Simon James Law Child (born 16 April 1988) 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, ''The Black Sticks'', in 2005 against

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Personal life

Simon Child was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand. He has a younger brother, Marcus, who also plays representative hockey for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Career

Club Hockey

At club level, Child plays hockey for his home city of

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 ...

in the

New Zealand National Hockey League The New Zealand National Hockey League, known also by the sponsored name Ford National Hockey League, was the New Zealand's national field hockey championship. The competition features players from New Zealand's national hockey teams, the Black ...

. In 2015, he relocated to India to represent the Delhi Waveriders in the Hockey India League.

National Team

Following his debut in 2005, Child was a regular inclusion for the Black Sticks for over ten years. His first major international tournament was the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

in Mönchengladbach,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He followed this up with appearances at the 2008,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

and 2016 Summer Olympics. From 2014 to 2016, Child was captain of the national team. He also played in three editions of the

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 ...

, in 2006, 2010 and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. In the bronze medal playoff against England at the 2014 tournament, Child scored twice but was one of the New Zealand players who missed in the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

after the game finished as a 3–3 draw. He played club hockey in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

for

HC Rotterdam Hockey Club Rotterdam, commonly known as Rotterdam is a Dutch field hockey club based in Rotterdam, South Holland. It was founded on 16 September 1925. The first men's team competes on the highest level of the Dutch field hockey league, which is c ...

. Following the 2016 Olympics, Child suffered a number of injuries forcing him out of competition for almost three years. In August 2019, he was named to make his return during the Ready Steady Tokyo Olympic Test event in Tokyo, Japan.

International Tournaments

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 ...

– 2006, 2014 *

– 2006, 2010, 2014 * Sultan Azlan Shah Cup – 2006, 2018, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 * Champions Challenge I – 2007, 2009, 2014 *

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 ...

– 2008, 2012, 2016 * Champions Trophy – 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 * FIH World League – 2012–13, 2014–15

References

External links