Aymar, Van As & Dwyer named WorldHockey Players of the Year 2009
Eastham & Jackson named WorldHockey Young Players of the Year 2009
Argentina's Luciana Aymar, The Netherlands' Naomi van As and Jamie Dwyer of Australia have been named as the WorldHockey Players of the Year 2009. While Dwyer grabbed his third title as best men's hockey player of the world, Aymar and Van As received exactly the same number of votes in the women's player of the year.
Australian Casey Eastham and England's Ashley Jackson received the WorldHockey Young Player of the Year 2009 awards.
Van As has had a brilliant year with the Dutch national team, being the leading player of the Olympic and World Champion in 2009. The Netherlands won the European Championship in August of this year, with Van As being named as the best player of the tournament.
For Aymar, it is an amazing sixth WorldHockey Player of the Year award following her wins in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008.
Dwyer also added another Player of the Year title to his impressive record as a one of the true stars of the game. The Australian striker had previously been named as the world's best player in 2004 and 2007. Dwyer takes over as the title holder from Spanish attacker Pol Amat, who was also a nominee for this year's event.
It was no surprise that Casey Eastham was crowned as women's WorldHockey Young Player of the Year. Eastham, who turned 20 this year, played outstandingly at the Samsung Champions Trophy, proving to be one of the leading players in the Australian national team.
Ashley Jackson became the first English winner of a WorldHockey Player of the Year award. Jackson (22) led his team to the European Championship title in August 2009 and is one of the British hopes for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Both men's winners received their awards from FIH President Leandro Negre during the ABN AMRO Champions Trophy in Melbourne, Australia this weekend. The women's winners will receive their awards during one of their next international matches.
You can find updated information about all of these players by visiting the Player Profile section of this website.
Past winners WorldHockey Player of the Year Award:
Men
1998 Stephan Veen (NED)
1999 Jay Stacy (AUS)
2000 Stephan Veen (NED)
2001 Florian Kunz (GER)
2002 Michael Green (GER)
2003 Teun de Nooijer (NED)
2004 Jamie Dwyer (AUS)
2005 Teun de Nooijer (NED)
2006 Teun de Nooijer (NED)
2007 Jamie Dwyer (AUS)
2008 Pol Amat (ESP)
2009 Jamie Dwyer (AUS)
Women
1998 Alyson Annan (AUS)
1999 Natascha Keller (GER)
2000 Alyson Annan (AUS)
2001 Luciana Aymar (ARG)
2002 Cecilia Rognoni (ARG)
2003 Mijntje Donners (NED)
2004 Luciana Aymar(ARG)
2005 Luciana Aymar (ARG)
2006 Minke Booij (NED)
2007 Luciana Aymar (ARG)
2008 Luciana Aymar (ARG)
2009 Luciana Aymar (ARG) & Naomi van As (NED)
Young Men
2001 Tibor Weissenborn (GER)
2002 Jamie Dwyer (AUS)
2003 Grant Schubert (AUS)
2004 Santi Freixa (ESP)
2005 Robert van der Horst (NED)
2006 Christopher Zeller (GER)
2007 Mark Knowles (AUS)
2008 Eddie Ockenden (AUS)
2009 Ashley Jackson (ENG)
Young Women
2001 Angie Skirving (AUS)
2002 Soledad Garcia (ARG)
2003 Maartje Scheepstra (NED)
2004 Soledad Garcia (ARG)
2005 Maartje Goderie (NED)
2006 Mi Hyun Park (KOR)
2007 Maike Stockel (GER)
2008 Maartje Paumen (NED)
2009 Casey Eastham (AUS
