Ralph Boersma - Associate Head Coach - Field Hockey Coaches

Ralph Boersma

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
ralph.boersma@duke.edu
Phone:
(919) 433-7917

Ralph Boersma joined the Duke field hockey coaching staff in March, 2017 as an assistant coach. A native of The Netherlands, Boersma was elevated to Associate Head Coach in the summer of 2022.

Boersma, in addition to helping guide the Blue Devils to a 56-41 record over the past five seasons, has been a fixture within USA Field Hockey. He currently serves as a USA U18/Rise Head Coach after serving in an assistant role for three years (2018-21).

During the summer of 2018, Boersma was appointed to coach within USA Field Hockey's Junior High-Performance Program, serving as an assistant coach with the U.S. U-19 women's national team.

Possessing USA Field Hockey Level 3 certification, Boersma also has been a head coach at USA Young Women’s National Championship/Senior Nexus since 2019. He also is a head coach for High Performance South Region in 2021 and 2022.

Boersma's first two seasons with Duke culminated in back-to-back trips to the NCAA quarterfinals. In 2018, he helped direct the squad to a 16-6 ledger and saw midfielder Margaux Paolino and forward Rose Tynan repeat as All-Americans. Behind the veteran front of Tynan, Caroline Andretta and Erin Scherrer, the Blue Devils ranked second in the ACC and 12th nationally with an average of 3.00 goals per game. The 2017 campaign saw Duke compile a 17-4 record and earn the No. 2 spot in the final national rankings of the fall. Under Boersma's guidance, Tynan and Paolino garnered third team All-
America and first team All-South Region accolades from the National Field Hockey Coaches Association. Tynan and Paolino also received All-ACC recognition while leading the Blue Devils in goals and assists, respectively.

In 2019, following a 13-8 Blue Devil season, he garnered a FIH Academy Level 3 Coaching Course Certification in Lima, Peru. With his high level certifications Boersma also is a USA Field Hockey Coaches Educator, giving Level 1 and Level 2 courses.

Boersma has mentored top players for the Blue Devils in recent years, including the 2020 ACC Freshman of the Year Darcy Bourne. The native of England garnered All-ACC honors after leading the Blue Devils in scoring and has since gone on to play for the England National Team at the 2022 FiH World Cup.

Eva Nunnink, joining the Blue Devils after a career with Were Di after attending University in Netherlands, thrived under Boersma’s guidance. She started 29 games in her two seasons in Durham and was a NFHCA All-South Region pick in 2021.

Boersma boasts a wealth of prior coaching experience, having spent a number of years overseeing teams for the HV Victoria hockey club in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He most recently served as the head coach of the club’s U19 Boys Team from 2014-16 and occasionally as a field trainer for HV Victoria’s First Mens Team. His time in Rotterdam also included indoor and outdoor seasons with several age levels of boys and girls youth teams. During his stint at Victoria, Boersma coached several players who made it through the ranks of the Dutch National Teams at the U17 and U19 level. In addition, many of the youth players he coached are currently active on the highest Dutch senior level and some are active internationally in England and Canada.

In addition to his time spent with the HV Victoria hockey club, Boersma also coached with HC Hoeksche Waard club program, based in Mijnsheerenland, Netherlands. He served as the head coach of the First Mens Team from 2011-15 and as the head coach of the U19 Boys squad from 2009-11.

Boersma has previously coached in the United States as well, spending the summer of 2014 training athletes in the Virginia Beach area and the summer of 2013 working with players at Total Dutch Field Hockey in New Jersey.

Boersma has completed both the Hockey Trainer 3 and Hockey Trainer 4 coaching courses at the KNHB (Royal Dutch Field Hockey Association) in the Netherlands and holds Level 2 certification from USA Field Hockey. He was named an assistant coach for the U.S. U-19 women's national team by USA Field Hockey in May, 2018.

Before joining the coaching ranks, Boersma enjoyed a successful playing career with HC Hoeksche Waard and HV Victoria, competing in several regional divisions with the two programs.

A 2011 graduate of Erasmus University Rotterdam, Boersma went on to earn a Master’s in Public Administration from the same university in 2013.