DIXON Adam Graham

General
RETIREMENT PLANS
He initially planned to retire from the national team at the end of 2020, but after the rescheduling of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo to 2021, he decided to play for one more year. "I was going to retire from international hockey at the end of the year. I had made plans to do other things, but luckily I can put those on hold and throw everything into the Olympics, because representing GB as a captain has been a massive goal of mine." (newarkadvertiser.co.uk, 02 Apr 2020)

CAPTAIN
In February 2019 he was appointed as captain of the England and Great Britain national teams. "I'm obviously delighted to be given the opportunity to captain my country. With it there obviously comes a huge amount of responsibility and I feel that at I am at the stage in my career where I can give my all to the captaincy and continue to try give my best performances on the field. How I operate on a day-to-day basis changed the most. No longer can I rock up to training, worry about myself, focus on getting the best session for myself and come away from it. I now look at it in terms of where does the team need to be. I really value good, strong relationships and in team sport you can build those." (newarkadvertiser.co.uk, 02 Apr 2020; englandhockey.co.uk, 07 Feb 2019)

EXTENDED BREAK
After missing selection for Great Britain's squad at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, he decided to put the disappointment out of his mind by going on an extended break with his girlfriend to France. "I went away for five weeks with my girlfriend in a camper van in France. I could not bear to be sitting there watching us [Great Britain] without me playing, and not being able to do anything about it. That break did me the world of good." He said the break not only helped him recover his focus, but the 2012 non-selection gave him greater motivation to be part of the Great Britain squad for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. (express.co.uk, 15 Jul 2013)

EARLY DAYS
He realised he had a talent for the sport when, at age eight, he was asked to represent Nottinghamshire's U14 team. "It was totally unexpected, but I came to realise that coaches must have seen some potential in me." (davidlloyd.co.uk, 12 May 2012)