‘Dutchies’ Help River Hawks Reach New Heights in Field Hockey

UMass Lowell field hockey player Alissia de Vries heard the Dutch phrase, meaning “You played well,” from an opponent after scoring a goal in the River Hawks’ recent 3-0 win over Northeastern University at Wicked Blue Field.

It’s not unusual for de Vries, who is from The Hague, Netherlands, to hear her native language spoken on the field hockey pitch: The senior tri-captain is one of seven Dutch players on the UML roster this season, and there are scores of Netherlands natives playing collegiately across the country.

“Being far away from home, it’s really nice to know there’s other girls on the team that have the same story as you and speak your language,” says de Vries, a biomedical engineering major who was named to the America East Conference’s All-Academic Team last season.

UML’s six other “Dutchies,” as they call themselves, are graduate student Berbel Rozema ’23, senior tri-captain Mirthe Gans, sophomores Meike Vischer and Isabelle Halters, and first-year students Marie Oliemans and Florine Gerrits.

They comprise nearly one-third of a UML team that is off to the program’s best start at the Division I level. The River Hawks began October at 9-2 overall (2-0 in America East) and are nationally ranked for the first time ever at No. 20. Their only losses have come on the road against then-top-ranked Iowa (which has four Dutch players) and then-No. 11 St. Joseph’s (which has five Dutch players). 

“We’re in a really good place right now,” says Coach Shannon LeBlanc ’98, who led the River Hawks to Division II national championships in 2005 and 2010. “We have great leadership from our seniors and fifth-years, and our younger players really came prepared this season.”

LeBlanc began recruiting international players when the program jumped to Division I in 2013. She started in Australia and Belgium before turning to the Netherlands, where field hockey trails only soccer in popularity and many kids pick up a stick by age 6. They typically play on the same water-based artificial turf (which is dampened by sprinklers to allow for faster play) that’s used in NCAA competition.

“Because they’ve been playing for so long on the proper surface, they usually come in more prepared for the collegiate game than our American players,” says LeBlanc, who made goaltender Eva Berkhout ’20 her first Dutch recruit in 2016.

LeBlanc has since traveled to the Netherlands three times to attend showcase tournaments put on by recruiting agencies that match international athletes with college programs in the U.S. 

That’s how she met Rozema, a midfielder from Rotterdam who was named to the America East All-Rookie Team in 2019.

“All my life, I thought I would be going to college in the Netherlands, but I talked to Shannon after the showcase and it was a great match from the start. We had the same vision,” says Rozema, who earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology last spring and is now pursuing an MBA. (She has a fifth year of eligibility this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.)

LeBlanc helps integrate international players into the team by having them live with U.S.-born teammates, who can help them get acclimated to Lowell and invite them home for holidays.

“They are truly immersed in American culture, and our Americans get to experience living with people from a different country,” says LeBlanc, whose team also includes junior Maxine Van Havere of Belgium. 

Gans, a midfielder from the Dutch town of Tiel, agrees.

“Everyone is learning from each other, which is really cool to see,” says Gans, a psychology major who was named America East Second Team last season.

If the Dutchies ever feel homesick, they know where to turn.

“You always have your own customs from home that you can share with each other,” says Rozema, who notes that on the Dutch national holiday of King’s Day, on April 27, they wear orange, their national color.

De Vries considers herself a team “mom” to younger players.

“It’s nice being able to talk to your Dutch girls, especially during your sophomore year when school gets harder and the pressure is a little higher,” she says.

Gerrits, a first-year midfielder and computer science major from Amstelveen, a suburb of Amsterdam, values the guidance.

“This is a big place, and I have to get used to so many things,” she says. “It’s nice to be part of a team so I don’t have to figure everything out myself.”

While the Dutch players enjoy being able to speak their native language with one another, LeBlanc has an “unspoken rule” that players use only English during practice and games “so everyone feels included.” 

“I try to give them some grace because when I give them directions in English, they think in Dutch and then process it over,” says LeBlanc, who will occasionally hear some “colorful” Dutch words on the field.

“Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, words don’t come as quickly in English, so I’ll yell out in Dutch. But I try to keep it minimal,” Gans says with a laugh.

Senior back Aurisse Tattrie, who is tri-captain with de Vries and Gans, appreciates the fresh perspective that the Dutch players bring to the team.

“In high school, we don’t learn a lot about the structure and tactics that they do. And when you get to the Division I level, that’s what it’s all about,” says Tattrie, a criminal justice major from Watertown, Massachusetts, who hopes to visit the Netherlands with the team’s seniors next summer.

With first-ever wins against UMass Amherst and Maine under their belt and a national ranking next to their name, the River Hawks have already accomplished a lot this year. But they have more in mind.

“We're definitely raising the bar,” Gans says. “We want to host the America East championship this year.”

After graduation, Berbel and Gans plan to continue playing field hockey professionally back in the Netherlands.

“It’s going to be a great asset to show that I’ve played here on a high level,” Gans says.

“That’s been my dream since the start, and then this adventure came,” Berbel adds. “I have developed myself here so much more. I came in as a girl, and I leave as a woman due to all the opportunities that have been given to me here.”

De Vries, meanwhile, is looking ahead to medical school, perhaps in Boston.

“UMass Lowell feels like home. I’ve known my roommates for four years, and I get sad when I don’t see them over the summer,” she says. “I really like it here in the U.S.”