Penny Squibb Calls Time on International Career with the Hockeyroos

Hockeyroos defender and proud country product Penny Squibb has announced her retirement from international hockey, drawing the curtain on a remarkable green-and-gold journey that took her from the family farm in Western Australia to the Olympic stage.

The Tambellup-born backliner, who debuted for the Hockeyroos in 2018 and went on to represent Australia at major tournaments including the World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Paris 2024 Olympics, said the time felt right to step away from international duties while her love for the sport remains as strong as ever.

“I started playing because I loved the sport, and I still love the sport,” Squibb said. 

“If younger Penny was watching me play hockey now, I think she’d be like, ‘Well, that’s pretty cool.’”

Squibb’s story is quintessentially country. She grew up in the small town of Tambellup in WA’s Great Southern, where hockey quickly became the family game. 

“I started playing because my sister broke her arm, so Dad was the coach and needed another player,“ Squibb said.

“I was just that little kid on the wing that stood there and most probably just filled a spot so that we could field a team.

“There wasn’t many other sports – it was either hockey or netball – and I most probably was a bit too physical for the netball side. 

“Dad played, my brother played, my sister played – it was just a family sport. Even though Mum didn’t play as she played netball, she was the one who held everything together and made it all possible.”

As a young player, her role models weren’t TV stars – they were the men and women she watched each weekend at the local grass fields. 

“In the early stages, coming from a small country town, your role models were most probably the seniors in the group,” she said. 

“Then as you grow up, you start to see national squad members and think, ‘I want to be like that.’ 

“For me it’s always been country people. Seeing someone like a country kid make it made me go, ‘If she can do it, why can’t I?’ That’s the career I’ve hoped to have – that if a country kid sees me, they go, ‘Well, actually, if she can do it, why can’t I?’”

Squibb’s path to the top was anything but straightforward. Squibb made her first state team at 14 while still living on the farm, with her parents driving four hours to Perth for trainings and games. 

From there she progressed through state sides, junior national squads and the national development program – often on the fringes, often close, but not quite breaking through. 

“Getting into my first state team at 14 was daunting as a country kid coming to Perth,” she said. 

“You might be one or two country kids in a group of 40 or 50. Then I moved to Perth for school, played club hockey and just kept going through the state stuff. 

“I was in junior squads, national development squads, trained with the senior squad when they needed extra players – just always in and around it, but never really got to go.”

Her persistence was finally rewarded when she debuted for the Hockeyroos at the Champions Trophy in China in 2018. But even then, her career was defined by ups and downs. 

“It wasn’t until 2018–2019 that I actually started to go, ‘Hang on, I can do this, I’m really good enough,’” Squibb said. 

“Debuting at 25 meant I had a stronger sense of my abilities and what I brought to the team. I realised I wasn’t going to do some of the things other girls did, but I did things they couldn’t. That’s what makes a team – you all bring something different.”

That mindset was shaped by her upbringing on the farm. 

“Farm life’s not the easiest – you’re very dependent on the weather and a whole heap of other factors,” she said. 

“One day can be really average, but the sun comes up the next day and you’ve got to go to work, because if you don’t, it’s not going to get done.

“I think that’s where I learned perseverance and patience with my hockey journey, understanding that things aren’t always going to go to plan – it’s then how you plan to respond to it.”

Across her international career, Squibb experienced almost every emotion sport can offer. There were big-stage highs – Pro League matches in Perth in front of family and friends, major tournaments, and finally fulfilling her Olympic dream in Paris. 

“One of the memories that actually sticks out the most is a Pro League game in Perth,” she recalled. 

“The whole grass area was packed, and it was most probably the first time my extended family got to see me play on the international stage. That was one of my highlights.

“I think that is what I have cherished the most – being able to play in front of my nieces and nephews.

“Having my family there watching me while I was playing has meant something extra special to me.

“If it was them watching on TV or them in the grandstand, just knowing that they were watching and supporting has been such a highlight for me.”

Paris 2024 was another. “Paris was a very cool experience – one of those things you dream about as a kid,” Squibb said. 

“Growing up, I didn’t care what sport I went to the Olympics for, I just wanted to go to the Olympics because it’s the Olympics.” 

But Squibb also faced one of the toughest setbacks imaginable when a training injury ruled her out of Tokyo after she’d been selected in the squad. 

“Being picked and then getting injured just before we left was most probably one of my lowest moments in sport,” she admitted. 

“Instead of going to Tokyo, I came home to the farm and did sheep work with Mum and Dad. It was very grounding. It did make me appreciate Paris just that little bit extra – the first day you walk into the village, all those little things you sometimes take for granted. I really tried to just take it all in.”

Through it all, she lived by a simple, powerful reminder: “I’ve lived off the little quote of ‘become a version of yourself that your younger self looks up to’,” she said. “It grounded me to why I started playing hockey. I started playing because I love the sport.”

After the high of Paris and another rollercoaster year that included tours to India and Sydney, Squibb said her decision to retire from international hockey came after months of reflection with family, friends and coaches. 

“This year’s been a roller coaster with more downs than ups,” Squibb said. 
“For me, it was reflections over the whole year and, more specifically, the last couple of months – talking with family, friends, coaches. 

“Ultimately, it became a bit of a toss-up. The joy hockey once gave me versus the joy I was starting to find in other parts of my life.

“Slowly the joy I was finding in other parts of my life began to take over.

“I still obviously love hockey. I said to the coaches when I told them my decision that I come down to training and I’m like, ‘Am I making the right decision?’ But I think it is the right time for me to still be able to play hockey and experience hockey everywhere else in the world.”

Squibb plans to continue playing, including another stint in India’s HIL later this year, and is excited by the chance to see the sport from new angles. 

“I’ve put so much life into playing for the Hockeyroos that I think the excitement of seeing what else is out there is exciting – and scary,” she said. “Looking back on my career, I’m pretty proud of what I’ve achieved. If you’d asked me 10 years ago if I’d play this many games and at these tournaments, I’m not sure I would’ve said yes.”

Coaching and giving back to the game are high on her list. “I’m really interested in coaching,” Squibb said. 

“I want to help athletes be the best people they are first and then the best athlete they can be. If you’re a good human, you’ll be a good hockey player.” 

There will also be more time for the places and people that shaped her. 

“I love going home and going back to where it began,” she said of Tambellup and the Great Southern hockey community. 

“And if I’m not doing anything in Perth, my brother and my dad will get me down there to be an extra set of hands on the farm. Spending more time with family, my partner’s family in England, and just being a normal person again for a while will be nice.”

As she steps away from international hockey, Squibb hopes her journey can light the way for the next generation – especially those growing up far from capital-city turfs. 

“If a country kid sees that I’ve done it and thinks, ‘If she can do it, why can’t I?’ – that would be unbelievable,” she said. 

From the cold, wet grass fields of Tambellup to the biggest stages in world hockey, Penny Squibb has done exactly that – and leaves the Hockeyroos having become exactly the kind of player her younger self would have looked up to. 

“Thank you to my family, friends, teammates, coaches, and sponsors for walking beside me through every part of this journey,” Squibb said.

“I’ve been lifted, guided, challenged, and encouraged by so many of you. 

“There are too many names to mention, but every single one of you has helped shape my character, the athlete, and the person I’ve become.”