Peel switches from alpine skiing to field hockey
Cheltenham-born Peel has quite the lineage, tracing back to her great-grandfather of five generations ago, one Robert Peel.
The Prime Minister of the UK from 1834–1835 and 1841–1846 is also regarded as the father of modern British policing.
Founding the Metropolitan Police service in London led to the moniker, ‘bobbies’ – the shortened name of Robert – still used colloquially to describe British police officers.
“It used to be my fun fact at [Birmingham] University,” Peel told The Telegraph. “It’s quite unusual but it was such a long time ago that it doesn’t have an immediate impact on my sporting activities.”
Born in the historic spa town renowned for horse racing, particularly the Gold Cup held annually in March, the majority of Peel’s childhood was spent on the slopes of France where her family moved next.
A British slalom champion aged 12, Peel switched to hockey after sister Lucy had a bad crash on the slopes.
“It was a bit of an eye opener, and it made me not want to throw myself down a mountain anymore,” Peel told GloucestershireLive ahead of the Olympic Games in France.
That competitive grounding boded well, however, for her next sporting foray, one that emerged after the family moved to the Netherlands, and that would demand an ability to work in a team environment rather than the more solitary skiing.
“Skiing is quite a lonely, individual sport,” said Peel, who still enjoys regular visits back to the mountains. “It’s just you and your thoughts going down the mountain, whereas I love being in the team and that was the big appeal of hockey for me.”
So Peel joined the land of hockey superstars who, in 16 editions of EuroHockey, have won 12 of the women’s tournaments, with England and Germany taking a pair of wins each. At the 2025 edition, the Netherlands are aiming for a record-breaking fifth-consecutive title and won’t relinquish that opportunity without a tussle.
So Peel, having played previously as a junior international, was now joining the sport at the highest level.
“It is so cut-throat whereby you can keep raising your level or you will keep being called out for not being good enough,” says Peel of her time playing for Hague-based HDM.
“It’s that competitive nature. At the end of every training session, we play a game and, if you don’t win, everyone is really pissed off. It is the mindset I needed to change.”