U.S. National Teams Add Key Individuals to Support Staffs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Field Hockey is pleased to announce two new additions to the U.S. National Teams High Performance support staffs. Brendan Creed has been appointed the U.S. Men’s National Team’s High Performance Coach and Bert Remmerswaal the U.S. Women’s National Team’s Assistant Coach.

Creed, a native of Solihull, England, was an athlete for England and Great Britain Hockey from 2015 to 2024 and accumulated a total of 144 international caps. He competed in various test series and 4 Nations events as well as FIH Hockey World Leagues. He played in two Commonwealth Games (2018 Bronze, 2022 Bronze); five editions of the FIH Hockey Pro League, finishing second in the 2022-23 season; and four EuroHockey Championships (2017 Bronze, 2019, 2021, 2023 Silver). Creed is a Tokyo 2020 Olympian and helped lead Great Britain to a fifth place finish.

With his depth of knowledge from playing and his proven communication skills, Creed started coaching in 2006 working with the junior age groups at Bowdon HC where he grew up. Whilst being a student himself, he navigated university as a player and a coach ultimately ending up as part of a 3-man player-coach team working with a BUCS Premier winning team between 2011 and 2015. He continued his journey into Europe where he spent a season at Harvestehuder THC where he won an Euro Hockey League bronze. He went on to play and coach at Surbiton Hockey Club in Thames Ditton, England for eight years from 2016 to 2024, working across both men’s and women’s senior teams. More recently, he spent the last year back at his boyhood club, Bowdon HC, aiding in their quest to stay in the English Premier league and looking at how to restructure coaching plans, training session design, video analysis and overall improving the standards and behaviors exhibited in a performance environment.

Creed is a USA Field Hockey Level 1 and 3 Certified Coach.

“I am extremely excited to welcome Brendan Creed to the U.S Men’s National Team staff as our new performance coach,” commented Allan Law, USMNT Head Coach. “Brendan brings a wealth of experience at the highest level, having represented both England and Great Britain with distinction, including on the Olympic stage. His firsthand understanding of what it takes to compete and succeed as an Olympian will be a tremendous asset to our athletes as they pursue their own Olympic ambitions.”

“Brendan’s experience as a member of Great Britain’s centralized program offers invaluable insight as we continue to build and refine our own centralized training environment in Charlotte, N.C. His familiarity with the demands, structure, and benefits of that model will directly support our progression and long-term development goals.”

“Beyond his playing career, Brendan has shown a deep passion and unwavering commitment to the growth of the game. His dedication to the long-term success of our program, both on and off the field, will strengthen our high-performance culture and help elevate our team to the next level.”

Remmerswaal joins the women’s staff with a lengthy coaching background from his time in The Netherlands. In 2006, he started coaching the youth U-14, U-16 and U-18 teams at Westfriese Hockey Club, Alkmaar Mixed Hockey Club and Pinoké and was involved for 8 years. In August 2013 and for a year, he shifted to be the technical manager of the Bishops Biocesan College, the English boarding and day high school for boys, in Cape Town, South Africa. There he was responsible for the education of all coaches. He transitioned back to Pinoké in the Amsterdam for the next four years where he was the lead coach of the JO16 team. He led that squad to indoor national titles in 2017 and 2018 and an outdoor championship in 2018.

From August 2017 to July 2020, Remmerswaal was the assistant coach of the men’s first team at Almeerse Hockey Club in Almere, Netherlands. He was responsible for leading the on-field sessions and doing video analysis internally and of opponents. Under his leadership, the squad stayed within the Men’s Hoofdklasse Hockey, the top Dutch field hockey league, for three seasons. Remmerswaal shifted clubs in August 2020 and become the women’s first team assistant coach at the Stichtsche Cricket and Hockey Club (SCHC) in Bilthoven, Netherlands. Here he helped lead the team to three consecutive silver medal finishes in the Women’s Hoofdklasse Hockey in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and gold at the 2023 indoors and 2022 and 2023 Gold Cup.

Remmerswaal became the head coach of the men’s first team at Amsterdam based club, Xenios.

Remmerswaal is an FIH Level 3 Certified Coach. Since 2016 he has been a staff education consultant with SportWays Hockey Camps in the Amsterdam.

“I have known Bert as a coach for some time and he is highly regarded in The Netherlands,” commented David Passmore, USWNT Head Coach. “He was the coach with SCHC, one of the premier Hoftaklasse teams with some of the best players in the world like Xan De Waard and Yibbie Yansen, both world players of the year. Bert joined us for our trip to New Zealand and the athletes responded well to his coaching style. Importantly the way he thinks about the game really compliments and supports my own in terms of giving players freedom to play within principles.”