Joshua Simmonds (born 4 October 1995) is a field hockey player from
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 ...
.
Personal life
Joshua Simmonds was born and raised in
Ringwood, Victoria
Ringwood is an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maroondah local government area. Ringwood recorded a population of 19,144 at the 2021 census.
Ringwood ...
.
He is a member of the
Victorian Institute of Sport
The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succe ...
Doncaster Hockey Club
Doncaster Hockey Club is a field hockey club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The home ground is at the Doncaster Town Field Sports Club.
The men's 1XI play in the Men's England Hockey League. The ladies' 1XI play in the North Hock ...
Throughout his youth, Joshua Simmonds represented his home state, Victoria, in all domestic competitions.
In 2014, Simmonds was recruited by the NT Stingers in the
as an import player. Following his AHL debut for the Northern Territory, Simmonds returned to play for the VIC Vikings from 2015 onwards. This included winning the championship at the 2016 edition.
Following the overhaul of the AHL in 2018, Simmonds was selected to represent HC Melbourne in
Hockey Australia
Hockey Australia is an organisation that formed from the merger of the Australian Hockey Association and Women's Hockey Australia in 2000. It is the national body responsible for the promotion, development and administration of field hockey in A ...
's new domestic league,
Hockey One
The Sultana Bran Hockey One is a field hockey competition organised by Hockey Australia, which replaced the Australian Hockey League.
The competition serves as Australia's premier domestic hockey league, helping unearth future talent for select ...
, in 2019.
National teams
Under–21
Joshua Simmonds made his junior international debut for the Australia U–21 side in 2015, at the
Sultan of Johor Cup
The Sultan of Johor Cup is an annual, international under–21 men's field hockey tournament held in Malaysia.
Since the first edition held in 2011, five teams have emerged victorious. India and Great Britain are the most successful teams havin ...
, where the team finished fifth.
In 2016, Simmonds went on to represent the side again; at the
Sultan of Johor Cup
The Sultan of Johor Cup is an annual, international under–21 men's field hockey tournament held in Malaysia.
Since the first edition held in 2011, five teams have emerged victorious. India and Great Britain are the most successful teams havin ...
Following two years in the national development squad, Simmonds made his senior international debut for the
Kookaburras
Kookaburras are terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus ''Dacelo'' native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between in length and weigh around . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri ''guuguubarra'', onomatopoeic of its call. The ...
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 ...
. He then went on the represent the team during the International Hockey Open. In November 2018, Simmonds was named in the Kookaburras squad for the 2019 calendar year.
Simmonds started 2019 in the Kookaburras team during the
FIH Pro League FIH Pro League may refer to:
*Men's FIH Pro League, a tournament in men's field hockey
*Women's FIH Pro League
The Women's FIH Pro League is an international women's field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (F ...
in
Melbourne, Victoria
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the St ...
. Simmonds continued to represent the team during the Pro League, culminating with a gold medal in Amstelveen, following a 3–2 win over Belgium.
Simmonds was selected in the
Kookaburras
Kookaburras are terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus ''Dacelo'' native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between in length and weigh around . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri ''guuguubarra'', onomatopoeic of its call. The ...
Olympics squad for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The team reached the final for the first time since 2004 but couldn't achieve gold, beaten by Belgium in a shootout.