Double Commonwealth medallist and former captain, Ian Sloan, has introduced his resolution to retire from Worldwide Hockey having earned 141 caps in a lustrous profession.
Born in Northern Eire, Sloan adopted in his mother and father’ footsteps making 19 appearances for Eire earlier than making the change to Nice Britain and England in 2015, making his first look in GB colors throughout Take a look at Matches in opposition to Argentina.
Sloan made his Olympic debut in 2016 at simply 22-years-old and went on to make the 2020 squad in Tokyo, that includes in all of GB’s 11 matches throughout the 2 Olympic Video games.
After making simply 28 worldwide appearances, Sloan was named co-captain of GB and England in 2017 alongside Phil Roper and George Pinner, following go well with of his father Martin who captained Eire 108 occasions.
Sloan performed a pivotal management function in England’s Bronze Medal victory on the 2017 EuroHockey Championships in Netherlands, scoring certainly one of his 10 worldwide objectives in a 4-2 victory over Germany within the Bronze Medal match.
The 31-year-old continued his medal success throughout the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Video games, reaching a Bronze Medal in each the Gold Coast and Birmingham.
Sloan would additionally go on to characteristic in 4 FIH Hockey Professional League campaigns since its inaugural season in 2019.
Sloan completed his worldwide taking part in profession with 67 caps for GB and 74 for England and continued his ardour for teaching, serving to coach for Loughborough College students, Wycombe HC and Wimbledon HC, and has now began teaching within the GB arrange.
From Could 2025, Sloan has taken up the function of Coach Developer for England Hockey and might be key to coaching the subsequent era of coaches.
On his retirement, Sloan stated: “I’ve beloved being a part of the senior squad however it’s the suitable time to step away. I used to be within the squad for 10 years which is sort of an extended stint and in my previous few years, I suffered a whole lot of accidents and, because the gears progressed, I began to get increasingly more into teaching.
“Wanting ahead to what I needed to do subsequent, I felt like I used to be on the level of eager to spend most of my time teaching and nonetheless taking part in membership hockey however focussing on my household and on my teaching.
“I’ve been working with Outdated Georgians HC, as Director of Junior Hockey, doing a whole lot of teaching and as I used to be getting in the direction of the top of the season, I began to attempt to consider what different issues I might do. It was superb timing that this function as Coach Developer at England Hockey got here up. It’s the precise kind of factor that I’m very inquisitive about. So fortunately, to date, it hasn’t felt like work, it’s felt like a pastime simply you recognize speaking about teaching and speaking to different coaches.
“I positively need to thank my household. My mother and father obtained me into the game and adopted me throughout to England and I’ve been an enormous assist in my profession and all of my household consistently travelling over from Northern Eire to help me has made an enormous distinction.
“Additionally, my first membership was Cookstown Hockey Membership. and it was a tremendous place to develop up and discover ways to play the sport and a whole lot of membership members have continued to help me through the years, which I’m very grateful.”
England and GB Hockey Males’s Head Coach, Zak Jones stated: “Ian has been an integral a part of the Nice Britian and England males’s hockey squad all through and previous to my time with the squad and it was a pleasure to work with him.
“He’s an excellent hockey participant who has a deep understanding of the sport and a capability to guide, information and help others and I’ve little question that he’ll carry the identical perception and integrity into his new function as a coach developer.
“I’m positive it was a really troublesome resolution for Ian to make however he must be extremely happy with his profession and what he achieved. He was the consummate skilled and somebody who all the time carried himself with humility and dignity.
“I do know he’ll proceed to make an affect on hockey on this nation together with his varied teaching roles, and I want to want him and his younger household all the perfect on this subsequent chapter. I stay up for catching up with him once more on the aspect of a hockey pitch within the close to future.”
