Eighteen European players have been named on the shortlist of 30 for the six separate categories of the 2024 FIH Stars awards announced this morning.
On the women’s shortlist are Yibbi Jansen and Xan de Waard from the all-conquering Dutch side who won Olympic gold and the FIH Pro League while Belgium’s Stéphanie Vanden Borre gets her first nod. Should the latter win, she would be the first ever Red Panther to take the award.
On the men’s side, Dutch captain Thierry Brinkman and defender Joep de Mol are looking to add to their stellar year which brought gold in Paris in August.
Germany’s Hannes Müller and England’s Zach Wallace are also on the shortlist of five players along with 2021 and 2022 winner, India’s Harmanpreet Singh.
The goalkeeper awards are similarly packed with Euro players. The women’s list of five has Aisling D’Hooghe (Belgium), Nathalie Kubalski (Germany) and Anne Veenendaal (Netherlands).
The men’s keeper awards feature Pirmin Blaak (Netherlands), Luis Calzado (Spain) and Jean-Paul Danneberg (Germany).
In the Rising Star section, Belgium’s Emily White and Linnea Weidemann from Germany are on the women’s lists while the men’s one has Spain’s Bruno Font, Germany’s Michel Struthoff and Belgium’s Arno Van Dessel.
The list of nominees was established by an expert panel composed of players, coaches and officials selected by each of their continental federations.
The expert panel was provided access to match data from all international matches held in 2024, including test matches, the Pro League, FIH Hockey Nations Cups, FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers and the Olympic Games Paris 2024 before establishing the final list of nominees.
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The voting process is now open! National Associations – represented by their respective national teams’ captains and coaches -, fans, players, coaches, officials and media can register their vote until 11 October.
The votes of the Expert Panel count for 40% of the overall result. Those from National Associations count for a further 20%. The fans and other players (20%) as well as the media (20%) will make the remaining 40%.
Fans and players can cast their vote here.
Media can cast their vote here.
