Alexandra Mary Louise "Alex" Danson (born 21 May 1985) is a retired English international

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

player who played as a forward for

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and

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. She played club hockey for Clifton Robinsons,

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, Klein Zwitserland, Trojans an
Alton
Danson attended two independent schools, Yateley Manor Prep School and Farnborough Hill School, a

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school for girls. Farnborough Hill School named their all-weather hockey pitch in her honour. She made her full international debut on 23 October 2001 against

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. She won a gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games and a bronze medal at the

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

.Alex Danson profile
GB Hockey. Retrieved 4 June 2014. Danson was appointed

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(MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to hockey. Later that year Danson was announced as the England Women's Hockey Captain in June 2017 and led the team through to the last four in the semi-finals of the world league. Also in 2017, Danson launched the Alex Danson Hockey Academy, aimed at introducing young children to the sport through their schools to increase awareness and participation in hockey at a grassroots level. She played her last international match on 2 August 2018, against

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It was her 306th appearance for England and Great Britain. Danson announced her retirement from playing hockey on 20 February 2020.

Honours and awards

Honours

;Representing Great Britain Olympic Games *2016 Rio de Janeiro: Gold *2012 London: Bronze FIH Champions Trophy *2012 Rosario: Silver ;Representing England EuroHockey Nations Championship *2015 London: Gold *2013 Boom: Silver *2011 Monchengladbach: Bronze *2009 Amstelveen: Bronze *2007 Manchester: Bronze *2005 Dublin: Bronze Commonwealth Games *2014 Glasgow: Silver *2010 Delhi: Bronze *2006 Melbourne: Bronze World Cup *2010 Rosario: Bronze FIH Champions Trophy *2010 Nottingham: Bronze FIH Champions Challenge I *2007 Baku: Bronze *2002 Johannesburg: Gold ;Country *London Cup Winner: 2012 *London Cup Third-place: 2011 ;Reading Hockey Club * EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy Winners: 2013 * EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy Runners-up: 2014 *

Women's England Hockey League The Women's England Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by England Hockey that features women's teams from England. From 2011–2020 it was sponsored by Investec and was referred to as the Investec Women's Hockey League. Format ...

Winners: 2010–11, 2012–13; Runners-up: 2011–12 *English Indoor Championship Winners: 2012–13, 2013–14; Runners-up: 2010–11, 2011–12 *English League (regular season) Winners: 2011–12 *English Indoor League (regular season) Third-place: 2013–14

Awards and nominations

*2001 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Young Personality (runner-up) *2011 FIH World All Star Team *2011 Reading Sports Personality of YearGreat week continues for Alex
Get Record. 12 January 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2013. *2011 UK Female Player of the Year (Hockey Writers' Club) *2011–12 Premier League Player of the SeasonDouble Award for Alex Danson
Get Reading. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2012. *2011–12 Premier League Top Scorer *2011–12 Premier League All Star Team *2012 UK Female Player of the Year (Hockey Writers' Club) (runner-up) *2012 London Cup Player of the Tournament * 2014–15 FIH Hockey World League Semi-finals Player of the Tournament * 2015 EuroHockey Nations Championship Player of the Tournament *2015 Committee Award (

Sports Journalists' Association The Sports Journalists' Association (SJA) is an association for British sports journalists. It represents the British sports media on the British Olympic Association's press advisory committee and acts as a consultant to organizers of major eve ...

) *2015 Sportswoman of the Year (

) (4th place) *2015 UK Female Player of the Year (Hockey Writers' Club) (third-place) *2015 FIH Women's Player of the Year (

International Hockey Federation The International Hockey Federation, commonly known by the acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland. FIH is responsible for field hockey's major int ...

) (nominated)

References

External links