Simon James Law Child (born 16 April 1988)[1] is a New Zealand field hockey player, who earned his first cap for the national team, The Black Sticks, in 2005 against Malaysia.[2]

Simon Child
Interland of the Netherlands against New Zealand on 22 June 2016 in Assen
Personal information
Full name Simon James Law Child
Born (1988-04-16) 16 April 1988 (age 36)
Auckland, New Zealand
Height 186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 82 kg (181 lb)
Playing position Forward
National team
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005– New Zealand 274 (140)
Medal record
Men's field hockey
Representing  New Zealand
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2010 New Delhi Team
FIH World League
Silver medal – second place 2013–13 New Delhi Team
Oceania Cup
Silver medal – second place 2013 Stratford
Silver medal – second place 2015 Stratford
Silver medal – second place 2023 Whangārei

Personal life

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Simon Child was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand. He has a younger brother, Marcus, who also plays representative hockey for New Zealand.[3]

Career

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Club Hockey

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At club level, Child plays hockey for his home city of Auckland in the New Zealand National Hockey League.[4]

In 2015, he relocated to India to represent the Delhi Waveriders in the Hockey India League.[5]

National team

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Following his debut in 2005, Child was a regular inclusion for the Black Sticks for over ten years.

His first major international tournament was the 2006 World Cup in Mönchengladbach, Germany. He followed this up with appearances at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.[6][7] From 2014 to 2016, Child was captain of the national team.[citation needed]

He also played in three editions of the Commonwealth Games, in 2006, 2010 and 2014. In the bronze medal playoff against England at the 2014 tournament, Child scored twice but was one of the New Zealand players who missed in the penalty shoot-out after the game finished as a 3–3 draw.[8] He played club hockey in the Netherlands for HC Rotterdam.[citation needed]

Following the 2016 Olympics, Child suffered a number of injuries forcing him out of competition for almost three years. In August 2019, he was named to make his return during the Ready Steady Tokyo Olympic Test event in Tokyo, Japan.[9]

International tournaments

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References

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  1. ^ "Team Details – New Zealand". tms.fih.ch. International Hockey Federation. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Vantage Black Sticks Men". www.blacksticks.co.nz. Vantage Black Sticks. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Marcus Child". www.olympic.org.nz. New Zealand Olympic Committee. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  4. ^ "CHILD Simon". hockeynz.altiusrt.com. New Zealand Hockey Federation. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Simon Child Loves Playing for Delhi Waveriders". delhiwaveriders.in. Delhi Waveriders. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  6. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Simon Child". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  7. ^ "New Zealand Men's team confirmed for Rio". Hockey New Zealand. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  8. ^ "Glasgow 2014 - Men's Bronze Medal Match". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Big names return for the Vantage Black Sticks Men for series in Tokyo". blacksticks.co.nz. Vantage Black Sticks. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
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