Rick Stuy van den Herik

Rick Stuy van den Herik (born 19 June 1993) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre back for TOP Oss in the Eerste Divisie, whom he also captains.

A former talent of Sparta Rotterdam, Stuy van den Herik failed to break through to their first team; something which also did not happen at NAC Breda. In 2014, he made the move to second-tier FC Oss, where he made his professional debut the same year and grew out to become a key player during the following years, even becoming team captain.

Stuy van den Herik has represented the Netherlands at under-16 and under-17 level.

Club Career

Early career

Born in the German city of Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Stuy van den Herik grew up in his home country in Sliedrecht. There, he also started his football career at the age of five, where he registered in the youth teams of VV Sliedrecht together with his brother, Kenny. Stuy van den Herik soon caught the eye of larger clubs, and at the age of seven – two years after starting his footballing career – Sparta Rotterdam signed him to their youth academy. There had also been interest from Sparta's 'big brother', Feyenoord, but after a number of trials at the club together with his older brother Kenny, Feyenoord wanted to recruit only Rick. However, they were not interested in signing his brother, Kenny, and Stuy van den Herik eventually chose to sign with Sparta, as they were interested in signing Kenny to the club in addition to Rick. He later stated: "Playing together at one club was of course more convenient for my parents in terms of transport, and moreover, I also liked Sparta more than Feyenoord," in an interview with Jan Volwerk.

After some strong years in the youth of Sparta, where Stuy van den Herik was selected for the Netherlands mational under-16 and under-17 teams, enthusiasm around him waned. His youth contract expired in 2012 and was not renewed. Therefore, he had to find a new challenge, and signed with NAC Breda, where he played on an a