Cathy Gilliat-Smith


Cathy Nicholson is an English international field hockey player who played as a forward for England and Great Britain.
She currently plays club hockey in the Investec Women's Hockey League Premier Division for East Grinstead.

Personal life

Cathy Gilliat-Smith was born in Sevenoaks, Kent and attended Tonbridge Grammar School between 1992 and 2000, after which she then attended Loughborough University, graduating with a degree in sports science in 2004.
In November 2011 she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, and remarkably returned to playing hockey only about 4 months later, in early 2012, for Sevenoaks Hockey Club in the England Hockey National League.
On 4 July 2015, Cathy married her partner of 15 years, Trevor Nicholson.
She is a qualified teacher and currently a full-time teacher at Sevenoaks School, Kent. She is the assistant to the Housemaster of Johnsons House and teaches PE and Design as well as tutoring the Middle School boys of Johnsons.

Career

Gilliat-Smith was selected for the England Women's U21 squad to play in the Junior Nations Cup in 2002 European Junior Nations Cup in Jaen, Spain and was a member of the England U21 squad that toured South Africa in early 2001.
She made her senior international debut for England in 2002. With the English team at the Eurohockey Nations Championships she won bronze medals twice: in Dublin she in 2005 and in Manchester in 2007. She was also in the squad that won a bronze medal in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
She has also played for a number of top Investec Women's Hockey League clubs including Loughborough Students, Chelsmford, Canterbury and Sevenoaks Hockey Club.