Cees Koppelaar

Cees Koppelaar
Born	Cornelis Maarten Koppelaar[1] 28 August 1939 Sliedrecht, Netherlands
Died	26 April 2021 (aged 81) Akersloot, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Occupation(s)	Athlete trainer coach

Cornelis Maarten "Cees" Koppelaar (28 August 1939 – 26 April 2021) was a Dutch athlete, trainer and coach.

Koppelaar was a Dutch athlete who made it to the national team in the 800 metres and 4 × 400 metres relay. However, he had his best successes as trainer and coach. He was trainer of the athletics national team, several field hockey teams (SCHC and HC Bloemendaal) and football teams (Ajax,^[2] RKC Waalwijk). He trained main Dutch sportsmen including footballers Johan Cruijff, Marco van Basten and field hockey players Teun de Nooijer and Floris Jan Bovelander. He became also coach of HC Bloemendaal and the Ireland men's national field hockey team.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Before joining the Ajax training and coaching team, he acted as a trainer for the national team in the 800 and 4x400 meter sports. He eventually became head coach for the Bloemendaal hockey club after being a long time running trainer there. Koppelaar was married to Willeke, who he first met while conducting coaching on the Jan Blankers athletic track.^[8]

Koppelaar died on 26 April 2021, aged 81.^[3]

References

1. "Archiefkaarten: Cornelis Maarten Koppelaar". Archief Amsterdam. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
2. "Voormalig looptrainer Cees Koppelaar (81) overleden". ajax.nl. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
3. "Looptrainer en duizendpoot Cees Koppelaar (81) overleden". nos.nl. 27 April 2021.
4. "Looptrainer Cees Koppelaar is overleden". April 28, 2021.
5. "Looptrainer van Johan Cruijff én Teun de Nooijer-ontdekker Cees Koppelaar (81) overleden". Telegraaf. April 27, 2021.
6. "Voormalig looptrainer Koppelaar van Ajax overleden". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
7. "Irish hockey mourns loss of former men's national coach Cees Koppelaar". independent.ie. 28 April 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
8. "Ajax-looptrainer Cees Koppelaar (1939-2021) dacht te sterven in het harnas". 30 April 2021.