31 Grace Balsdon

Player Caps - 138 (62 GB / 76 Eng)

Goals - 37 (12 GB / 25 Eng)

Grace made her international debut at the age of 20 when GB played the USA in San Diego, a country where she studied for a year at Maryland University. That came shortly after she was part of the GB U18 team that won European bronze in 2012 before winning the same colour medal with England at the 2014 U21 Euros.

She would have to wait another three years to make her England debut but since then has become a mainstay in both defences, featuring at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup later that year.

Alongside Giselle Ansley, the defender is a real threat from penalty corners and proved that on hockey's greatest stage as she scored three times at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. This included the winning goal in the thrilling bronze medal match against India to ensure it was GB who stood on the medal podium.

Grace was named in the GB Squad that played in Argentina for the 4th season of the FIH Pro League, where she played 3 out of 4 games and she got 50 combined GB/Eng caps.  

Outside of hockey, one of Grace’s main interests is baking while she also has a passion for collecting vinyl records.

Updated 04/12/23