Soccer trainer and former SC Cambuur soccer player Henk de Jong has been elected this year as trainer of the year! Henk doesn't only accelerate on the soccer field, but also with his sustainable car sponsored by OG!
Soccer career
Henk attended the CIOS sports academy in Heerenveen, where he was taught by Foppe de Haan and was in a group with Wiljan Vloet, Gertjan Verbeek and Jan de Jonge. He played soccer with Drachtster Boys until he was 19 and then was a member of the first selection of sc Heerenveen for a year, but a knee injury ended his career prematurely.
Trainer's career
Henk started his coaching career at Drachtster Boys. In 1997 Henk made the switch to Sunday club Sneek. In 1999 he became assistant coach at Heracles Almelo. After one soccer season Henk left this club again. Then he was assistant coach at sc Heerenveen for two years. With the U23 team of Sc Heerenveen he won the national titles. After this Henk returned to the amateur level via FC Groningen, where he was assistant coach, and he became trainer at Harkemase Boys. For our hero a period of success began, because with the club he became champion in the first and main league. In his last season he even promoted as number two to the Top Class. In May 2009 this earned him the title of 'best trainer in amateur soccer'.
SC Cambuur
In 2011 Henk joined SC Cambuur as assistant coach. At the end of the 2012/2013 season he was interim head coach and became champion of the First Division with the club. In that same period our hero failed the Coach Professional Football course with one point. For this reason, he was not allowed to enter the Eredivisie as head coach. Instead, he was Dwight Lodeweges' right-hand man. De Jong then succeeded him and finished twelfth in the Eredivisie. The following season he also finished with the team in twelfth place. In his third season as coach of SC Cambuur, the club ended up in the lower regions of the Eredivisie.
On February 9, 2016, he resigned, because he did not feel that he was the right man to lead the club back to the top. SC Cambuur was at that time penultimate in the Eredivisie.
In 2016 Henk was appointed head coach of De Graafschap. In his second season as head coach, he promoted to the Eredivisie via the playoffs. After the 2018/2019 season he said goodbye to De Graafschap and went back to work as head coach at SC Cambuur. In 2020, he was promoted to the Eredivisie with SC Cambuur.
Trained clubs
1994-1997 VV Drachtster Boys
1997-1999 VV Sneek
1999-2000 Heracles Almelo (assistant)
2000-2002 Sc Heerenveen (assistant)
2002-2005 VV Sneek
2005-2007 FC Groningen
2007-2010 VV Harkemase Boys
2010-2014 SC Cambuur (assistant)
2014-2016 SC Cambuur
2017-2019 De Graafschap
2019- SC Cambuur
