The European Hockey Federation inducted Ireland’s Nikki Symmons and Spain’s Pol Amat into their Hall of Fame at the weekend, during half-time of the men's final at the Unibet EuroHockey Championships 2015 in London.
The Spanish winger and the Irish legend are the latest additions to the Hall of Fame that includes Germany’s Natascha Keller, Spain’s Santi Freixa and Netherlands’ Teun de Nooijer. The latter three were inducted in 2013 in Boom, Belgium during the last edition of the EuroHockey Championships.
Amat earned 304 caps and scored 150 goals for Spain, representing his nation in five Olympic Games, winning silver in both Atlanta and Beijing. He also took part in nine European Championships, winning gold Leipzig, Germany in 2005.
Paying tribute to Amat, Great Britain and England goalkeeper Simon Mason said: “When Pol played well, Spain played well. He had incredible hand-eye co-ordination and when he carried the ball one-handed outside his left, he was virtually impossible to tackle.”
One of the Spaniards best moments came in the final of the 2005 European Nations Cup when he scored two goals in less than a minute to turn around a 2-1 deficit and inspire his team to gold.
Symmons, meanwhile, is a record-breaker in Irish hockey, becoming the first player to pass the 200-cap mark.
Reflecting on an international career that spanned 13 years and 208 caps – including six European championships – she said: “Every time I put on the Irish shirt gave me great memories, not always good, but the bad also served as good memories to make me who I am today.”
“I guess I gave my life to hockey for the love of the sport. There were many sacrifices I had to make and I think I inspired people by the way I went about giving it all I had on the pitch, especially near the end of my career. I was always striving to be the best I could be and to be a role model.”
And the 33-year-old is continuing to help inspire new hockey fans through her work with the FIH as a digital co-ordinator, promoting the sport to a whole new generation.
For more information on the European Hockey Federation Hall of Fame, click here.
Photo: EHF President Marijke Fleuren with European Hall of Fame inductees Santi Freixa , Pol Amat, Nikki Symmons and Teun de Nooijer. Photo by Frank Uijlenbroek.
