Chris Ciriello

Chris Ciriello
Personal information
Full nameChristopher Ciriello
NicknameBig Dog
NationalityAustralian
Born (1985-10-01) 1 October 1985 (age 39)[1]
Endeavour Hills, Victoria
Height182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight84 kg (185 lb)
SpouseHeidi Ciriello (2010-present)
Sport
CountryAustralia
SportField hockey
EventMen's team
ClubDoncaster Hockey Club
TeamVictorian Vikings
Punjab Warriors (2012–present)
Medal record
Men's field hockey
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2012 London Team
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2014 The Hague Team
Champions Trophy
Gold medal – first place 2010 Mönchengladbach Team
Gold medal – first place 2012 Melbourne Team
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Bhubaneswar Team
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2010 Delhi Team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Glasgow Team

Christopher Ciriello (born 1 October 1985) is an Australian field hockey player. He plays for the Victorian Vikings in the Australian Hockey League. He made his senior national team début in January 2008. He earned a gold medal at the 2010 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy and at the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, as well as a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Personal

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Ciriello is from Endeavour Hills, Victoria.[2][3] In 2004, he worked part-time at JB HI-FI and was in his first year at the Australian College of Natural Medicine where he was studying remedial therapy. That year, he lost 35 kilograms (77 lb) because of his busy personal and sport schedule that included training up to six times a week, with some days having two practices.[3] His father and grandfather were both hockey players before him, and he himself took up hockey at the age of 4.[4] He now lives in Perth with his wife Heidi Ciriello.

Field hockey

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Ciriello had a hockey scholarship with the Victorian Institute of Sport in 2004. In 2004, he was a member of Australia's U21 national team and competed at the qualifiers for the U21 Junior World Cup Oceania Qualifiers in New Zealand.[3]

Ciriello plays for the Doncaster Hockey Club.[5] He plays for the Victorian Vikings in the Australian Hockey League. He played for the team in the first found of the 2011 season.[6]

National team

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In January 2008, Ciriello made his senior national team début at the Five Nations men's hockey tournament in South Africa.[7] New national team coach Ric Charlesworth named the veteran Ciriello and fourteen players who had less than ten national team caps between them, in a bid to ready the team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.[8] In 2009, he represented the country on a tour of Europe. He competed in the third match of the tour against England where Australia won 5–4. In the game, he scored a hat trick. All three goals came off penalty shots during the first half.[9] In 2009, he was a member of the national team during a five-game test series in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia against Malaysia.[10] He represented Australia at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. In the gold medal match against India that Australia won 8–0, he scored a goal.[11] His coach Ric Charlesworth described his performance at the Games as having "taken his game to a new level".[12] In May 2011, he played in the Azlan Shah Cup for Australia. The Cup featured teams from Pakistan, Malaysia, India, South Korea, Britain and New Zealand.[13] In December 2011, he was named as one of twenty-eight players to be on the 2012 Summer Olympics Australian men's national training squad. This squad was narrowed in June 2012. He trained with the team from 18 January to mid-March in Perth, Western Australia.[14][15][16] In February during the training camp, he played in a four nations test series with the teams being the Kookaburras, Australia A Squad, the Netherlands and Argentina.[2]

Career highlight

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In 2014, Ciriello showed why he is one of the most dangerous players in world hockey and one of the best drag flickers in the history of the game. The 'Big Dog', as he is nicknamed, slotted a hat trick of goals in both the finals of the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games leading Australia to victory. At the World Cup Cirello was the second highest scorer of the tournament with 7 goals while at the Commonwealth Games he led the field with 9 goals.

Coaching

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In 2004, Ciriello coached year 9 at Wesley College in Glen Waverley, Victoria while his father Lou Ciriello coached year 10.[3]

Ciriello coached a top tier group of young female athletes at Southern River Hockey Club, based in the south of Perth, WA.

Until recently, he was Analytical coach and Manager for the National Indian Men's Team based at Sports Authority of India Complex, Bangalore, India.

References

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  1. ^ "Christopher Ciriello". bbc.com. BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Kookaburras begin their Olympic Games Campaign". Perth, Western Australia: Hockey Australia. 7 February 2012. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d Crossley, Lee (1 December 2004). "Schedule tests rising star". Leader – Doncaster Templestowe. Melbourne, Australia. p. 33. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  4. ^ "Glasgow 2014 - Chris Ciriello Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  5. ^ Ryan, Conor (6 July 2011). "Mission for 2012 – London Olympic quest drives Ford forward". Leader – Diamond Valley News. Melbourne, Australia. p. 44. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  6. ^ "Scoreboard". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney, Australia. 13 June 2011. p. 55. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  7. ^ "Bulletin Wire: Fresh faces for next Kookaburras tour". Bulletin Wire. Australia: Financial Times Information Limited – Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. 20 December 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  8. ^ "Carroll, Abbott in new-look Kookaburras". Northern Territory News. Darwin, Australia. 15 April 2009. p. 46. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  9. ^ Martin, Lisa (11 June 2009). "Bulletin Wire: Ciriello hits hat-trick for Kookaburras". Bulletin Wire. Australia: Financial Times Limited – Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  10. ^ "Charlesworth welcomes son". The Australian. Australia. Australian Associated Press. 2 October 2009. p. 37. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  11. ^ Srivastava, Abhaya (14 October 2010). "Australia rout India to win fourth men's hockey gold". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  12. ^ Craddock, Robert (15 October 2010). "That's gold, Eddie Ockenden grabs perfect prize as Indians crushed". Hobart Mercury. Australia. p. 64. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
  13. ^ Singh, Ajitpal (26 April 2011). "New Straits Times (Malaysia): Aussies look powerful despite injury woes". New Straits Times. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
  14. ^ "Kookaburras name training squad for 2012 Olympic Games". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Australian Associated Press. 14 December 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  15. ^ "FOR THE RECORD". The Australian. Sydney, Australia. 15 December 2011. p. 35. AUS_T-20111215-1-035-447690. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  16. ^ "SCOREBOARD". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney, Australia. 15 December 2011. p. 116. DTM_T-20111215-1-116-447684. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
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