2012 Olympics: Who Are The LGBT Athletes? Day Twenty-Three — Carlien Dirkse van den Heuvel

Field Hockey was first played at English Schools in the 19th Century. It first appeared at a Summer Olympics in 1908. It was then dropped until 1920 and again until 1928. From 1928 to the present it has been a favorite Summer Olympic sport. In countries that don’t play Ice hockey, it is simply known as Hockey.

Carlien Dirkse van den Heuvel, was born April 16, 1987 in S-Hertogenbosch. The 25-year-old Forward  for the Netherlands’ Women’s Field Hockey team is a Physiotherapy student at Hogeschool, Utrecht. She plays for Stichtsche Cricket and Hockey Club [SCHC], of Bilthoven, Netherlands.

Carlien is one of four out and proud athletes on the Dutch National Hockey team, including Kim Lammers, Marilyn Agliotti and team captain  Maartje Paumen. Carlien and Maartje are currently in a relationship.

The Netherlands’ national women’s field hockey team is currently number one on The International Hockey Federation’s (FIH) world rankings and they are the 2006 winners of  The Hockey Champions Trophy, FIH’s most prestigious annual event. They are the  most successful team in World Cup history, having won the title six times. They have played in the last seven Olympic Games and have two golds, one silver and three bronze medals. They arrived in London as reigning champions.

In this, Carlie’s first Olympics competition, she has helped The Netherlands sweep their competition by scoring a goal against Korea on August 4 and a goal against Great Britain on Aug 6th. She speaks English and Dutch; so you can wish her luck in Friday’s gold medal game against Argentina on her Facebook page.

 

 Stuart Wilber is a Seattle activist who skipped classes in high school to watch the McCarthy– Army Hearings. Having seen it get better and worse and better again over the years, he continues to hope he will experience full federal equality in his lifetime. *Photo by Mathew Ryan Williams