Phoebe Blake

my hockey background  

I started playing hockey when I was 5 with St Patricks Hockey Club in Canberra. I started playing because my older sisters played and I wanted to be like them. When I turned 9, I moved to play with Ajax Hockey Club in Goulburn and have played with them from under 11’s all the way through to first-grade women’s. In 2023 I was awarded the ‘Junior Club Rising Star’. I’ve also played for Goulburn Districts Hockey Club in the Canberra second-grade women's league in 2022 and was promoted up to the first-grade team in 2023 where I continue to play every week.  At the beginning of the 2026 season I was keen for an additional new challenge in a different city and competition. I joined the Northern District Strikers team in Sydney where I play in the first grade women’s league.

Clubs & teams

I have represented Goulburn Districts Hockey Club at New South Wales State Outdoor and Indoor Championships from under 13’s in 2019 through to the Open Women’s in 2026. I’ve been a part of multiple premierships including the 2022 under 16’s indoor and outdoor title and the 2025 under 18’s outdoor title. We were runners up in the under 16’s State Championships in 2024 and under 18’s State Championships in 2025. For the last two years I have also played in the Open Women’s State Championships. In 2026 we won the Open Women’s State Outdoor title in an undefeated tournament, I scored multiple goals including in the semi final and opened the scoring in the grand final.  

2022/2023

In 2022 I played and Captained my first Junior Australian team in the Australian Under 14’s, where we competed in New Zealand at the ANZAC Tournament and were Tournament Champions.

At the end of 2022 I was selected in my first under 15’s New South Wales representative team and competed in the Hockey Australia Indoor National Championships at the start of 2023 in Brisbane where we came third. Later that year I also played in the under 15’s New South Wales representative team at the Hockey Australia Outdoor Nationals in Darwin. This tournament is one of my favorite hockey memories, especially when I scored my shootout to help my team win the Bronze medal.  

2023/2024

In 2023 and 2024 I played in the Australian Capital Territory School Sports field hockey teams at the Australian School Sports Championships in Hobart and Adelaide which were great experiences.  

In 2024 I played in the New South Wales under 15’s representative indoor team at the Hockey Australia Indoor National Championships in Canberra. I also played in the New South Wales representative under 16’s field hockey team at the Hockey Australia Outdoor National Championships in Hobart, where we came away with the Silver medal.  

2025

At the start of 2025 I played and was Vice Captain for the under 16’s New South Wales Indoor representative team at the Hockey Australia Indoor National Championships which we won and were crowned National Champions against our long time rivals Queensland. Celebrating this achievement is one of my favorite memories.  

Later that year I played in the Under 17’s Australian Joeys Field Hockey team. We traveled to Europe and played matches against the under 17’s Netherlands team and under 17’s Belgium team before we competed in the under 18’s European Eastern Tournament. We played against Ireland, France, Belgium and Germany and I was tied highest goal scorer for my team. This whole experience still is a highlight of my hockey career. Getting to experience a world class environment really inspired me.  

2026

At the start of 2026 I played in the under 18’s and under 21’s New South Wales Indoor representative teams at the Hockey Australia Indoor National Championships. Getting to play in the age group above was a great growth experience.  

In May 2026 I traveled to California and played in the Cal Cup for the under 19’s Dragon Runners team. I loved playing in this tournament. Getting to experience and explore America really inspired me and confirmed that I wanted to play college field hockey in America.

In July 2026 I will be captaining the New South Wales team at the Hockey Australia u18’s outdoor National Championships which will be held in Darwin.  

Strengths  

My greatest strengths as a hockey player are my stick skills, my work rate on and off the ball and my vision to read the play. My stick skills, control and strength on the ball have earned me trusted and pressured positions in a number of high performing teams. I love being involved in the action and using my control on the ball to create space and options to attack, this is an important part of my game.  

My vision on the ball allows me to make crucial passes, I can use overheads to break lines and make passes on multiple angles. This means I am confident to create accurate and effective passages of play.  

I am fast, disciplined and have a very high work rate, so my off-ball movement allows me to create turnovers, intercepts, and be in positive attacking positions to receive the ball and attack forward.  

I am a specialized PCA injector and first runner in PCD’s.  

Why I want to play college field hockey  

Playing college field hockey in the USA and experiencing being a student athlete will be a totally new and exciting adventure that really excites me. It is also an opportunity that would allow me to chase my athletic, academic, and personal goals.  

Athletically I want to work towards achieving my dream of representing my country Australia, especially at the Olympics. The support system that the USA college system offers would both challenge and help me develop and grow to become the best player and athlete I can be and all going well, achieve my ultimate dream.  

Getting to train and play in the high-performance environment that the USA college system offers would be a very special opportunity.  Having witnessed international elite performance programs and seen the impact these make is incredibly exciting as we have nothing like them in Australia.  Being surrounded by other highly motivated girls and specialist coaches all pushing us at the elite level and encouraging us to grow as players, athletes and people is something I would absolutely love to experience. I am a very disciplined and driven person and believe I would thrive in this environment.  

Having the unique support that USA colleges offer to combine my athletic goals alongside my academic pursuits is very important to me. Being supported to follow my other interests while also having the support and resources to push me to play at the elite level of our sport is an amazing opportunity not offered anywhere else.