Elizabeth "Lizzie" Holden ( Colvin, born 4 January 1990) is a retired Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the

2018 Women's Hockey World Cup The 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup was the 14th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup, a field hockey tournament. It was held from 21 July to 5 August 2018 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London, England. Defending champions ...

final. Colvin has also won Irish Senior Cup and

Women's Irish Hockey League The Women's Irish Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by Hockey Ireland that features women's teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The league was first played for during the 2008–09 season. It replaced the A ...

titles with Loreto.

Early years, family and education

Lizzie Colvin is the daughter of Dr. Peter Colvin and Rosie Colvin. Colvin attended

Portadown College Portadown College is an academically selective, co-educational post-14 grammar school in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. History Preparatory Department Portadown College Preparatory Department was founded in 1921 as the Carlet ...

, graduating in 2008. Between 2008 and 2013 she completed a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. Colvin's brother, Chris Colvin, is a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. In 2017–18 and 2018–19 he captained City of Armagh to two successive

Ulster Senior Cup The Ulster Senior Cup is a knock-out competition for senior rugby union teams in the province of Ulster. It is administered by Ulster Rugby. The most successful club is Queen's University RFC, Queen's University with 24 wins. The current holder ...

titles. He was also a member of the Queen's University that won the cup in 2013–14.

Domestic teams

Armagh

During the 2000s, while still a schoolgirl, Colvin was a member of the Armagh team that won six successive promotions, progressing from the seventh level of the Ulster leagues to the

. Colvin was an Armagh player when she made her senior

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 ...

debut.

Loreto

While studying at

, Colvin played for Loreto. In 2008–09 she was a member of the Loreto team that won the inaugural

title. She was also a member of the Loreto team won the 2009–10 Irish Senior Cup. She also played for Loreto in the 2011–12 final. Colvin's teammates at Loreto have included Nikki Symmons, Hannah Matthews, Alison Meeke and Nicola Daly. She left Loreto in 2017.

HGC

In 2011 Colvin played for

HGC HGC can stand for: *Harvard Glee Club *Hercules Graphics Card *HGC (field hockey), a Dutch field hockey club located in Wassenaar, South Holland on the border of The Hague *HGC Global Communications HGC Global Communications Limited, formerly k ...

while on an

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

break.

Belfast Harlequins

In 2017 Colvin began playing for

Belfast Harlequins Belfast Harlequins is a multi-sports club located off the Malone Road in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. The club name provides the overall umbrella for rugby union, men's and ladies' field hockey, hockey, and Squash (sport), squash. The club i ...

in the

. Her teammates at Harlequins included Zoe Wilson and

Jenny McAuley Jenny McDonough (born 23 April 1981), also known as Jenny McAuley, is a former Ireland women's national field hockey team, Ireland women's field hockey international. Between 2001 and 2009 she made 117 senior appearances for Ireland. She has al ...

Ireland international

Colvin represented

at A level before making her senior debut in June 2008 in a Celtic Cup match against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Between August 2013 and January 2015 Colvin was an absentee from Ireland squads while recovering from an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury. In March 2015 Colvin was a member of the Ireland team that won a

2014–15 Women's FIH Hockey World League Round 2 The 2014–15 Women's FIH Hockey World League Round 2 was held from February to March 2015. A total of 24 teams competing in 3 events took part in this round of the tournament playing for 7 berths in the 2014–15 Women's FIH Hockey World League ...

tournament hosted in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, defeating Canada in the final after a

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 ...

. In January 2017 she was also a member of the Ireland team that won a

2016–17 Women's FIH Hockey World League Round 2 The 2016–17 Women's FIH Hockey World League Round 2 was held from January to April 2017. A total of 24 teams competing in 3 events took part in this round of the tournament playing for 8 berths in the Semifinals, to be played in June and July 2017 ...

tournament in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, defeating

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

3–0 in the final. On 22 July 2017 at the

2016–17 Women's FIH Hockey World League Semifinals The 2016–17 Women's FIH Hockey World League Semifinals took place in June and July 2017. A total of 20 teams competed in 2 events in this round of the tournament playing for 7 berths in the 2016–17 Women's FIH Hockey World League Final, Final, ...

, in the seventh and eighth place play-off, Colvin scored the winner in a 2–1 win against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Ireland's seventh-place finish in at the tournament eventually saw them qualify for the

. Colvin represented Ireland at the

and was a prominent member of the team that won the silver medal. She featured in all of Ireland's games throughout the tournament, including the pool games 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 ...

, India and

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 ...

, the quarter-final against India, the semi-final against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and the final 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 ...

Personal life

Occupation

Between 2014 and 2016 Colvin worked as a trainee solicitor with A&L Goodbody in

. After qualifying as a lawyer in 2017 she began working as an employment law specialist with DWF in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. Together with Gillian Pinder, Nicola Evans, Anna O'Flanagan and Deirdre Duke, Colvin was one of five lawyers in the

squad at the

Engagement

In January 2018, while celebrating her 28th birthday in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, Colvin got engaged to Matthew Holden from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The couple met in 2012 while Colvin was on a four-month visit to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Honours

;

Women's Hockey World Cup The Women's FIH Hockey World Cup is the field hockey World Cup competition for women, whose format for qualification and the final tournament is similar to the men's. It has been held since 1974. The tournament has been organized by the Internat ...

**''Runners Up'':

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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

**''Winners'': 2015 Dublin, 2017 Kuala Lumpur * Women's FIH Hockey Series **''Runners Up'': 2019 Banbridge *Women's Four Nations Cup **''Runners Up'':

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

*Women's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier **''Runners Up'':

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 ...

; Loreto *

**''Winners'': 2008–09: 1 **''Runners Up'': 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15: 3 * Irish Senior Cup **''Winners'': 2009–10: 1 **''Runners Up'': 2011–12: 1

References

External links

Lizzie Holden (née Colvin)
at

Hockey Ireland Hockey Ireland, previously known as the Irish Hockey Association, is the governing body for field hockey in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is responsible for organising both the Ireland men's national field hockey team and t ...