Calum Giles

Calum Giles
Personal information
Born	27 October 1972 (age 52); Portsmouth, England
Height	182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	78 kg (172 lb)
Playing position	Forward
Senior career
Years	Team
1991–1996	Havant
1996–1998	HC Klein Zwitserland
1998–1999	Southgate
1999–2000	Surbiton
2000–2005	Oxted
2006–2008	Havant
National team
Years	Team
	GB & England
Medal record
Men's field hockey
Representing England
Commonwealth Games

Calum Giles (born 27 October 1972) is a former Great Britain Olympic field hockey player, who competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.^[1] His scoring success was primarily due to his expertise at executing the Penalty corner.^[2]

Biography

Giles started his hockey career at the age of five playing for OPCS in Portsmouth.^{[citation needed]}

He made his national league debut at the age of 18 playing club hockey for Havant in the Men's England Hockey League in 1991. During his time at Havant he also coached at Worthing Hockey Club,^[3] made his International debut at the age of 23 playing for England in 1995 and represented Great Britain at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.^[1] At the 1995 European Cup Giles became the first English player to win a top goal scorer award in a major competition.

After the Olympics, Giles moved to play his hockey in the Netherlands for HC Klein Zwitserland^[4] and when he returned he joined Southgate for the 1998/99 season.

He left Southgate to join Surbiton for the 1999/2000 season^[5] and while at Surbiton, he represented Great Britain at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.^[6]^[1]

He retired from international hockey in 2000 after collecting 143 caps for England and Great Britain and scoring 110 international goals.^[7] He was England and Great Britain's highest goalscorer for over 14 years.

After retiring from International hockey he pursued a coaching career and became a full-time player-coach to Oxted. After several years he gained the club promotion to the National League for the first time in their history. Following his time at Oxted he re-joined his childhood club Havant as player-coach where he in two years he managed to take them back to the pinnacle of English hockey for the 2007/2008 season, managing to end the season 4th in the Men's Premier Division.

Following one season at Plymouth Marjon he became Director of hockey at Teddington Hockey Club, promoting the men's first team back to National league status in his first season.^{[citation needed]}

In 2014, he took on the role of Professional Hockey Coach at Eltham College. He was head of hockey at the school and ran his highly successful Stickwise hockey camps there.^{[citation needed]} In the summer of 2015, Giles was appointed Head Coach of Blackheath & Old Elthamians Hockey Club. In his first season, he successfully led this team to promotion to the South Premier League and to the final of the England Hockey Trophy. Blackheath & Old Elthamians won the trophy the following season.^[8]

In 2023, he became a coach at Worth School in Crawley, where he runs the Stickwise camps.^[9]

International achievements

1995 – European Cup, Dublin*
1995 – Champions Trophy, Berlin
1996 – Olympic Qualifier, Barcelona
1996 – Olympic Games, Atlanta
1998 – World Cup, Utrecht
1999 – Champions Trophy, Brisbane
1999 – European Cup, Padova
2000 – Olympic Qualifier, Osaka
2000 – Champions Trophy, Amsterdam
2000 – Olympic Games, Sydney

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
^ "There needs to be more creativity around penalty corners in hockey". The Hockey Paper. 23 January 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
^ "Lads at the Ready". Worthing Herald. 16 February 1996. Retrieved 30 May 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Larmour's sights set on Sardinia". Mid-Ulster Mail. 19 September 1996. Retrieved 30 May 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Four sign for Surbiton". Kingston Informer. 13 August 1999. Retrieved 30 May 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Hockey: Great Britain's Olympic squad". The Scotsman. 20 July 2000. Retrieved 30 May 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Drag flick legends: Calum Giles, Great Britain". 19 September 2015.
^ "HIGH PROFILE OLYMPIAN APPOINTED NEW HEAD COACH". Blackheath and Elthamians HC. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
^ "I was bullied at school but I genuinely look at hockey as saving my life". The Hockey Paper. 16 January 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.

External links

[oly-1] "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 May 2025.

[2] "There needs to be more creativity around penalty corners in hockey". The Hockey Paper. 23 January 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.

[3] "Lads at the Ready". Worthing Herald. 16 February 1996. Retrieved 30 May 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[4] "Larmour's sights set on Sardinia". Mid-Ulster Mail. 19 September 1996. Retrieved 30 May 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[5] "Four sign for Surbiton". Kingston Informer. 13 August 1999. Retrieved 30 May 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[6] "Hockey: Great Britain's Olympic squad". The Scotsman. 20 July 2000. Retrieved 30 May 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[7] "Drag flick legends: Calum Giles, Great Britain". 19 September 2015.

[8] "HIGH PROFILE OLYMPIAN APPOINTED NEW HEAD COACH". Blackheath and Elthamians HC. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2025.

[9] "I was bullied at school but I genuinely look at hockey as saving my life". The Hockey Paper. 16 January 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.

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