Darren Cheesman

As well as previously being a member of the England and Great Britain Hockey Teams,^[3] he was also a member of the Great Britain U21 team that won Silver Medal at the 2007 Junior Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.^[4]

The former Midfielder / Forward played for a variety of teams across Europe including Oranje Zwart,^[5] Klein Zwitserland,^[6] and Laren in the Dutch League, Wellington ^[7] and Daring ^[8] in the Belgian league, and East Grinstead, Reading, Southgate, and Old Loughtonians in the English league.^[9][10] After playing in the 2005 Junior World Cup, Cheesman was signed by Oranje Zwart, a Premier League club in Netherlands. He spent a year there playing with and against the best players in the world. During his first spell at East Grinstead, Cheesman was voted 'Premier League Player of the Year'. Cheesman played an instrumental role in East Grinstead's successes both domestically and in the Euro Hockey League.^[11]

After his playing career, Darren moved into Coaching, completing his Level 3 Coaching Award with England Hockey before gaining qualifications with FIH (High Performance Coach, Coach Educator, and Trainer), as well as academically with University of Central Lancashire (PG Diploma, Masters, and currently completing Doctorate, all in Elite Coaching Practice). He is now the Head Coach of Berliner HC Men in the German Bundesliga as well as the Assistant Coach of Germany U21 Men, having previously been the coach of Laren Women in the Dutch league, Waterloo Ducks Women and Wellington Women in the Belgian league, alongside positions with England Junior National Team and Belgium Junior National Team.

Cheesman came into hockey through Arsenal FC's 'Sport in the Community' programme.^[12] It is a programme that sees the football club send coaches into local schools and communities to teach them various sports. Cheesman attended Arsenal's 'in the community' scheme and gained opportunities and life skills that have helped him reach his position today.^[13]