersdorp High School in South Africa from 2004 to 2007. He also coached with Hockey Wales in Cardiff, UK, and began his coaching career at St. Leonard's School in Brighton, Australia, from 2000 to 2002.
 
Van Der Merwe earned a Bachelor of Applied Science in sport and physical education from Cardiff Metropolitan University in 2004.
 
Beyond his coaching responsibilities, Van Der Merwe has served in several prestigious committee roles within the field hockey community, including:
•              2022 - 2025 NFHCA Senior Game Committee
•              2022 - 2025 NFHCA Mid East Chairman
•              2022 - 2025 NFHCA All-American Committee
•              2022 - 2026 NCAA Championship Committee
•              2019 - 2021 Mid East All-American Committee
•              2017 - 2020 NCAA Championship Sub-Committee
•              2017 - 2019 NEC Chairman