Welcome to the Field Hockey School
Welcome to FHS, a venture from Coach Rutger Wiese.
We're excited about the opportunity to work with you and your team at an upcoming camp or clinic.
What to Know
We're currently scheduling summer and fall 2022 dates for camps, clinics, and lessons. All sessions will be conducted in accordance with state and local COVID-19 regulations. Your safety is our top priority.
Our Story
Years ago, we started playing field hockey at a club in the northern part of The Netherlands, a country known for having some of the toughest competition in the world. We’ve been coaching and playing the sport ever since, and we bring our passion and experience to every camp and clinic.
Our Mission
We aim to provide players with superior field hockey training and competitive opportunities that will aid in their growth as athletes. Improving takes a lot of work, so we challenge our players to get better—while having a bit of fun, too!
Our Values
Leadership, integrity, and teamwork are the foundation of everything we do. We value sportsmanship on and off the field, and we work to instill those attributes in all of the players we coach.
Our Approach
We're ready to customize our coaching and training to fit your program's needs — no matter what you're currently working on. Our primary focus is on team-based drills, and we're available to support coaches along the way, too.
Our Team
Rutger Wiese
Founder & Head Coach
Rutger Wiese has extensively coached with youth, collegiate, and national teams in the United States and the Netherlands for more than two decades, and his playing career includes six major championships in Europe.
Wiese served as the head coach of the USA Men’s National Team from 2017 to 2020 after contributing to the program since 2013 as an assistant coach and team manager. As head coach, Wiese implemented short- and long-term high-performance plans from the junior to senior levels, developed regional high-performance training centers, and achieved national and international success for the program. On the field, Team USA qualified for five tournaments, resulting in three bronze medals (World League round 2 in Trinidad & Tobago, 2017; the Pan American Cup in Lancaster, PA, 2017; and the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, 2019); one gold medal (World Series first round in Mexico, 2018) and an honorable semi-final (World Series Finals in India, 2019). Additionally, under his tenure, the team climbed the world rankings and posted wins against several higher-ranked opponents: France, South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Russia, and tied against countries like Canada and Japan.
In 2017, Wiese implemented USA Field Hockey's Junior National Program, which after three years, now has U16, U18, and U21 men's teams that compete year-round. Under his direction, the U21 team won series against Canada (first time since 2011) and Chile (first time since the 1990s. Importantly, more than 10 athletes have earned international caps with the senior team due to the success of this program.
Wiese coached for more than a decade in collegiate Division I and II programs. He served as an assistant coach with the Harvard Crimson for four seasons (2012-2015). In 2014 and 2015, the program posted its first pair of winning seasons since 2003 and 2004. During his tenure with the Crimson, 12 student-athletes picked up All-Ivy League accolades.
Prior to Harvard, he was the head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2003-2009), where he posted a 96-39 record, ranking him first in career wins and winning percentage for the program. His tenure at IUP included three NCAA Division II Final Four appearances, the first PSAC championship in school history (2007), along with 19 players for 31 All-Conference selections, 11 players for 18 All-America selections, and one NCAA Division II Player-of-the-Year (2005).
Before IUP, he served as the head coach of the Dutch District North team, as the assistant coach for the Dutch National Girls U17 team, and as the coach for a top-level Dutch women’s club team.
As a player, Wiese has a wealth of international experience. He played as a defender at H.C. Bloemendaal, a major league team in his native, The Netherlands. With Bloemendaal, he won three Netherlands national championships (1999, 2000, 2002), a European championship (2001), and a European silver medal (2000). In 2010, he won the Scottish national indoor championship with Menzieshill H.C.
In 2003, Rutger founded RutgerSports and grew the company into one of the premier field hockey camp providers in the United States. In 2021, Rutger launched The Field Hockey School with the purpose of training athletes and coaches into top-caliber competitors.