Mark Pearson

Biography

Mark Pearson has more than 280 senior national team caps since making his debut in 2005. At just 21-years-old, he was the youngest member of the Canadian field hockey team at Beijing 2008. During the leadup to those Games, he sustained a serious hand injury which required two surgeries and eight months of rehab to fully recover so he could make his Olympic debut. He had a career highlight at the 2009 Pan American Cup where Canada beat Argentina in overtime in the semifinal and then the United States in overtime in the final to win the gold medal and qualify for the 2010 FIH World Cup.

Pearson helped Canada win back-to-back silver medals at the Pan Am Games in 2011 (Guadalajara) and 2015 (Toronto), scoring two goals in the latter tournament. Just a few weeks before those home Pan Am Games, Pearson scored twice in the quarterfinal shootout victory over New Zealand in the FIH World League Semifinals which would end up qualifying the team for Rio 2016. In his second Olympic appearance he started all five of Canada’s games, scoring one goal. He has also competed in four Commonwealth Games and made his second FIH World Cup appearance in 2018 where he led the team in scoring. 

At the Lima 2019 Pan Am Games, Pearson was second on the team in scoring with six goals but ruptured his Achilles tendon in the gold medal game against Argentina as Canada wound up taking home their third consecutive silver medal. The injury required surgery and, once again, Pearson was in jeopardy of missing an Olympic Games. But the one-year postponement because of the COVID-19 pandemic gave him the time needed to properly rehab and return to full health. At Tokyo 2020, Pearson was Canada’s leading scorer with three goals in five games. 

A Little More About Mark

Getting into the Sport: Started playing field hockey at age 8… His parents had met at a field hockey club in Vancouver and he was always around a pitch growing up… Drawn to the sport because it combined aspects of two of his favourite sports growing up, ice hockey and soccer… Outside Interests: Graduated from the Johan Cruyff Institute in August 2015 with his Masters in Sports Management… Has a Bachelor of Arts in History from UBC… Enjoys playing fantasy football, golfing, fishing, tennis, hiking, podcasting… Odds and Ends: Favourite motto: “Potential only transforms through discipline”… Pre-game ritual includes taping three white stripes on his stick just below the grip… Nicknames: Marky, Pearso… Collects coffee beans from his travels… Has wanted to compete for Canada since watching Donovan Bailey win gold at Atlanta 1996…