Alessia Padalino
Dutch-Italian field hockey player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alessia Doriana Padalino (born 26 April 1984)[1] is a Dutch–Italian former field hockey player.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Alessia Doriana Padalino | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 26 April 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Field hockey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Klein Zwitserland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Personal life
Alessia Padalino was born in The Hague, Netherlands to a Dutch mother and Italian father.[2] She has an identical twin sister, Chiara, who also plays hockey and was her teammate for Italy.[3][4]
Career
Netherlands
Under–21
Padalino first represented the Netherlands Under–21 team in 2002, at the EuroHockey Junior Championship held in Alcalá la Real, Spain.[5] She went on to represent the team again in 2004 at the next EuroHockey Junior tournament in Dublin, Ireland, winning gold medals at both events.[6]
In 2005, Padalino won a bronze medal at the Junior World Cup, her last performance for the Dutch junior side.[7]
Senior National Team
Following her success in the juniors, Padalino debuted for the senior national team in 2003. She never represented the side at a major tournament, rather a series of test matches in her four-year career with the team. During this time she achieved 14 caps and 1 goal.[8]
Indoor
As well as field hockey, Padalino also represented the Netherlands in indoor hockey, most notably winning gold at the 2007 Indoor World Cup in Vienna, Austria.[9]
Country Change
After representing the Netherlands for 5 years in junior and senior competition, Padalino made the switch to the Italian team in 2010. After not receiving a call-up to the Netherlands senior team for almost four year, Padalino received a call from Italian coaching staff asking her to represent the national team.[2] She made her first appearance for Italy, her father's home country, in November 2010 in a test match against Argentina.[4]
Italy
Senior National Team
Following her debut for Italy in 2010, Padalino maintained selection in the team until 2013, when she retired from international competition.[10]
Padalino's most notable performance with the team was at the 2011 Champions Challenge II in Vienna where she won a silver medal, losing 2–1 to Belgium in the final. During the competition she scored 4 goals, including their only goal in the final.[11]
Her final appearance for Italy was during the Hockey World League, at a Round 2 event in Valencia, Spain.[12]