LEGENDARY LAWRENCE OF SEREMBAN HAS PASSED ON

Lawrence van Huizen, a legendary hockey Olympian and coach passed away this morning in Seremban. He was 89 years old. Lawrence's name is synonymous in the hockey family. His impact still carries on with his son Stephen Van Huizen who is the national hockey team manager and his grandson, Joel Samuel, is in the national team. His contributions to hockey is immense and we are forever indebted to him.

Deepest condolences to his family and may his soul rest in peace and the Lord grant him eternal rest.

You will always be remembered dear Lawrence whom I have known for 40 years and wrote numerous stories on him. The NST Editorial hockey team were sparring partners in many friendly matches when Lawrence was coaching the women's team. A very respected man and I am going to miss him.

Below is an article written by me and Sathsivam five years ago and another on Lawrence and William Fidelis who were pillars of St Paul’s as hockey institution.

NS Hockey Association inducted Lawrence (seated right) and William Fidelis (next to Lawrence)  into their Hall of Fame a few years ago. Seen here with the women's hockey team he had coached for many years and Satwant Singh Dhaliwal (left) who was also honoured at the event

ICONS FROM THE PAST: 

LAWRENCE JOSEPH VAN HUIZEN

By TONY MARIADASS and C. SATHASIVAM SITHERAVELLU 

 Lawrence of Seremban

More than four decades of involvement in hockey

LAWRENCE Joseph Van Huizen may come from a different generation but his name is synonymous with the hockey circle till today because of how much he has given back to the game.

The 1964 Olympian who turns 84 on July 30, has, after his playing days, made a name as a coach by developing many young players especially from his hometown in Seremban. He has also been involved extensively with the women’s national hockey and assisted the national men’s team too.

Lawrence, who represented Negri Sembilan from 1951-1968 in hockey, also played football for the State. In hockey, besides the Tokyo Olympics, he has also played in two Asian Games – the 1958 Tokyo and 1962 Jakarta Games. He was also the captain of the Pre-Olympic tour of India in 1964.

Hockey wasn’t Lawrence’s first love. He started off by playing football when he was a secondary school student of St Paul’s Institution (SPI) in Seremban in the 1940s.
Coached by “Brother Gabriel” from Myanmar, Lawrence took up hockey in Form 1 (previously known as Standard 7) at the age of 13. He played for the Seremban Rangers Club in 1952 and the team won the Negri Sembilan Hockey League title.

“My love for the game was instilled from school through dedicated teachers like Ashwin Patel, SPI principal Brother Felix and the hockey environment in Seremban,” said Lawrence when interviewed at his home in Seremban.

“Having come from a hockey background, I just wanted to give back to the game and the greatest satisfaction is the many young players I have produced at St Paul’s Institution (SPI).

“SPI sought my services and I was more than happy to assist them,” said Lawrence who is popularly known as ‘Hoeji’.

Lawrence, together with his late brother Peter (a former Olympian goalkeeper in 1956 and played in two Asian Games – 1958 and 1962) and William Fidelis, who all studied in SPI, would spend most of their time at the NS Padang after his work at the Chartered Bank Seremban, when not coaching the school team. He also coached the Seremban Convent School.

The trio also coached the famed Rangers in the NS hockey league which produced the bulk of the state and national players for the country.

SPI and Rangers have produced players from the Boudvilles, Danker, Sta Maria, Fidelis and Van Huizen families.

It was little surprise that Negri Sembilan were then the powerhouse of hockey from the 60s to 80s having won the Razak Cup four times in 1965,1967,1975 and 1977 and countless number of schools titles through SPI.

Among the outstanding national and state players produced under the tutelage of  Lawrence, Peter and William Fidelis are Franco D’Cruz, James D’Cruz, Brian Sta Maria, Colin sta Maria, Stephen Van Huizen, William Lazaroo, Raymond Tio, Kevin Nunis, Derek Fiedlis, Ian Sta Maria, David Paul and Mark Paul to name a few.

Lawrence was also popular among the ladies as he was the national coach 1981 to 1986 and in 1989 coached the Indonesia women’s team in 1987 and Singapore’s in 1989. His other coaching stints include coaching Sarawak for the Malaysia Games in 1990 and 1996.

Among the achievements with the women’s national team include 1981 Asia Cup Kyoto Japan (bronze medal), 1982 Asian Games New Dehli (bronze medal), 1983 Women’s Intercontinental Kuala Lumpur  (3^rd place, 1983 Sea Games Singapore (gold medal) and 1986 Asian Games Seoul (fourth).

With men’s team, Lawrence has the distinction of the team in Lahore International Tournament 1976 to fourth place, was assistant coach for 1966 Asian Games Bangkok and one of the assistant coaches for the 1975 World Cup. He was also coach for Mexico Olympics team with India’s Naidu but was dropped at the last minute when the then Malaysian Hockey Federation decided to Naidu instead.

Lawrence’s family history can be traced back to his grandfather who came from Indonesia, while his father, Alexis Van Huizen, was a government servant and his mother, Grace Mos Virgin was a housewife who took care of 16 children.
The Seremban-born Lawrence is the 11th in the family while his brother, Peter, who passed away in 2011, was the 13th child.
Married to Doreen of Malacca, Lawrence is the father of five boys and two girls.

Lawrence is also proud that the hockey pedigree tradition runs in the Van Huizen family. His son Stephen Van Huizen was the captain of the 1979 Junior World Cup team in Paris and had the likes of state and schoolmates William, Derek, Collin and Kevin playing alongside him as they finished fourth.
Stephen went on to play for the country at the Asian Games in 1982 and 1986, 1984 Olympics and 1982 World Cup having represented the country from 1979-1986. He was the national coach from 1992 to 2002. Stephen is still actively involved in the game under the technical study group and assists in coaching when required.

The Van Huizen tradition continues with Stephen’s son – Joel Samuel - having played for the Junior World Cup team in New Delhi last December.

“It was great joy to see my grandson keep up the family tradition in hockey and I hope it will continue on with Joel’s sons,” said Lawrence who dedicated more than four decades of his life to the game.

On Malaysian hockey these days, Lawrence has kind words when he said that they are doing well.

“The players are more skilful and faster these days. And their ranking, I believe, will improve with the continuous efforts made.

“Those days, we had to contend with powers like India and Pakistan and maybe Korea. But now we have the Europeans including the Australians and Canadians who have joined the fray to become world powers. Under the circumstances, we cannot be overly critical, but continue to work hard to improve and be among the top hockey playing nations in the world.”

Lawrence spending most of his time at home, keeps constant touch with the development of Malaysian hockey and watches the matches on live telecasts these days.

Lawrence has indeed given so much to hockey and was rightfully inducted to the Olympics of Malaysia Hall of Fame last year and the hockey legends by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation recently and will be remembered forever.

BIO DATA – Lawrence Joseph Van Huizen  PMC , PJK

Date of Birth           : 30^th July 1930

Age                : 89

 Playing Career - Hockey

Represented – State level

1)     Negeri Sembilan 1951 -1968

       Also represented Negeri Sembilan in Football

Represented Malaysia – Senior Team 

1)     1 Olympics -1964 Tokyo  Olympics

2)      2 Asian Games - 1958 Tokyo Asian Games   and 1962 Jakarta Asian Games ( Bronze)

Was Captain of the National Hockey team for the Pre Olympic tour to India in 1964

Coaching career

1)      Malaysian Ladies Hockey Team 1981 -1986

a)     1981 Asia Cup Kyoto Japan - Bronze

b)    1982 Asian Games New Dehli– Bronze

c)     1983 Women’s Intercontinental KL – 3^rd place

d)    1983 Sea Games Singapore - Gold

e)     1986 Asian Games Seoul  – 4^th

2)     Coach  Malaysian Men team to Lahore International Tournament 1976 – 4^th placing

3)     Assistant Coach for 1966 Asian Games Bangkok and one of the assistant coaches for the 1975 World Cup

4)     Coach for Mexico Olympics with Mr Naidu of India but was dropped at the last minute when MHF decided to take foreign Coach Mr Naidu from India instead.

Others

·         Coach of Indonesia Ladies Hockey Team Jakarta Sea Games1987

·        Coach of Singapore Ladies Hockey Team KL Sea Games 1989

·        Coach of Sarawak Sukma Team 1990 and 1996

·        Coach St Paul’s Institution and Negeri Combined Schools from 1957 that produced many Olympians and International Hockey players – Franco DCruz, Brian Sta Maria, Colin Sta Maria, Kevin Nunis, etc

 Pingat Masyarakat Cemerlang (PMC) and PJK – Negeri Sembilan

Named as one of the Hockey Legend by Malaysian Hockey Federation

Father of ex National Hockey Captain and coach – Stephen Van Huizen

Brother of Former 1956 Olympian – Late Peter Van Huizen

Former national hurdler athlete Kenny Martin (in white) whose first love is hockey sharing some light moments his mentors William and Lawrence. 

Singing the school anthem with Lawrence and William

 Lawrence, William pillars of St Paul’s as hockey institution

BY TONY MARIADASS

St Paul’s Institution (SPI) Seremban, stands proud to have been a nursery for hockey for decades and two former pupils who had played a key role in shaping the tradition are Lawrence van Huizen and William Fidelis.

It may be long overdue but better late than never. But both Lawrence and William have always been remembered for their contribution, and were given a fitting tribute by the former Paulians with the “Home Coming" thyme last Saturday at the Seremban 2 hockey Stadium.

The event organised by Michael Yen, a former national hockey player himself, was in honour and recognition of the dedicated, committed, beloved, strong willed coaches Lawrence and William.

Also present to make the event possible was SPI principal Lucy Ratnam, senior assistant (co-curriculum) Shantini Lingam and Old Paulians Association president, Prof Ganakumaran Subramaniam.

“These two "hockey icons" of St Pauls Institution have spent tireless hours and sweat on the pitches to produce respected hockey players and human beings. Some have moved on to represent the nation whilst others have moved on in life and become respected individuals and corporate figures,” said Terence Rajasingham a Paulian and ex-state player.

“Rain or shine, morning or evenings, you can see these two special gifts to SPI being there with the students. They did it for love and passion and especially so for the Paulians. So what better way to pay homage and recognition to these two great coaches than by being here to show our thankfulness to them.”

Terence’s sentiments were echoed by 40-odd ex-Paulian hockey players who played a friendly match against with the present St Paul’s team before honouring Lawrence and William at halftime. The match ended with the younger Paulians winning 6-3.

Among the ex-Paulians who were present included former national players Colin Sta Maria, Stephen van Huizen, Gary Fidelis, Derek Fidelis, Raymond Tio, William Lazaroo, Kevin Nunis, Michael and Ian Sta Maria while among the state players present were Stephen’s brothers John, Stanely and Adrian van Huizen, Anthony Chan, Lionel Wong, Peter Yan, Terence, Lim Loke Choy, Colin Fidelis, Surinder Singh, Lawrence Tan and M. Gobinathan and former national hurdler Kenny Martin whose first love was hockey.

Of the national players SPI produced, Brian sta Maria, Stephen, Colin, Kevin, Gary Fidelis and S. Suriaghandi and Keevan Raj became Olympians.

Stephen had the distinction of being involved in four Olympics, six Asian Games, three World Cups, two Commonwealth Games and four SEA Games as a player or coach.

Before that Lawrence himself and late Peter Van Huizen, late Datuk Ho Koh Chye and Franco De Cruz had already set the ball rolling to play in the Olympics.

Other top notch players who have emerged under the tutelage of  Lawrence and William include the likes of James D’Cruz, M. Joseph, Peter Danker, Michael, Henry sta Maria, Yap Yook Cheang, Ch'ng Meng Kung, David Paul and Mark Paul to name a few.

Then Negri Sembilan hockey then had three districts with their respective schools and coaches as power centres of hockey. While in Seremban there was SPI with Lawrence and William Fidelis, King George V (KGV) with the late Datuk Ho Koh Chye, whereas Kuala Pilah had Tunku Mahmud School (TMS) with Mithal and finally Tampin with Tunku Besar School (TBS), had the late V.Sivapathasundram churning out outstanding hockey players.

“There were so many dedicated teachers and coaches with so much passion for the game those years and it was no surprise that so many talented players emerged,” said Kevin.

“But today, we lack in teachers and coaches of that calibre and it is no surprise there is a dearth of talent.”

Indeed Lawrence has given back so much to the game.

The 1964 Olympian who turned 88 on July 30, represented Negri Sembilan from 1951-1968 in hockey, also played football for the State. In hockey, besides the Tokyo Olympics, he has also played in two Asian Games – the 1958 Tokyo and 1962 Jakarta Games. He was also the captain of the Pre-Olympic tour of India in 1964.

 His love for the game was instilled in SPI through dedicated teachers like Ashwin Patel, then SPI principal Brother Felix and the hockey environment in Seremban.

“Having come from a hockey background, I just wanted to give back to the game and the greatest satisfaction is the many young players I have produced at St Paul’s Institution (SPI),” said Lawrence who is popularly known as ‘Hoeji’

Lawrence, together with his late brother Peter (a former Olympian goalkeeper in 1956 and played in two Asian Games – 1958 and 1962) and William, who all studied in SPI, after their playing days spend most of their time at the NS Padang when not coaching the school team. The trio also coached the famed Rangers in the NS hockey league which produced the bulk of the state and national players for the country.

It was little surprise that Negri Sembilan were then the powerhouse of hockey from the 60s to 80s having won the Razak Cup four times in 1965,1967,1975 and 1977 and countless number of schools titles through SPI.

Lawrence was also popular among the ladies as he was the national coach 1981 to 1986 and in 1989 coached the Indonesia women’s team in 1987 and Singapore’s in 1989. His other coaching stints include coaching Sarawak for the Malaysia Games in 1990 and 1996.

With men’s team, Lawrence has the distinction of the team in Lahore International Tournament 1976 steering them to fourth place, was assistant coach for 1966 Asian Games Bangkok and one of the assistant coaches for the 1975 World Cup.

The 83 year old William on the other was better known for his coaching stints and among the fond memories he recalled included when he coached the Negri team in the Razak Cup tournament in Terengganu in 1991 when his team defeated Kuala Lumpur which was represented by 16 national players coached by Sri Shanmugnathan.

William who was known for his loud voice and calls from the stand, despite his ailing health was still calling out at the ex-Paulians on Saturday.

“Hockey is in my blood. I may not be as active as I used to be because of my health, but watching these players today, brought the hockey out of me,” said William who assisted Lawrence and Peter when Malaysia grabbed the bronze medal at the Women's Intercontinental Cup in 1989.

William is also a proud father like Lawrence with his children - all five children played hockey for Negri.

In addition, Derek played in the Asian Games in New Delhi in 1982 and Gary -- who played in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics -- was chosen for the Asian All Stars Team.

Apart from SPI boys, he also coached the Convent Secondary School and Tunku Kursiah College girls.

Indeed, Lawrence and William are rare breed and it will be hard act to follow by the present generation.

Not only are they iconic personalities, but have made SPI stand tall for the sports of hockey.