Blair Robert Hopping (born 12 August 1980 in

Pukekohe Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, it is in South Auckland, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. ...

) is a

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 ...

player from New Zealand, who earned his first cap for the national team,

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

d ''The Black Sticks'', in 2000 against Pakistan. He competed for New Zealand at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

in Manchester and the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Hopping taught

Physical Education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

at Rangitoto College on

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

's North Shore and coaches the school's 1st XI. He left that to join TigerTurf, New Zealand's only Synthetic Sports Surface manufacturer, on a part-time basis in 2006 and full-time since 2011. After retiring from Hockey, Blair now helps to upgrade and build new Hockey surfaces in New Zealand.

International Senior Tournaments

* 2001 – World Cup Qualifier * 2002 –

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

* 2002 –

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

* 2003 – Sultan Azlan Shah Cup * 2003 – Champions Challenge * 2004 – Olympic Qualifying Tournament * 2004 –

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 vari ...

* 2004 – Champions Trophy * 2005 – Sultan Azlan Shah Cup * 2006 –

* 2006 –

Hockey World Cup The Men's FIH Hockey World Cup is an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The tournament was started in 1971. It is held every four years, bridging the four years between the Summer O ...

* 2007 – Champions Challenge * 2008 –

* 2012 –

References

External links

* New Zealand male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players for New Zealand Field hockey players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games 2002 Men's Hockey World Cup players Field hockey players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup players Field hockey players at the 2008 Summer Olympics 2010 Men's Hockey World Cup players 1980 births Living people Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Field hockey players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in field hockey Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games {{NewZealand-fieldhockey-bio-stub