Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Nicola Symmons | ||
Born | Dublin, Ireland | 2 August 1982||
Playing position | Defender/Midfield/Forward | ||
Youth career | |||
199x–199x | Wesley College | ||
Senior career | |||
Years | Team | ||
199x–2013 | Loreto | ||
2006–2007 | → Eintracht Braunschweig | ||
National team | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2001–2013 | Ireland | 208 | (31) |
Coaching career | |||
2008 | Notre Dame Des Missions | ||
2009–2010 | Leinster U-16 Girls | ||
2011–2012 | Three Rock Ladies II | ||
2012–2013 | Glenanne | ||
2013 | St. Andrew's College |
Nikki Symmons (born 2 August 1982) is a former Ireland women's field hockey international. Symmons is also a former Ireland women's cricket international. Between 2001 and 2013 Symmons made 208 appearances and scored 31 goals for Ireland. She represented Ireland at six Women's EuroHockey Nations Championships, during three Olympic qualification campaigns and during three Women's Hockey World Cup qualification campaigns. Symmons played in four Irish Senior Cup finals for Loreto. In 2008–09 she was also a member of the Loreto team that won the inaugural Women's Irish Hockey League title. In 2011 she was a member of the Loreto team that won the EuroHockey Club Champion's Challenge II. In 2015 she was inducted into the European Hockey Federation Hall of Fame. Since 2014 Symmons has worked in Lausanne as a Digital Manager for the International Hockey Federation.
Symmons was raised in Dublin by her mother, Melanie. Her parents marriage broke up when she still a baby. Her mother subsequently remarried into a family with four children when Symmons was six. Although initially estranged from her father, she established contact with him during her teens. Her grandparents, Harry and Rhona Booker, were a big influence during her formative years. During her youth, Symmons played field hockey, cricket and tennis. [1] [2] [3] She completed her secondary education at Wesley College. [1] [4] [5] Between 2002 and 2005 she attended St. Nicholas Montessori College where she gained a BA in Montessori education. [6] Between 2014 and 2015 Symmons completed a Master of Advanced Studies in Sports Administration and Technology at AISTS. [3] [6] [7] [8]
Symmons played field hockey for Wesley College. In 1998 she was a member of the Wesley College team that won the Leinster Schoolgirls' Senior Cup. [1] [9] [10]
Symmons played in four Irish Senior Cup finals for Loreto. In the 2002 final, Symmons scored twice as Loreto drew 2–2 with Hermes before eventually winning the cup in a penalty shoot-out. [11] In the 2003 final, Symmons scored the winner in extra-time as Loreto defeated Cork Harlequins 3–2. [12] In 2010 Symmons helped Loreto win the Irish Senior Cup for a third time. In the final she scored twice as Loreto drew 2–2 with Railway Union before eventually winning the cup in another penalty shoot-out. Other members of the Loreto team included Nicola Daly, Lizzie Colvin, Hannah Matthews and Alison Meeke. [13] [14] Symmons and Loreto were finalists again in 2012 but this time lost 3–2 against UCD. [15] [16]
In 2008 Symmons was a member of the Loreto team that finished as runners-up to Hermes in the All-Ireland Club Championship. [17] In 2008–09, together with Hannah Matthews, Lizzie Colvin and Alison Meeke, she was a member of the Loreto team that won the inaugural Women's Irish Hockey League title. [18] She was also a member of the Loreto teams that finished as league runners-up in 2011–12 and 2012–13. [19] Symmons also won European honours with Loreto. In 2011 she was a member of the Loreto team that won the EuroHockey Club Champion's Challenge II, scoring in the final as they defeated HC Olten of Switzerland 7–1. [20]
Symmons played full-time for Eintracht Braunschweig during the 2006–07 season. [1] [21] [22]
Between 2001 and 2013 Symmons made 208 appearances and scored 31 goals for Ireland. Symmons had represented Ireland at Under-16, Under-18 and Under-21 level before making her senior debut against Wales in 2001. She subsequently represented Ireland at six Women's EuroHockey Nations Championships, during three Olympic qualification campaigns and during three Women's Hockey World Cup qualification campaigns. [3] [4] [5] On 3 May 2008 Symmons made her 100th senior appearance for Ireland against Italy at the 2008 Women's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier. [23] [24] On 19 June 2011 she made her 150th senior appearance against Azerbaijan at the 2011 Women's Hockey Champions Challenge I. [4] [24] On 22 June 2013 she made her 200th senior appearance in a 3–2 defeat against Canada. [5] [25] [26] [27] [28] On 24 August 2013 Symmons made her 208th and final appearance for Ireland against Scotland at the 2013 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship. [3] In 2015 Symmons was inducted into the European Hockey Federation Hall of Fame. She was honoured during a half-time ceremony at the 2015 Men's EuroHockey Nations Championship final. [29] [30] Symmons was Ireland's most capped women's field hockey international until she was overtaken by Shirley McCay in 2015. [31]
Source: [3]
Symmons began coaching while still an active player. In 2008 she was teaching and coaching at Notre Dame Des Missions.[ citation needed ] In 2009 and 2010 she worked with the Leinster U-16 Girls squad. [55] [56] During the 2011–12 season she coached Three Rock Ladies II to promotion from the Leinster Women's Division Five to Division Four. She also guided them to a win in a Division Five/Six Cup title. During the 2012–13 season she coached a Glenanne Ladies team that included Mary Waldron in the Leinster Women's Division One. [5] [57] [58] She also coached at St. Andrew's College. [4] [59] In 2014 Symmons was also a coach on the RTÉ programme Ireland's Fittest Family . [60] [61]
Cricket information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Right-arm medium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | Batter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National side |
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ODI debut(cap 64) | 6 October 2010 v Pakistan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last ODI | 12 October 2010 v Sri Lanka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
T20I debut(cap 3) | 14 October 2010 v Sri Lanka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last T20I | 16 October 2010 v Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 2 June 2021 |
Symmons played cricket at Wesley College [1] and for Pembroke. Her Pembroke teammates included Mary Waldron and Kim Garth. [62]
Symmons was selected to represent Ireland at the 2010 ICC Women's Cricket Challenge. [62] She subsequently played four One Day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals matches during the series. On 6 October 2010 she made her WODI debut against Pakistan. On 14 October 2010 she made her WT20I against Sri Lanka. On 16 October 2010 she scored 86 off 48 balls in a WT20I win against the Netherlands. [3] [63]
Since September 2014 Symmons has worked as a Digital Manager for the International Hockey Federation. She is based at the FIH headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. [3] [6] [7] [8] [64]
Symmons is openly gay. She came out to family members when she was 21. [2] In October 2014 Symmons spoke publicly about being gay for the first time. She appeared on the RTÉ2 programme Second Captains Live , taking part in a discussion on homosexuality in modern sports along with Shane Horgan and Donal Óg Cusack. [7] [65] [66]
Railway Union Sports Club is a multi-sports club based in Sandymount, Dublin 4, Ireland. The club was founded in 1904 and was originally known as the Railway and Steam Packet Athletic and Social Union. The club organises teams in various sports and activities including cricket, field hockey, indoor hockey, rugby union, association football, tennis, bowls and bridge. Railway Union women's field hockey and women's rugby union teams both play in the top level of their respective national leagues. Railway Union women's field hockey team also represented Ireland in the 2014 EuroHockey Club Champions Cup.
Elena Joy Neill, also referred to as Lena Tice, is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Tice is also an Ireland women's cricket international. She was a dual Ireland women's cricket and field hockey international by the age of 17. In 2011, she made her senior international cricket debut, aged just 13 years and 272 days. As a result, after Pakistan's Sajjida Shah, Tice became the second youngest player in the history of cricket, male or female, to make their international debut playing in an official One Day International or Twenty20 International. She also represented Ireland at the 2014 ICC Women's World Twenty20. Tice has also won Irish Senior Cup and Women's Irish Hockey League titles with UCD Ladies' Hockey Club.
The Women's Irish Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by Hockey Ireland that features women's teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The league was first played for during the 2008–09 season. It replaced the All-Ireland Club Championships as the top level women's field hockey competition in Ireland. Since 2015–16 the league has been sponsored by Ernst & Young and, as a result, it is also known as the EY Hockey League. The league has previously been sponsored by the ESB Group and Electric Ireland.
Anna O'Flanagan is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. O'Flanagan has also won Irish Senior Cup and Women's Irish Hockey League titles with UCD.
Shirley McCay is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. McCay has played in the Women's Irish Hockey League for Old Alex, Ulster Elks and Pegasus. She was a member of the Ulster Elks team that won two successive Irish Senior Cup titles in 2014–15 and 2015–16. Since 2015 she has been Ireland's most capped women's field hockey international.
Gillian Pinder is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Pinder has also won Irish Senior Cup and Women's Irish Hockey League titles with UCD.
Chloe Watkins is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Watkins made her 200th senior international appearance for Ireland in the World Cup final. In addition to playing for UCD and Hermes-Monkstown in the Women's Irish Hockey League, Watkins has also played for Club de Campo in Spain and for HC Bloemendaal in the Netherlands. She has won league titles while playing in Ireland and Spain. She has also won senior cup competitions while playing in Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands.
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Holden is a retired Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Colvin has also won Irish Senior Cup and Women's Irish Hockey League titles with Loreto.
Nicola Daly, also referred to as Nicci Daly or Nikki Daly, is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. In 2010 Daly was a member of the Loreto team that won the Irish Senior Cup. Daly has also played senior ladies' Gaelic football for Dublin. Since 2016 Daly has worked in motorsport as a data engineer for Juncos Racing.
Nicola Evans, also referred to as Nikki Evans, is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Evans has also won Women's Irish Hockey League titles with Railway Union, UCD and Hermes-Monkstown. In the 2013–14 Evans was a member the UCD team that completed a national double, winning both the league and the Irish Senior Cup.
Hannah Matthews is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Matthews has also won Irish Senior Cup and Women's Irish Hockey League titles with Loreto. She is the daughter of Phillip Matthews, the former Ireland rugby union international.
Deirdre Duke is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Duke has also won Irish Senior Cup and Women's Irish Hockey League titles with UCD. She has also captained the UCD team. Duke also won an All-Ireland Under-14 Ladies' Football Championship with Dublin and represented the Republic of Ireland women's national under-17 football team.
Alison Meeke, also referred to as Ali Meeke, is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Meeke has also won Irish Senior Cup and Women's Irish Hockey League titles with Loreto.
Emily Beatty is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Beatty has also won Irish Senior Cup and Women's Irish Hockey League titles with UCD.
Graham Shaw is a former Ireland men's field hockey international and the current coach of the New Zealand women's national field hockey team. Between 2002 and 2009 he made 151 appearances for Ireland and also represented them at the 2007 Men's EuroHockey Nations Championship. As a coach he guided the Ireland women to the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final, winning the silver medal. As a player Shaw won Irish Senior Cup and EuroHockey Club Trophy titles with both Glenanne and Monkstown. On 9 May 2010 Shaw featured in two Irish Senior Cup finals on the same day, coaching Loreto to victory in the women's final before going onto play for Glenanne in the men's final. As a player coach, he also guided Monkstown to three successive Irish Hockey League titles in 2012–13, 2013–14 and 2014–15.
Hermes Ladies' Hockey Club was a women's field hockey club based at St. Andrew's College in Booterstown, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. The club entered teams in the Women's Irish Hockey League, the Irish Senior Cup and the Irish Junior Cup. In 2016 Hermes merged with the women's team at Monkstown Hockey Club and subsequently played as Hermes-Monkstown. As Hermes-Monkstown, the club represented Ireland in the 2017 EuroHockey Club Champions Cup.
Glenanne Hockey Club is a field hockey club based in Dublin 24, South Dublin, Ireland. The club enters teams in the Men's Irish Hockey League, the Irish Senior Cup and the Irish Junior Cup. Glenanne has represented Ireland in European competitions. They won the 2008 EuroHockey Club Trophy and were European Cup Winners' Cup runners up in 2002.
Loreto Hockey Club is a women's field hockey club based in Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, Ireland. The club enter teams in the Women's Irish Hockey League, the Irish Senior Cup and the Irish Junior Cup. Loreto has also represented Ireland in European competitions, winning the 2011 EuroHockey Club Champion's Challenge II and finishing third at the 2014 European Club Championship Trophy.
The Leinster Schoolgirls' Senior Cup is a women's field hockey cup competition organized by the Leinster Hockey Association. It features teams representing schools from Leinster. The competition was established in 1917. Alexandra College are the competitions most successful team, winning the cup for the thirteenth time in 2016. During the 2000s and 2010s, Alexandra College and St. Andrew's College have emerged as the competitions two strongest teams. When Ireland won the silver medal at the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup, the squad included eight players who had featured in Leinster Schoolgirls' Senior Cup finals. Chloe Watkins played in four finals while Nicola Evans, Gillian Pinder, Hannah Matthews and Emily Beatty all played in three each. Deirdre Duke and Elena Tice both played in two each while Nicola Daly made one appearance. Between 2005 and 2012 at least one member of the squad played in every final.
Sarah Hawkshaw is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She has also played for Railway Union in the Women's Irish Hockey League and for UMass Minutewomen in the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship.
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