Goalgetters: Wietske de Ruiter, nonchalant but effective

During her active career, De Ruiter was not considered the fastest striker women's hockey ever saw, but she was one of the most prolific attackers of her generation. There have been few strikers in Hoofdklasse history who scored as easily as she did. After nine seasons in HGC's shirt from 1987 to 1996, the counter stopped at 192 goals.

Anyone looking at De Ruiter's statistics will immediately see that one season stands out: the 1991-1992 season, when she scored no fewer than 46 goals in a league match, equalling team-mate Lisanne Lejeune's record from 1985-1986, which was considered unattainable. She did so by scoring three goals or more in ten of the 22 games, something no one else ever repeated.

Place at risk
There is another nice story attached to her record series. De Ruiter suffered a major setback midway through the season. Despite fourteen goals in her first ten league games, she lost her place in the Dutch team to national coach Roelant Oltmans, who wanted to see her do more dirty work as a striker. In fact, Oltmans thought De Ruiter was too lazy.

De Ruiter herself preferred to call it nonchalant. 'But as a striker, I did have an unerring feel for where the ball would end up and often had the composure to technically execute what I had in my head. I scored a lot that way around the penalty spot.'

The timing of the break with Oranje came at an awkward time for De Ruiter, with the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona looming. It was HGC coach Hans Jorritsma who helped De Ruiter out of the doldrums with a personal goal. 'Hans pointed me delicately to Lisanne's record number of goals from 1985-1986,' De Ruiter said in an interview with Hockey.nl a few years ago. 'He said I had it in me to reach that number too. If I succeeded, he would treat me to a luxury champagne lunch. The hunt for that record gave me the right focus at that moment. I wanted to do everything possible to claw my way back into the national team and get to the 1992 Games in Barcelona.'

De Ruiter succeeded in her mission with the equalling of the record, earning her spot back in Oranje, with which, incidentally, she experienced a completely unsuccessful Games in Barcelona. Four years later, things went much better. Then the Dutch women left the Atlanta Games with a bronze medal. De Ruiter ended her Oranje career in the United States with impressive figures: 97 goals in 135 international matches.

Eerder verschenen in deze serie:
Het eeuwige record van Lisanne Lejeune
Caia van Maasakker, de stille kracht van SCHC
Het unieke wapen van Ageeth Boomgaardt