Russell Garcia (field hockey)

Russell Simon Garcia (born June 20 1970)in Portsmouth, England. is a former international field hockey player, who won the golden medal with the British squad at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. At the age of eighteen years and three months Garcia was – and still is – the youngest Olympic champion from Great Britain in history. He played international hockey between 1988-2000, awarded his first cap aged seventeen. He was invited back into the British team in January 2004 to try and strengthen the squad preparing for the Athens Olympics, being cut in the final selection period. Garcia played over 300 games and scored more than 70 goals for England and Great Britain. In 1998 he was nominated by the FIH for "World Best Player of the Year".

Garcia also competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics and in the 1996 Summer Olympics. He played club hockey in England, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. Between 1993 and 1996 Garica was player coach at Real Club de Polo Barcelona. 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). Between 1996 and 1998 Garcia played for HDM, a Dutch field hockey club based in Den Haag. During his time in Holland he coached the youth under 18 boys team of Leiden to the national field playoffs and becoming national indoor champions. Between 1998 and 2000 he played in Germany. Garcia won two German league titles and one German cup winners medal with Harvestehuder THC. At the age of 36 Garcia is currently player coach of GrossFlottbek. He has taken Flottbek from the second bundes league to the first bundes league. He tested positive for the consumption of cocaine on December 2 1999Fact|date=October 2007, and was immediately suspended for three months by the Great Britain Olympic Hockey Board as well as by the German Hockey Board.

References

* [http://www.olympics.org.uk/athleterecord.aspx?at=1325 British Olympic Committee]