Hattrick heroes: penalty corner cannon Mink van der Weerden

Mink van der Weerden was the goal-scoring machine of Eindhoven hockey stronghold Oranje Zwart and later Oranje-Rood for many years. The Brabant-born defender from Geldrop shot so often hard and cleanly from top of the D that, with 256 goals, he is still one of the best shooters of all time in the Tulp Hoofdklasse Men. Only six players scored more often in the past 52 years.

Van der Weerden registered his first Hoofdklasse goal in the 2005-2006 season. He was then an A-junior and got playing minutes in first team at the end of the season. On 12 March, he fired his first goal from a penalty corner during the 8-1 win over city rival Eindhoven.

The 2013-14 season was the best season for the down-to-earth, no-nonsense defender. With his 36 goals, he had a major share in the Eindhoven club's second ever national title, after the first in 2004-2005 season. It was the start of a short period of success with two more national titles (in 2014-2015 and 2015-2016) as well as the high-profile win of the EuroHockey League in 2015 on the Bloemendaal pitch.

Van der Weerden produced 19 hat-tricks in his premier league career: 15 for Oranje Zwart and four with Oranje-Rood. On 19 April 2015 he had the day of his life: he scored a double hat-trick in Oranje Zwart's home match against HGC and had a major share in his team's 8-3 victory with six goals.

Since that day, Van der Weerden belongs to the select company of 11 players who have scored at least six times in one premier league game. Jip Janssen last joined that group in 2023, which further includes Paul Litjens (six goals), Ties Kruize (eleven), Roderik Bouwman (six), Taco van den Honert (six), Jacques Brinkman (six), Ronald Brouwers (six), Christopher Zeller (seven), Roderick Weusthof (six) and Taeke Taekema (six).

Previously published in this series:
Hattrick heroes: the devastating shot of Patty Mundt