Alyson Annan

Alyson Regina Annan OAM (born 21 June 1973 in Wentworthville, New South Wales) is a former field hockey player from Australia, who earned a total number of 228 international caps for the Women's National Team, in which she scored 166 goals. Playing as an attacking midfielder, she was a key member of the squad that won the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, and defended its title successfully four years later at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. She made her international debut against Korea in June 1991 at the age of 17.

Known as the "sharpest shooter in international women’s hockey" and the "best female hockey player in the world" during the 1990s, Annan first made history books at the 1998 Commonwealth Games when she became Australia's highest ever goal scorer with 110 goals. With a total number of 149 goals in just 201 international appearances she has what can only be described as a phenomenal goalscoring strike-rate. Such has been their domination since the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain that when the Australians failed to make the final of the Champions Trophy in the Netherlands in 2000 the news was met with disbelief.

Annan first came into the Australian side in 1991, but she later confessed that she did not feel comfortable in the team until the Atlanta Games, where the Hockeyroos won gold. Extraordinarily gifted, Annan was playing for Australia by the time she was 18 years old. The visionary coach Ric Charlesworth recognized her genius. To go with the Atlanta Olympic gold Annan has a Commonwealth Games gold from Kuala Lumpur in 1998, four Champions Trophy winners' medals and a host of gold medals from other international tournaments.

Annan was voted the "Best Female Hockey Player in the World" in 1999. In the following year, lead the Australian team to gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics, where she split with her former husband Maximiliano Caldas. She subsequently retired from international competition, and moved to Holland, where she met her current partner, former Dutch hockey captain and fellow Olympic medallist Carole Thate. In the Netherlands she played for HC Klein Zwitserland from The Hague. She retired in 2003, becoming the coach of Dutch league team "Hoofdklasse". In 2004 she was an assistant of Dutch Head Coach Marc Lammers at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, where Holland won silver.

In the same year Annan released her own biography called "Beyond the limits – The Alyson Annan story", which was written by Nicole Jeffrey. Her story is not without adversity. In her book, Alyson shares her personal story openly. "One of the most important things that I have learned is that failure – whether it is in your career or in your personal life – never is fun. But success doesn’t guarantee happiness. What guarantees happiness, whether you have failed or succeeded, is knowing that you gave it your best effort."

Annan and Thate had their first child in May 2007. [Hannan, Liz. "Divided in sport, united in love: two women and a baby boy". "The Sunday Age", July 1, 2007.]

International

Major Tournaments:
2000 Olympic Games Gold Medal
1996 Olympic Games Gold Medal
1992 Olympic Games 5th
1998 Hockey World Cup Gold Medal
1994 Hockey World Cup Gold Medal
2001 Champions Trophy 3rd
2000 Champions Trophy 3rd
1999 Champions Trophy Gold Medal
1997 Champions Trophy Gold Medal
1995 Champions Trophy Gold Medal
1993 Champions Trophy Gold Medal
1998 Commonwealth Games Gold Medal
1993 Junior Hockey World Cup Silver Medal

Awards

1994 Team of the Year Australian Sports Awards
1995 Team of the Year Australian Sports Awards
1996 Team of the Year Australian Sports Awards
1996 Player of the Year Australian Women's Hockey Association
1996 Player of the Series Australian Hockey League
1996 New South Wales Sportswoman of the Year
1996 New South Wales Athlete of the Year
1996 Order of Australia Medal
1997 Team of the Year Australian Sports Awards
1997 Player of the Year Australian Women's Hockey Association
1997 Player of the Tournament Champions Trophy
1998 Team of the Year Australian Sports Awards
1998 International Player of the Year International Hockey Federation
1998 Player of the Tournament Hockey World Cup
1998 Finalist World Sportswoman of the Year Women's Sport Foundation (USA)
2000 International Player of the Year International Hockey Federation
2002 Player of the Year Dutch League
2003 Player of the Year Dutch League

References

External links

* [http://www.abc.net.au/news/olympics/athletes/annan.htm Profile on ABC Australia]
* [http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/an/alyson-annan-1.html sports-reference]