Rechelle Hawkes AM was born in Albany, WA in 1967 and is Australia’s most successful hockey player, winning three Olympic Gold Medals (1988, 1996, 2000), two World Cups (1994, 1998) and five Champions Trophies.

Her hockey journey started at the age of six as a junior in the Northam Saturday morning competition, while also paying for Wundowie Primary School. She first played on the left wing wearing number 15.

In Rechelle’s junior primary school years, she attended a coaching clinic in Northam conducted by John Leece, a legendary coach in WA and an Hockey Australia Award of Merit recipient. With hair down to her shoulders and wearing black football shorts and a Royals top, Leece mistakenly took Rechelle for a boy, saying to her mum at the end of the clinic, “Your boy has very good skills and will be a very good hockey player in the future.” Fair to say there was a look of surprise when Rechelle’s mother said that boy was in fact her daughter.

Selection in the U16 WA state team followed, before she made the WA Under 21 team and newly formed Western Australia Institute of Sport team in 1984.
Rechelle was first selected for the Hockeyroos in 1985 by then coach Brian Glencross.

While also featuring for Australia’s Under 21 women’s team in 1986 and 1987, Rechelle went on to enjoy a decorated 16 year international career before retiring after the Olympic Gold Medal Match in Sydney in 2000. Her longevity in the game underlined Rechelle’s dedication to her fitness and wellbeing over the 16 years of travelling the world playing international hockey.

Rechelle captained or co-captained the Hockeyroos for eight years during her long and distinguished career that concluded after 279 international matches and 54 goals.

Aside from winning three Olympic Hockey Gold medals, another of Rechelle’s Olympic highlights was reading the Athletes Oath at the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics in front of a live audience of over 80,000 and a television audience of hundreds of millions. It is an honour she is immensely proud of.

Rechelle was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Hockey Australia Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2016 she became a Hockey Australia Legend.

She was also awarded the Medal of the order of Australia (OAM) after the Hockeyroos’ 1988 Olympic gold medal, followed by becoming a Member of he Order of Australia (AM) in 2018.

Rechelle’s successful playing record for Australia in terms of Gold Medals won is unlikely to be ever repeated. Without doubt she is a Hockey Legend and deserves her place among the greatest who have played the game for Australia.