Helen Richardson-Walsh (''née'' Richardson, born 23 September 1981) is an English

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 plays as a

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

er. She has been a member of both the

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and the Great Britain women's field hockey teams since 1999, and was a member of the Great Britain team who won gold at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Early life

Helen Richardson was born in

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

, Hertfordshire and grew up in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire with her 3 older brothers. She began playing hockey at a young age, joining West Bridgford Hockey Club at the age of seven. She initially attended Uphill Primary school in Weston Super-Mare before returning to her home town of West Bridgford where she attended

West Bridgford School The West Bridgford School is a co-educational comprehensive school with academy status in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. History Grammar school The school used to be a grammar school and was then known as The West Bridgford County ...

and South Nottingham College. Richardson-Walsh started a degree course in Human Biology at

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston'' for post-nominals) is a public university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first College of a ...

in 2000 but did not complete the course.

International hockey career

Richardson-Walsh achieved 293 international caps for England and Great Britain, making her at the point of her retirement, the 5th most capped GB player in the history of the women's game. She represented Great Britain at the Sydney, Beijing, London and Rio Olympic Games. Career highlights include an Olympic Gold (2016) and Bronze medal (2012), European Gold medal (2015), World Cup Bronze medal (2010), Champions Trophy (2012) and Commonwealth Games (2002) Silver medals. Richardson-Walsh won her first England cap in 1999, at the age of 17. At age 18 she was a member of the Great Britain team at the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in Sydney, becoming the youngest female hockey player to represent Great Britain at an Olympic Games. Richardson was a member of the silver medal-winning England team at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

. After the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

she underwent three operations on her ankle, returning to the sport in 2004. Richardson won bronze medals with the England team at the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

. She competed in her second Olympics in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, where Great Britain did not advance to the semi-finals. Richardson was part of the Great Britain team that won the bronze medal at the

2012 Olympics 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 ...

in London, captaining the team for two games after regular captain Kate Walsh broke her jaw in the opening match. Between 2013 and 2014, she underwent surgery twice for

spinal disc herniation A disc herniation or spinal disc herniation is an injury to the intervertebral disc between two vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, ...

. She was left out of the England squad for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, but returned to international hockey with the Great Britain team in April 2015. In August 2015, she was part of the England team that won the

EuroHockey Nations Championship The Men's EuroHockey Championship is an international men's field hockey competition organised by the European Hockey Federation (EHF) for the top eight European national teams. It is the top division of the EuroHockey Championships. The tourname ...

for the first time, scoring a penalty in the gold medal match

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 ...

against the Netherlands. Richardson-Walsh was a member of the Great Britain team that won the gold medal at the

, the first time that Great Britain had won gold in women's hockey. She scored one of Great Britain's two penalties in the deciding penalty shoot-out in the final against the Netherlands.

Domestic hockey career

Richardson-Walsh's first club wa
West Bridgford Hockey Club
in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

which she joined aged 7. She progressed to play for Sherwood Hockey Clubs before joining Leicester Hockey Club. After the 2008 Olympics, she spent a year playing for HC Den Bosch in the Netherlands before returning to England, after which she played for Reading Hockey Club for seven years. In 2016, Richardson-Walsh announced that she would leave Reading Hockey Club with her wife

Kate Kate may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American author o ...

to join HC Bloemendaal in the Netherlands after the Olympics, and suggested that she would retire from international hockey. In June 2017, Richardson-Walsh and her wife returned from HC Bloemendaal after helping the team maintain their place in the Hoofdklasse. Richardson-Walsh announced she had signed for Cambridge City Hockey Club on a 12-month contract for the 2017–18 season. The women's team plays in the Investec Women's League, Conference East and the club is chaired by her brother Andy Richardson. In 2018, Richardson-Walsh confirmed that she would play for another season at CCHC, as well as taking on an Assistant Coaching role at the club. Richardson-Walsh became Head Coach for Cambridge City Hockey Club for the 2019-20 season. In December 2017, Richardson-Walsh and her wife

both signed for

East Grinstead Hockey Club East Grinstead Hockey Club is a professional field hockey club based in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England. It is one of the most successful clubs in the United Kingdom with National League Outdoor and Indoor honours. It was founded in 1897. T ...

for the Jaffa Super Sixes indoor hockey season.

Other career and voluntary work

Between 2012 and 2016, Richardson-Walsh held the role of a ‘Sky Sports Living For Sport Athlete Mentor’ as part of the Youth Sport Trust In July 2014 during a break from hockey caused by injury, Richardson-Walsh volunteered in Bali teaching English to fishermen and their families and participating in a coral re-building programme. As a lifelong Spurs fan, Richardson-Walsh is a patron of the Proud Lilywhites, the official LGBT association of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (2014 – current). Richardson-Walsh is also an Ambassador for Access Sport, a charity whose mission is to give more children, particularly in disadvantaged areas, access to a wide range of quality local sport (2014 – current). Richardson-Walsh was part of the commentary team for the 2017 Eurohockey championships, along with her wife Kate, which was broadcast on

BT Sport TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...

. She also provided hockey commentary and analysis for

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

and

Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport i ...

at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, and analysis for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...

on BT Sport. For the 2017–18 academic year, Richardson-Walsh joined

The Perse School The Perse School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging Day school, day and, in the case of the Perse, a former boarding school) in Cambridge, England. Founded i ...

in Cambridge as a part-time Games Coach. Richardson-Walsh was selected to be an Athlete Role Model for the Youth Olympic Games which will take place in Bunoes Aires, Argentina in 2018. She will be representing hockey and Team GB, providing workshops, taking part in Q&A session and advising young athletes. Richardson-Walsh has completed a degree in psychology with the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

. As of October 2019, she is studying for a masters in institutional psychology.

Awards

In 2009, she was shortlisted for the

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 ...

's World Player of the Year Award and has been named in the FIH World All Stars Team three times, in 2009, 2010 and 2011. In 2009 and 2010, she was named as Player of the Year by the Hockey Writers' Club In 2009, 2011 and 2016, she was awarded the Majorie Pollard Salver, making her the first player to receive the award three times. In 2009, she was named as the BOA Athlete of the Year by Great Britain Hockey. Following her Gold Medal success Richardson-Walsh has received various awards and accolades from her home city of Nottingham, including; Nottingham City Transport naming a bus after her, local Brewery
Magpie Brewery
' creating a guest ale 'Golden Hels' in her honour and receiving The Nottingham Sportswoman of the Year Award. In 2017 Richardson-Walsh also won the Sports Person of the Year in the Sport Nottinghamshire Awards. In the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, Richardson-Walsh was awarded an MBE for services to hockey. Her wife and teammate

received an OBE, making them the first same-sex married couple to be honoured in the same list. Helen and

Richardson-Walsh were awarded the National Lottery Spirit of Sport Award at the 2017 annual Sports Journalist's Association (SJA) British Sports Awards.

Personal life

In 2008, Richardson-Walsh began a relationship with her Great Britain and England teammate Kate Walsh. They married in 2013, and both adopted the surname Richardson-Walsh. In September 2019, Richardson-Walsh announced on social media that she was pregnant with the couple's first child, with the child being due at the end of the year. On 31 December 2019, Richardson-Walsh gave birth to a daughter named Pfeiffer. Both Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh were members of the gold medal-winning Great Britain team at the 2016 Olympics; this made them the first same-sex married couple to win Olympic gold as part of the same team, and the first British married couple to win gold as part of the same team since 1920. Helen Richardson-Walsh's father coaches Winscombe Ladies Hockey Club, where Richardson-Walsh's younger half-sister Gabby is a first team player. She has three older brothers, including Andy Richardson, who is the Chairman of Cambridge Hockey Club, and Steven Richardson, who plays for Wimbledon Hockey Club. Richardson-Walsh has spoken about mental health issues including her experiences of depression in 2008 and 2014.

References

External links