Eric Robert Pearce (born 29 October 1931) is an Indian-born Australian former international

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

player who represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at four

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

and numerous other international matches. He was born in

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In his home state of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, he played as a striker for 19 years.

Playing career

Eric is one of five international-level hockey playing brothers, the others being Cec,

Mel Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

and Julian. His daughter Colleen Pearce was part of the Australian national hockey team that came third at the 1983 World Cup and fourth at the 1984 Olympics. He is considered to be one of the finest field hockey players to have represented Australia. Following the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

, his father Cec and elder brothers Cec and Mel settled in

Perth 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 ...

, Western Australia in 1947. His mother Gladys, Eric and his two other brothers followed in the following year. The

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The ''Oxford English ...

family had intended on settling in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

but instead chose to stay in Western Australia.''W.A. Hall of Champions'' inductee booklet. (2006) Published by the

Western Australian Institute of Sport The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1983 by the Government of Western Australia to support athletes in Western Australia. Previously, if elite athletes from Western Australian needed to train or ...

p. 86 In the 1956 Olympics in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

he joined with Gordon and Mel in the Australian team. He also competed in

1960 Olympics The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympi ...

in Rome, the

1964 Olympics 1964 Olympics refers to both: *The 1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Ba ...

in Tokyo (Australia's first Olympic hockey medal - bronze) and the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City (silver). Eric was the Australian team flag-bearer at the 1968 Games. In the 1964 Games he scored Australia's only two goals allowing his team to beat Pakistan (2-1) for the first time. In the 1968 Games he scored all eight goals in one match against Japan (8-1), his biggest tally in an international match. Pearce played in 12 national championships for Western Australia, winning seven, largely due to his own goal scoring abilities. He was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

as a founding member in 1985 - the only hockey player to have been selected. He was inducted into the

Western Australian Hall of Champions In 1983, the Sportswriters' Association of Western Australia proposed a Western Australian Hall of Champions to honour past athletes from the state who had made a significant impact in their sport. The Government of Western Australia asked the th ...

in 1986.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Eric 1931 births Living people Australian male field hockey players Anglo-Indian people Australian people of Anglo-Indian descent Australian sportspeople of Indian descent Field hockey players at the 1956 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1960 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Indian emigrants to Australia Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic field hockey players for Australia Olympic medalists in field hockey Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia People from Jabalpur Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Field hockey players from Madhya Pradesh Field hockey players from Perth, Western Australia