Tambellup-raised defender Penny Squibb to play for Hockeyroos in World Cup opener against Japan

Tambellup product Penny Squibb and the Hockeyroos are in final preparations for their opening match of the FIH Women’s World Cup in Spain on Sunday.

Australia’s national women’s hockey team is competing in the World Cup in Spain and the Netherlands from July 1-17 before the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8.

The Hockeyroos squad flew to the Netherlands to prepare for the World Cup before travelling to Spain where they will play their three pool matches.

The Hockeyroos will compete in pool D and open their campaign against Japan at 3.30am WA time on Sunday, followed by a clash with Belgium on July 5 at the same timeslot.

Their final pool game will be against South Africa on July 6.

The Hockeyroos have had limited international competition in the lead-up to the tournament, with their only experiences coming in the recent four-match Trans-Tasman Series against New Zealand in which they went undefeated.

Squibb will be joined by WA players Aleisha Power and Karri Sommerville who will play alongside new and experienced players.

Hockeyroos head coach Katrina Powell said she was confident her side could perform strongly despite a lack of experience in international competition.

“From a training perspective and our matches against New Zealand, we’re in a good place to be heading over,” she said.

“It’s just hard to tell where we are really at because we haven’t had further exposure to international competition other than those matches with New Zealand.

“It’s very exciting to be heading off and getting almost a whole year’s worth of competition in the next two months.

“We have got plenty of new, younger athletes and there is still plenty of experience in the group, so I’m really excited to see how they can develop as a team and how we can maximise the strengths of each individual player.

The Hockeyroos tasted World Cup success in 1994 and 1998 with their last campaign in 2018 ending in a fourth-place finish.

Hockeyroos squad - FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain & Netherlands 2022

Jocelyn Bartram (GK), Jane Claxton, Claire Colwill, Hannah Cullum-Sanders, Madison Fitzpatrick, Rebecca Greiner, Stephanie Kershaw, Amy Lawton, Ambrosia Malone, Kaitlin Nobbs, Meg Pearce, Brooke Peris, Aleisha Power (GK), Harriet Shand, Karri Somerville, Penny Squibb, Grace Stewart, Mariah Williams