Desmond Abbott (born 10 January 1986 in Darwin) is an Australian field hockey midfield/striker from the Northern Territory. He is a member of the

Australia men's national field hockey team The Australia men's national field hockey team (nicknamed the Kookaburras) is one of the nation's most successful top-level sporting teams. They are the only Australian team in any sport to receive medals at six straight Summer Olympic Games (1 ...

, having made his debut on 28 January 2007. He won gold medals at the

Hockey Champions Trophy The Hockey Champions Trophy (HCT) was an international field hockey tournament held by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). History Founded in 1978 by Pakistan's Air Marshal Nur Khan and the Pakistan Hockey Federation, it featured the wor ...

in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and a gold medal at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

. He won a bronze medal at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

and unsuccessfully tried to secure a spot on the team to represent Australia at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Personal

Abbott was born on 10 January 1986 in

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the smalle ...

, and is an Australian aboriginal. His first name is Desmond but he is called Des. One of his hobbies is playing Australia rules football. He works for a water corporation. His uncle is Joe Daby, one of the best ever Northern Territory field hockey players. He is recognized in the

Australian Olympic Committee Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

list of Australian Indigenous Olympians.

Field hockey

Abbott plays midfield and striker. When playing for the national team, he wears guernsey 32. He plays club hockey for the Aquinas Reds. He plays for the

NT Stingers The Darwin Airport Resort Territory Stingers aka NT Stingers are a men's Australian field hockey team, representing Northern Territory in the Australian Hockey League. References Australian field hockey clubs field hockey Field hock ...

in the

Australian Hockey League The Australian Hockey League (AHL)AHL Webpage
was Australia's premier national domestic

...

, where he wears shirt number 17. He played in a June 2010 game for the NT Stingers against the Western Australia that Western Australia won 4–1. He scored a goal in the game. In January 2005, he was a member of Australia's U21 national team and played in a five-game test series against Malaysia in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. He was one of four

based players on the squad. In June 2005, he was one of five Northern Territory players to represent Australia on the U21 team at the World Cup. In 2009, he played professional hockey in the Netherlands.

National team

Abbott had his first cap for the senior side on 28 January 2007. during the Dutch Series in Canberra. In January 2008, he was a member of the senior national team that competed at the Five Nations men's hockey tournament in South Africa. He won the

in 2008, 2009 and 2010. He was a member of the 2009 Champions Trophy winning team, playing in the gold medal match against Germany that Australia won by a score of 5–3. He was a member of the Australian side that took home gold at the

and the 2010 World Cup. Abbott competed at the

where he won a bronze medal. In Australia's first game at the 2008 Games, he scored three goals in the game against Canada. He was the first Aboriginal to represent Australia at the Games in men's field hockey. He scored a goal in the bronze medal game against the Netherlands in the country's 6–1 victory. New national team coach

Ric Charlesworth Richard Ian Charlesworth AO (born 6 February 1952) is an Australian sports coach and former politician. He played first-class cricket for Western Australia and international field hockey for the Kookaburras (the Australian national team), winn ...

named him, a returning member, alongside fourteen total new players who had few than 10 national team caps to the squad before in April 2009 in a bid to ready the team for the

. He did not compete at the

Azlan Shah Cup The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an annual invitational international men's field hockey tournament held in Malaysia. It began in 1983 as a biennial contest. The tournament became an annual event after 1998, following its growth and popularity. The ...

in Malaysia in May 2011 because he was injured. In December 2011, he was named as one of twenty-eight players to be on the

Australian men's national training squad. This squad will be narrowed in June 2012. He trained with the team from 18 January to mid-March in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. He was one of two players from the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

named to the squad. In February during the training camp, he played in a four nations test series with the teams being the Kookaburras, Australia A Squad, the Netherlands and Argentina. He missed part of the training camp because of a strained quad.

Recognition

In 2009, he was nominated for the Qantas NT Sportsperson of the Year. He was nominated as the International Hockey Federation 2008 Young Men's Player of the Year, where he finished second.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Des 1986 births Living people Australian male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players of Australia Field hockey players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in field hockey Indigenous Australian Olympians Indigenous Australian field hockey players Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Darwin, Northern Territory Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in field hockey Field hockey players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games 2010 Men's Hockey World Cup players