Darren Cheesman

Darren Cheesman

Personal information
Born	(1986-02-23) 23 February 1986 (age 39) Hackney, London, England
Playing position	Midfielder/forward
Senior career
Years	Team
2005–2006	Oranje Zwart
2006–2012	East Grinstead
2012–2014	Reading
2014–2017	Southgate
National team
Years	Team	Caps	Goals
	England & GB

Darren Cheesman (born 23 February 1986) is an former England and Great Britain field hockey International, ^[1] who is now the Head Coach of Berliner HC in the German Bundesliga ^[2] as well as the Assistant Coach for the German U21 Men National Team. ^[3] He is also a Coach Educator for FIH.

Biography

Cheesman was born Hackney, London. Cheesman came into hockey through Arsenal FC's 'Sport in the Community' programme. ^[4] It is a programme that sees the football club send coaches into local schools and communities to teach them various sports. Cheesman attended Arsenal's 'in the community' scheme and gained opportunities and life skills. ^[5]

After playing in the 2005 Junior World Cup, Cheesman was signed by Oranje Zwart, a Premier League club in Netherlands. He spent a year there playing with and against the best players in the world. In 2007, he was a member of the Great Britain U21 team that won silver medal at the 2007 Junior Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. ^[6]

After leaving Oranje Zwart, he played club hockey for East Grinstead in the Men's England Hockey League. During his first spell at East Grinstead, Cheesman was voted 'Premier League Player of the Year'. Cheesman played an instrumental role in East Grinstead's successes both domestically and in the Euro Hockey League. ^[7] In 2010 he scored on his debut for England against Argentina. ^[8] He joined Reading for the start of the 2012/13 season and represented England during the 2012 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy.

He would also play for Southgate and Old Loughtonians, ^{[9] [10]} Klein Zwitserland, ^[11] and Laren in the Dutch League, Wellington ^[12] and Daring ^[13] in the Belgian league.

After his playing career, Cheesman moved into coaching, completing his level 3 coaching award with England Hockey before gaining qualifications with FIH (high performance coach, coach educator, and trainer).^{[ citation needed ]} Also academically with University of Central Lancashire (PG Diploma, Masters, and currently completing Doctorate, all in Elite Coaching Practice).^{[ citation needed ]}

He is now the Head Coach of Berliner HC men in the German Bundesliga as well as the Assistant Coach of Germany U21 Men, having previously been the coach of Laren Women in the Dutch league, Waterloo Ducks Women and Wellington Women in the Belgian league, alongside positions with England Junior National Team and Belgium Junior National Team.

References

1. "GB held to draw by Argentina". Yahoo Sport. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
2. "Darren Cheesman ist neuer Trainer der 1. Herren". 30 May 2022.
3. "Holdermann, Cheesman, Poljaric, Denkmann und Franz mit U21 unterwegs". 19 June 2023.
4. "Arsenal celebrate 25 years of Sport in the Community project". Arsenal FC. 22 February 2010. Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
5. "Darren Cheesman's remarkable rise to GB's hockey team". The Guardian. 23 January 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
6. "GB Youth head down under for Junior Olympics". Great Britain Hockey. 17 January 2007. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
7. "Cheesman seals win over Poplo Barcelona with wonderful goal". EHL. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
8. "The Top of the D Meets: Darren Cheesman". Top of the D. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
9. "EHL Statistics". FixturesLive.com. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
10. Randall, Charles (29 January 2009). "East Grinstead ruing the loss of Martin Haner to Germany squad". The Daily Telegraph . London. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
11. https://www.knhb.nl/foto/foto/3c94d5aa-65b2-11e8-a470-da5d02ed17af ^{[ bare URL ]}
12. "Les noyaux de la DH".
13. "Le résumé des transferts Messieurs DH". 14 June 2020.