John Jackson (born 21 February 1986) is an Ireland men's field hockey international. He was a member of the Ireland team that won the bronze medal at the

2015 Men's EuroHockey Nations Championship The 2015 Men's EuroHockey Championship was the 15th edition of the men's EuroHockey Nations Championship, the biennial international men's field hockey championship of Europe organised by the European Hockey Federation. It was held from 21 to 29 A ...

. He also represented Ireland 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 ...

. At club level, he has played for both Loughborough Students and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

in the

Euro Hockey League The Euro Hockey League is an annual field hockey cup competition organized by the EHF for the very top field hockey clubs in Europe. The competition was launched at the start of the 2007-08 field hockey season when it merged and replaced the men ...

. He also won the EHA Cup with Reading in 2014–15.

Early years, family and education

Jackson's father, Peter Jackson, has been involved in hockey since the 1970s as a player, coach, manager, administrator and supporter. He played for

Collegians Collegians are an Australian rugby league football team based in Wollongong, New South Wales, Wollongong. The club are a part of Country Rugby League and compete in the Illawarra Rugby League premiership. Originally known as CBC Old Boys, the c ...

, Parkview and

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, south-east of Oldham and east of Manchester. The town grew ...

. Between 2003 and 2018 he served as the Ireland men's national field hockey team manager. Jackson's mother also acted as the team doctor at the

2014–15 Men's FIH Hockey World League Semifinals The 2014–15 Men's FIH Hockey World League Semifinals took place in June and July 2015. A total of 20 teams competing in 2 events took part in this round of the tournament playing for 7 berths in the Final, played between 5–13 December 2015 in ...

. Between 1997 and 2003 John Jackson attended Ballyclare High School. Between 2003 and 2004 he attended the

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today ...

. Jackson subsequently attended

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

where he completed a degree in Ergonomics. In 2013 Jackson married Rachel Arnold, a fellow graduate of Loughborough University. She works as a sports psychologist in the Department for Health at the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

. She is also field hockey player and has played for Team Bath Buccaneers, Loughborough Students and Clifton.

Domestic teams

Mossley

Jackson began 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 ...

as a four-year old at

He continued playing for Mossley until he left for

in 2004. He returned to Mossley during the 2010–11 season while working for

Sport Northern Ireland Sport Northern Ireland, officially the Sports Council for Northern Ireland, is the regional government sports council (funding body) for Northern Ireland. Its head office is based, near Barnett Demesne, at the "House of Sport" on Upper Malone ...

. In December 2017 he returned to Mossley and helped them reach the final of the Kirk Cup.

RBAI

In 2003–04, together with

Paul Gleghorne Paul Gleghorne (born 11 April 1987) is an Ireland men's national field hockey team, Ireland men's field hockey international. He was a member of the Ireland team that won the bronze medal at the 2015 Men's EuroHockey Nations Championship. He al ...

and Michael Watt, Jackson was a member of the

team that won the

McCullough Cup The McCullough Cup is a hockey competition. It is an annual tournament played for by schools affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Hockey Association. The competition is held in the winter term of each school year, with the older Burney ...

, the

Burney Cup The Burney Cup (Ulster Schoolboys' Senior Hockey Cup) is an annual competition involving the strongest schools affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Hockey Association. The competition is held in the spring term of each school year and pr ...

and the

All Ireland Schoolboys Hockey Championship The All Ireland Schoolboys Hockey Championship is an annual competition involving the strongest schools affiliated to Hockey Ireland. The competition is held in the Autumn term of each school year and 16 teams across the island compete. Banbridge ...

Loughborough Students

Between 2004 and 2010 Jackson played for Loughborough Students. Jackson captained Loughborough Students and was named player of the year in 2005–06 and 2009–10. Together with

, he also played for Loughborough in the

2007–08 Euro Hockey League The 2007–08 Euro Hockey League was the inaugural season of the Euro Hockey League, Europe's premier club field hockey tournament organized by the EHF. The final was played between UHC Hamburg and HGC at the Hazelaarweg Stadion in Rotterdam, ...

Braxgata

Between 2011 and 2013 Jackson played as a professional for Braxgata in the Men's Belgian Hockey League.

Reading

Between 2013 and 2016 Jackson played for

in the

Men's England Hockey League The Men's England Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by England Hockey that features men's teams from England and Wales. Format Regular season There are 62 teams in the league, the top tier consists of a Premier Division of ...

. Together with Chris Cargo, he also played for Reading in the 2013–14 Euro Hockey League. In 2014–15, Jackson helped Reading win the EHA Cup.

Team Bath Buccaneers

In 2016 Jackson began playing for Team Bath Buccaneers in Tier 2 of the

(MEHL). In the autumn of 2019, Jackson suffered the second hockey-related skull fracture of his career, during training with the Buccaneers; by January 2021, he had recovered enough to return to training with the team, preparing for competition in Tier 2 of the 2021–22 MEHL season.

Ireland international

Jackson made his 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 ...

in June 2006 against

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 ...

. He was a member of the Ireland teams that won the 2009 Men's EuroHockey Nations Trophy and the 2011 Men's Hockey Champions Challenge II. Jackson also helped Ireland win

Men's FIH Hockey World League The Men's FIH Hockey World League was an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation. The league also served as a qualifier for the 2014 Men's Hockey World Cup, 2014 and 2018 Men's Hockey World Cups an ...

tournaments in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. Jackson captained Ireland at the

2013 Men's EuroHockey Nations Championship The 2013 Men's EuroHockey Championship was the 14th edition of the men's EuroHockey Nations Championship, the biennial international men's field hockey championship of Europe organized by the European Hockey Federation. It was held alongside the ...

and he scored the equaliser in a 3–3 draw against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. This draw secured Ireland's place in the top level of

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 ...

. He has since captained Ireland over forty times. He was also a member of the Ireland team that won the bronze medal at the

. He also represented Ireland at the

. In June 2017 Jackson was a member of the Ireland team that won the Hamburg Masters, defeating

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

4–2 in the final. In July 2019, during a two-match series against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, Jackson became the third Ireland men's international, after Eugene Magee and Ronan Gormley, to make 250 senior appearances. In December 2021, having already returned to his Bath Buccaneers club from an autumn 2020 skull fracture, Jackson was a member of the Irish side that played three indoor friendlies against

Coaching and teaching

Throughout his field hockey playing career, Jackson has also worked as coach. Between 2004 and 2010, while attending

he coached several university teams. During this time he also coached at Ratcliffe College. Between April 2010 and September 2011, Jackson worked for

as an 'active communities' coach, coaching elderly, disabled and youth groups. Between 2011 and 2013, while playing for Braxgata, he served as an assistant coach of the women's first eleven and as head coach of the under-16 girls team that won a 2012–13 national championship. In September 2013 he was appointed senior hockey coach at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

, and began coaching youth teams at Marlborough Hockey Club. In 2016 he was appointed head of hockey at

Prior Park College Prior Park College is a co-educational public school for both boarding and day pupils in Bath, south-west England. Its main building, Prior Park, stands on a hill overlooking the city and is a Grade I listed building. The adjoining Prior P ...

, Bath, where he also teaches academic

Physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

. He also began coaching the University of Bath Hockey Club women's first eleven.

Honours

;

*Hamburg Masters **''Winners'': 2017 *

Round 1 **''Winners'': 2012 Cardiff *

Round 2 **''Winners'': 2015 San Diego **''Runners up'': 2013 New Delhi * Men's FIH Series Finals **''Runners up'': 2019 Le Touquet * Men's Hockey Champions Challenge II **''Winners'':

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

**''Runners up'':

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

* Men's EuroHockey Nations Trophy **''Winners'':

*Men's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier **''Runners up'':

*Men's Hockey Investec Cup **''Runners up'':

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

;

* EHA Cup **''Winners'': 2014–15 ;

* Kirk Cup **''Runners up'': 2017 ; RBAI *

**''Winners'': 2003–04 *

**''Winners'': 2003–04

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, John 1986 births Living people Academics of the University of Bath Irish field hockey coaches Ireland international men's field hockey players Male field hockey players from Northern Ireland Irish male field hockey players British male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players for Ireland Field hockey players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Loughborough Students field hockey players Reading Hockey Club players Team Bath Buccaneers Hockey Club players Men's England Hockey League players Men's Belgian Hockey League players Male field hockey midfielders Male field hockey defenders Irish expatriate field hockey players Irish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Field hockey players from County Antrim People educated at Ballyclare High School People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution Alumni of Loughborough University TeamBath coaches 21st-century British sportsmen