Russell Simon Garcia (born 20 June 1970) is an English

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 ...

coach and a former England & GB

player. He won a gold medal with

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

at the age of 18 years 3 months, making him Britain's youngest ever Olympic champion. Garcia also competed in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

and

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Biography

Garcia was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, England. He played club hockey for

Havant Havant ( ) is a town in the south-east corner of Hampshire, England. Nearby places include Portsmouth to the south-west, Southampton to the west, Waterlooville to north, Chichester to the east and Hayling Island to the south. The wider borough ...

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 ...

and played international hockey from 1988 to 2000 and was awarded his first cap aged 17. While at Havant he won his Olympic Gold medal in 1988, played in the

1990 Men's Hockey World Cup The 1990 Men's Hockey World Cup was the seventh edition of the Hockey World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national field hockey teams organized by the FIH. It was held in the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan from ...

and went to his second Olympics in 1992. Between 1993 and 1996 he was player coach at

Real Club de Polo de Barcelona Real Club de Polo de Barcelona () is a country club in Barcelona, Spain. Established in 1897, it had 9000 members at the time of the 1992 Summer Olympics. Normally used for polo, field hockey, tennis, squash, and swimming by its members. the clu ...

. Between the ages of 23-26 he took his Spanish club team to two European Cup Winners tournaments, 1995 winning a bronze medal in Italy, and three cup finals (Copa del Rey). After his third Olympics Garcia switched from Spain to the Netherlands to play for

Haagsche Delftsche Mixed Haagse Hockeyvereniging "Haagsche Delftsche Mixed", commonly known as hdm, is a Dutch professional field hockey club based in The Hague, South Holland. The club was founded on 8 February 1908, when students from Delft wanted to play hockey with th ...

, a Dutch field hockey club based in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. During his time in the Netherlands he coached the youth under 18 boys team of Leiden to the national field playoffs and becoming national indoor champions. While at HDM, he represented

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 won a bronze medal in the men's hockey, at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ( Malay: ), officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games (Malay: ), were a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 1998 games were the first held in Asia and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th cen ...

in Kuala Lumpur and participated in the

1998 Men's Hockey World Cup The 1998 Men's Hockey World Cup was the ninth edition of the Men's Hockey World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national field hockey teams organized by the International Hockey Federation. It was held alongside the women's to ...

. Between 1998 and 2000 he played in Germany, where he won two league titles and one cup winners medal with Harvestehuder THC. Also in 1998 he was nominated by 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 ...

for World Best Player of the Year. He was invited back into the British team in January 2004 to try and strengthen the squad preparing for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, being cut in the final selection period. At international retirement he had played 307 games ( arecord at the time) and scored more than 70 goals for England and Great Britain. His 307 caps record was surpassed by

Barry Middleton Barry John Middleton (born 12 January 1984) is a British field hockey player. He played as a midfielder and forward for England and Great Britain and is the most capped British hockey player in history and captained his country for many years. ...

during 2014. Garcia was appointed Head Coach of

HC Bloemendaal Hockey Club Bloemendaal (), commonly known as Bloemendaal, is a Dutch professional field hockey club based in Bloemendaal, North Holland. It was established on 26 April 1895, and is one of the oldest field hockey clubs in the Netherlands. Originall ...

in Netherlands between June 2012 and 2016. Bloemendaal won the European Hockey League in 2013 and came second in the Hoofdklasse in 2014. In July 2016 he was appointed Head Coach of Der Club an der Alster, Hamburg, Germany. At International level Garcia was head coach of the

Scotland men's national field hockey team The Scotland men's national field hockey team represents Scotland in men's international field hockey competitions, with the exception of the Olympic Games when Scottish players are eligible to play for the Great Britain men's national field hock ...

between 2008 and 2011. He also worked as assistant coach for the Netherlands, Germany, England and Great Britain. In 2018 Garcia helped England to 4th place at the World Cup in Bhubaneswar.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Russell 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Portsmouth English male field hockey players English field hockey coaches English Olympic competitors Olympic field hockey players for Great Britain British male field hockey players Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Field hockey players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1996 Summer Olympics 1994 Men's Hockey World Cup players 1998 Men's Hockey World Cup players English sportspeople in doping cases Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in field hockey Place of birth missing (living people) Olympic medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Real Club de Polo de Barcelona players Harvestehuder THC players Haagsche Delftsche Mixed players English expatriate field hockey players Havant Hockey Club players Field hockey players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games 1990 Men's Hockey World Cup players Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games English expatriate sportspeople in Germany English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands English expatriate sportspeople in Spain Men's Euro Hockey League–winning coaches