Hall of Fame - Lorraine Packham
Published Sat 07 Nov 2020
Lorraine (Laurie) Packham was an exceptionally fast, agile and skillful left winger who was an all Australian representative for nine consecutive years and captain in 1966 and 1967.
The 187th player capped for the Hockeyroos, Laurie made her debut against New Zealand in September 1960 and played a total of 28 matches and scored five goals.
She competed at two World Championships in 1963 (Baltimore) and 1967 (Leverkusen, Germany), the latter as captain and playing coach. She also played against Malaysia in 1967 and a Test against New Zealand in 1960.
Laurie was a tenacious, speedy forward with excellent passing and ball control skills. As well as scoring goals she was responsible for the setting up of countless others and was an important player in the short corner battery. A testament to her ability and skill was that she played first grade hockey for 25 years.
Her hockey prowess has been acknowledged as she became an inaugural member of the Western Australian Hockey Champions Room.
Laurie’s induction into the Hockey Australia Hall of Fame was ratified in 2019.
What she said…
“Firstly I have to say my proudest moment was being selected as captain of my country in 1967 to lead a team to a world tournament. Now to be named in the Hockey Australia Hall of Fame with all those great players before me is a very special moment in my hockey journey. Thank you.” Lorraine Packham
From those in the know…
“Laurie was a very quick and skillful left winger and a teammate at Fremantle Ladies Hockey Club. Her calm, unflappable demeanour stood her in good stead as our captain. I remember that in her day Laurie was an athlete who used to stretch before a game - way before it was the thing to do. Her induction to the Hall of Fame is richly deserved.” Wendy Pritchard (former teammate and Hockey Australia Hall of Fame Committee Member)