Angela Platt (born 29 May 1979) is a former Ireland women's field hockey international goalkeeper. Between 2000 and 2006 she made 75 senior appearances for Ireland. She represented Ireland at the

2002 Women's Hockey World Cup The 2002 Women's Hockey World Cup was the 10th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup field hockey tournament. It was held from 24 November to 8 December 2002 in Perth, Western Australia. Argentina women's national field hockey team, Argentina ...

. She is also a former Northern Ireland women's football international goalkeeper. Between 2010 and 2017 she served as executive manager of the

Ulster Hockey Union The Ulster Hockey Union is the governing body for field hockey in Ulster. It is affiliated to Hockey Ireland. It organises a number of leagues and cup competitions for clubs and schools in the province. These include the Ulster Senior League, t ...

. In 2017 she was appointed general manager of the Northern Cricket Union.

Early years, family and education

Platt is from

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

, Northern Ireland. Between 1990 and 1997 she attended Dalriada School. Between 1997 and 2001 she attended

Ulster University Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

where she gained a BSc in Sport, Exercise and Leisure. In 1998 she studied at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

. Platt is the niece of Jim Platt, the former Northern Ireland football international goalkeeper. Her brother, David, is also a former footballer.

Field hockey

Domestic teams

Maryland Terrapins

In 1998, while attending the

, Platt played for

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

. She helped the team win the 1998

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

tournament. Platt was subsequently named in the All-ACC Tournament Team. She also helped the team reach the quarter-finals of the 1998 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship.

Ballymoney

Platt was a member of the Ballymoney team that won the 2000–01 Irish Senior Cup, defeating

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

in the final. She was also a member of the Ballymoney team that finished as runners up to Pegasus in the 2007–08 Irish Senior Cup. Her teammates at Ballymoney have included Bridget McKeever and Megan Frazer. In 2011 Platt briefly came out of retirement to play for Ballymoney in the Ulster Premier League.

Ulster Elks

In May 2016 Platt, at the age of 37, again came out of retirement, this time to play for Ulster Elks in the EuroHockey Club Champions Challenge I. At the time Platt was a goalkeeping coach for Ulster Elks but a shortage of goalkeepers, due to exams, saw her called upon. She subsequently helped the Elks win the tournament.

Ireland international

In February 2000 Platt made her senior debut for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She had previously represented Ireland at under-18 and under-21 levels. Between 2000 and 2006 she made 75 senior appearances for Ireland. She represented Ireland at the

Association football

Domestic teams

Ballymoney United

While playing

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

with Ballymoney, Platt and her teammates also played

women's association football Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and about 200 national teams partic ...

for Ballymoney United during the close season.

Crusaders Newtownabbey Strikers

In 2006 Platt began playing for Crusaders Newtownabbey Strikers. She subsequently helped Crusaders win

Women's Premiership The Women's Premiership, also called the RFUW Premiership was the top level of women's rugby union in England until 2017. It was formed in 1990 and was run by the Rugby Football Union for Women. It was superseded in the 2017/18 season by Premi ...

titles and the 2011 IFA Women's Challenge Cup. She also played for Crusaders in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

and

2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 13th edition of the European women's championship for football clubs. The final was held at Estádio do Restelo, Lisbon, Portugal. German team VfL Wolfsburg won the title over Swedish club Ty ...

Northern Ireland international

Between 2006 and 2008 Platt played for the

Northern Ireland women's national football team The Northern Ireland women's national football team represents Northern Ireland in international women's football (soccer), women's football. Although most national football teams represent a sovereign state, FIFA statutes permit Northern Irelan ...

. She represented Northern Ireland in their

UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying Qualifying for UEFA Women's Euro 2009 determined which 11 teams joined Finland women's national football team, Finland, the hosts of the 2009 tournament, to play for the UEFA Women's Championship. Preliminary round 20 teams were divided into 5 g ...

campaign. On 18 November 2006 she came on as substitute for Emma Higgins against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and on 20 November she made a full appearance against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Sports administrator

Platt is a sports administrator. In 2003 she began working for

Carrickfergus Borough Council Carrickfergus Borough Council was a district council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymena Borough Council and Larne Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Mid a ...

as a sports development officer. Between 2003 and 2009 she served as a sports development officer for Castlereigh Borough Council. Between 2009 and 2017 she served as the executive manager of the

. Since April 2017 she has served as general manager of the Northern Cricket Union. Since 2011 Platt has also served on the Northern Ireland Sports Forum. She has chaired the Female Sports Forum and has represented the forum on the ''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media, which also publishes the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent and various other newspapers and magazines in Ireland. Its e ...

'' sports awards selection committee.

Honours

Field hockey

; Ulster Elks *EuroHockey Club Champions Challenge I **''Winners'': 2016 ;Ballymoney * Irish Senior Cup **''Winners'': 2000–01 **''Runners-up'': 2004–05, 2007–08

Association football

; Crusaders Newtownabbey Strikers * Women's Premier League **''Winners'': 2009, 2010, 2012 **''Runners-up'': 2006, 2007, 2008 * IFA Women's Challenge Cup **''Winners'': 2011 **''Runners-up'': 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015

References