Netherlands: Tigges leaves Germany: ‘Finishing the season was my preference’

‘I’m sitting here in the middle of moving boxes,’ laughs Robert Tigges (40), as he calls from his apartment in Hamburg. At the end of March, after a year and a half, he is moving back to Amsterdam to become Raoul Ehren’s assistant with the Dutch national team. ‘The rent on my house, my lease car, my Internet, my health insurance and my gas, water and electricity…,’ the former Amsterdam coach lists the long list of things he has had to cancel these weeks. Not only his job, but practically his entire life is changing. For the past year and a half he has lived in Germany, where until recently he was coach of Hamburger Polo Club, a top club in German men’s field hockey.

He would have preferred to finish the season with Hamburg, but suddenly everything changed. In October, when the appointment of Raoul Ehren as national coach of the Dutch national team was completed, he was approached by the KNHB and asked if he was open to a role as assistant national coach. Of course I was open to that. But at the same time I wanted to remain loyal to Hamburg and finish the season,’ says Tigges, who after consultation reached an agreement with the KNHB. On June 1 he would join the field hockey association. Sjoerd Marijne – former national team coach of Orange – was found willing to fill the role of assistant national team coach on an interim basis until then.

‘In fact, everything was complete. But a few weeks later the club’s management turned out to have a different vision on how to proceed. I wanted to finish the season, but the club decided it was better to do it differently. Of course that was unfortunate, but I respect the decision that was taken. The cooperation was always pleasant and I had a fantastic time,” says Tigges, who will now start his job during the second half of the season.

‘After Amsterdam I was looking for another incentive, I found it here’

Tigges, who as a player for Rotterdam and Amsterdam was active in the big league for many years, focused on coaching after his playing career. At the KNHB he was, among other things, manager and national coach of Dutch U18 boys and assistant and national coach of the Dutch indoor hockey men. In addition, he was head coach of Amsterdam Ladies 1 for four seasons. After winning the Euro Hockey League (2022) and the national title (2023), the time was ripe for another adventure and he made the move to German men’s field hockey. At Hamburg he trained several Olympians over the past year and a half, including Germans Paul-Philipp Kaufmann and Mathias Müller, as well as Australians Tim Brand and Tom Craig.

He looks back on a great adventure in Germany, Tigges said. The first season under his leadership, Hamburg finished second, after losing the final in the playoffs on shoot-outs. This year, Hamburg went into the winter as the frontrunner. ‘After Amsterdam, I was looking for another incentive. I found that here. The culture here is so different from Holland. Also in field hockey. Just the fact that you play weekly double weekends here, where you play both Saturday and Sunday, is something I learned from as a coach. You have to think carefully about when you travel, because it requires a different way of planning. It really forces you to think differently about how you schedule everything and how you train. That was refreshing for me.

As a player, Robert Tigges was Mister Indoor Hockey. Photo: Koen Suyk

‘Raoul and I complement each other well’.

Tigges is looking forward to getting to work with Ehren, the former success coach of Den Bosch, with whom he fought great matches with Amsterdam. ‘We are different types. But that’s exactly what makes it interesting. Raoul looks calm and quiet, I am perhaps more emotional and can add that. Tactically, of course, we fought great matches. In that area we know each other well and I will support and challenge Raoul in my way to be of value for the development of the team. I think we complement each other well because of that.’

It will be a nice challenge to keep the reigning Olympic champion at the top, he states. ‘I believe I can do my part in that. It also seems incredibly interesting to develop myself further and broaden my horizons now with international field hockey. Experiencing the Olympics seems very cool to me. But that is still far away. We’re just going to have a good time first.’