Els van Breda Vriesman

Els van Breda Vriesman studied law at Catholic University in Nijmegen and then worked as a lawyer for three years. After marriage and three children she entered sports administration, beginning in 1980. A hockey (field) player as a youth, she was a board member of the Royal Dutch Hockey Association from 1980-94 and was elected to the Council of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) in 1982, and later served as vice-president (1992-96) and honorary secretary (1994–2001).

Van Breda Vriesman served on the Executive Committee of the European Hockey Federation from 1985-93 and was vice-president from 1989-93. She was a member of the Executive Committee of the Netherlands Olympic Committee (1988-92) and was a member of the Topsport Committee from 1992-96. From 1982 to 1994 she was Vice-President of the Dutch Hockey Association (KNHB).

In 2001 Van Breda Vriesman won election as President of the Fédération Internationale de Hockey (FIH) and would serve in that role through 2008. Due to her Presidency she was named to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2001, and served through 2009. In 2010, for her work in sports, she was named an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau, one of the six orders of knighthood in the Netherlands.