Spanish hockey star Pol Amat (Pictures 1 & 2) has been crowned WorldHockey Player of the Year at the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Congress in Los Angeles. The presentation was made by FIH President Els Van Breda Vriesman during a special awards ceremony held at Universal Studios in the city.. Amat is the first Spanish player to win the award. He takes over the title from Australian, Jamie Dwyer. The Young Player award went to Eddie Ockenden of Australia.
The women’s Player of the Year went to Luciana Aymar of Argentina (Picture 3). This is the second year in succession that she has won the award and the fifth year in total. Aymar previously won the award in 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2007. The women’s Young Player is The Netherland’s Maartje Paumen.
The WorldHockey Player of the Year Awards were decided this year by all the players participating in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
