Who wins the KNHB Governors' Trophy 2026? Cast your vote now
Voting for the KNHB Governors' Trophy 2026 is open. From nineteen entries, the jury selected three nominees: HC Ares, MHC Olympia and HC Zwolle. All three are in the running for a cheque of 5,000 euros, and your vote counts.
An award for the people behind the club
The Governors' Trophy has existed since 1998, when the KNHB turned one hundred. It is a simple but powerful idea: not putting the players or coaches in the spotlight, but the administrators and volunteers who keep a club running. Each year a theme is chosen, and clubs show how they give it shape in their own way.
The winner receives a challenge shield and a cheque of 5,000 euros, to spend freely within the club. The two other nominees win a hockey clinic for one hundred people. But the real value lies elsewhere: good ideas gain a national stage, so other clubs can adopt them. That way a local initiative quickly becomes an example for hockey clubs across the Netherlands.
The three nominees of 2026
This year's theme is accessibility: hockey for everyone, regardless of age, background or budget.
HC Ares
HC Ares keeps the barrier to start as low as possible. The youngest children play for free, parents are involved from day one, and within the Ares Academie there is attention for more than just sport. The club has three fully integrated G-hockey teams (hockey for players with disabilities) and an offering for older members through Fit Hockey. The result: the intake of young members tripled. The club philosophy sums it up nicely: "HC Ares, sport your way."
MHC Olympia
MHC Olympia is the only hockey club in Central and West Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and carries that regional role with pride. Children up to age eight play for free thanks to sponsors, and through clinics at schools and events like Terneuzen Speelstad, more and more children discover the sport. The club retains young people with a student membership and actively seeks cooperation with schools, childcare and local organisations.
HC Zwolle
HC Zwolle wants to be a reflection of society. Through neighbourhood hockey, clinics at schools and cooperation with the Hockey Foundation and Sportservice Zwolle, the club reaches new audiences. A giveaway corner for equipment and support from funds lower the financial barrier, and with partners like Travers Welzijn and Stichting Kinder Diabetes, less privileged and chronically ill children can take part too. Inclusion is embedded here, from G-hockey to LGBTI+ acceptance.
The common thread: from member retention to hockey for everyone
What makes the Governors' Trophy so enjoyable to follow is the common thread running through the years. The themes move with whatever Dutch hockey faces at the time. In 2019 it was about member retention, in 2022 about social engagement, in 2024 about the energetic club and in 2025 about youth recruitment. With "hockey for everyone" in 2026, accessibility takes centre stage.
The past three editions show nicely what such recognition sets in motion. In 2025 GHHC Groningen from Haren won with a recruitment plan built around clinics at primary schools and a multi-sport approach to attract more boys. That approach worked immediately: an annual decline of two percent was turned into an expected membership growth of four percent. A year earlier the trophy went to HC Goeree Overflakkee, which grew from nine to fifteen teams in three and a half years, solved its referee shortage and became financially healthy again. Impressive, for a club that nearly collapsed in 2020. Chairman Jan Verhage summed it up simply: just roll up your sleeves. And in 2023 MHV Maarssen won with a clear vision on developing hockey players, from the youngest children to the selection teams.
Each of them a club that makes a difference for its members with relatively simple choices. And that is exactly what the Governors' Trophy wants to encourage.
How to cast your vote
The public and the clubs decide the winner together. The public vote counts for 20 percent and can be cast up to and including 21 June. The clubs' administrators cast their votes on 27 June during the General Assembly, accounting for the remaining 80 percent. The winner is announced that same day.