Eliza Nelson

Eliza Nelson, née Eliza Mendonca ''', is an Indian field hockey player and a former captain of the women's national field hockey team of India. She received the Arjuna Award in 1981 and the Government of India awarded her the fourth highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1983.

Family

Eliza was born in a Goan family at Pune, Maharashtra. She has two brothers, Augustine and Felix, and two sisters, Irene and Salome. She married Darryl, a hockey player from Kerala, and lives a retired life in Pune. She has two daughters. Andrea is a director of a pharma firm in the US and Rebecca is a fashion designer in Mumbai.

Career

Eliza Nelson joined the Western Railway hockey team in 1977. And she played for the Indian Railways She led the Indian national team that won the gold medal at the 9th Asian Games held at New Delhi in 1982. She was also a member of the team that secured fourth place at the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics. In 2001, she became the Sports Officer of Central Railway.