De Aston student turned Olympian honoured with OBE

Professor Mary Nevill heads up the Department of Sport Science at Nottingham Trent University.

While at De Aston in the 1970s, Mary Cheetham, as she was then, was a keen hockey player, helping the school team win a number of championships.

She went on to captain the Great Britain team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, where they won bronze, the first Olympic medal for the women’s hockey team.

Nostalgia 1978 De Aston hockey: Mary Nevill was part of the team which won the North Lincolnshire Championship title, for the third year in succession EMN-190101-173832001

Following her retirement, she moved into academia, lecturing and researching at Loughborough University from 1989-2013, as well as being Director of Hockey at the university for 15 years.

She was also the Director of the Institute of Youth Sport from 2001-2013 before taking on her current role.

She remains a keen sportswoman.

As well as participating in two Olympic Games, she has coached the England U21 Women’s Squad.

Currently she plays tennis seriously and competes in the British Veterans’ Championships.