2014 Northern Territory Athlete of the Year, Brooke Peris made her Olympic debut in Rio as a member of the Australian women’s hockey side.
The Aussies had a tough start to their 2016 Olympic campaign, going down 2-1 against both Great Britain and the USA in their opening two pool matches. Despite this disappointment, the side went on to secure three consecutive wins against India, Argentina and Japan, leaving them to face Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in the quarter-final. Hopes of a medal finish were dashed as the Aussies went down 4-2 to the Kiwis, leaving the ladies to finish in sixth place.
The Darwin-born forward is the cousin of former Olympic Hockeyroo gold medallist, Olympic athlete and Australian Senator Nova Peris. Nova was the first Indigenous athlete to win an Olympic gold medal at the Atlanta 1996 Games and is big influence in Brooke’s sporting career.
In 2013, Brooke made her international debut when she won gold at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival with a 2-1 victory over China. The same year she won gold at the Oceania Cup in New Zealand and silver at the World League Finals in Argentina.
Brooke won gold at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and became an internet sensation whilst in Great Britain after capturing a ‘selfie’ with the Queen in the background with retired teammate Jayde Taylor.
Since her Olympic debut in Rio 2016, Brooke has been a member of the silver medal-winning team at the 2018 Champions Trophy and Commonwealth Games, as well as the 2019 Oceania Cup and FIH Pro League.
She became a two-time Olympian as part of the Hockeyroos squad that travelled to Japan for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (in 2021), an undefeated group stage for Australia was followed up by a tense quarter-final loss against India, which ended 1-0.
Brooke’s 2022 season was wrecked by a serious quad injury, which meant she missed the World Cup and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
The veteran striker was back in the team in 2023 when the Hockeyroos finished third in the Women’s International Pro League, before clinching a place at the Paris Olympics by winning the Oceania Cup series against New Zealand.
Brooke scored in the 34th minute of the 3-0 win in the opening and popped up again to score in the 3-2 victory in the final game. With a 1-1 draw in game two, Australia claimed the series 2-0 and secured their place in Paris.
“We’re over the moon. I’m so proud of the girls … we played so deadly today,” Brooke said after the final game. “We came into the series with a goal and we achieved it today so I’m really happy.”
“We knew the Black Sticks were going to come out hard and we just stuck to our processes and got the job done.”
Brooke shares a special friendship with indigenous teammate Mariah Williams.
“We always do this little handshake before each match, saying who we are, and it is kind of cool,” she said.
Courtesy AOC
