Croker travelled around Europe visiting countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

"It was exciting, we played local teams in the Netherlands, then versed France, Ireland, Germany and Belgium," she said.

The Australian side won against the two local Netherland teams as well as France and Ireland.

Croker said she met her team mates only two weeks prior to flying to Europe together.

"Considering most teams have been training together for the past 12 months in preparation for this competition, and we only had two weeks I think we played really well," she said.

According to Croker, the Australian team has always placed forth in the competition, so it was exciting to actually medal this year.

"We actually placed this year which was such a huge achievement for our team," she said.

As the team goalie, Croker shared responsibilities with another team mate, playing 2 quarters a game each so it was even.

The Australian team also got the opportunity to train under Alyson Annan-Thate, who is the current Dutch Women's Team coach as well as FIH Coach of the Year. Annan-Thate was an incredibly talented player for the Hockeyroos over many years, with many gold medals to show for her efforts.

"She was voted the number one coach in the world, and coaches the best team in the world. She was very strict and hard, if we did something wrong you went for a run, if she caught you walking you would run," she said.

"I definitely learnt some new skills from her."

Croker said something she would take from the experience was becoming a stronger player.

"It was my only time playing and representing my country internationally against strong teams," she said.

"I also made a lot of friends interstate that I hope I can meet again."

Croker enjoyed two and a half weeks of sight seeing, including places like Anne Franks House, visiting WWI battlefields in Belgium and France and going on canal cruises.

"It was a pretty cool experience," she said.

Croker said her favourite place to visit was the Netherlands due to its beautiful scenery.

"We stayed in Harlem off Amsterdam and it was really quiet and pretty, it just felt like a little village," she said.

Croker said after this experience she would like to continue to play internationally.

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"Hopefully I can join the Australian junior squad or one day even the Hockeyroos, as well as continuing to play here [Lithgow] and at a state level," she said.

Crokers mother and grandmother accompanied her on the trip and wanted to thank them for their support.

"I need to thank my parents because it is a long time away from home and work and their support means the world," she said.

"Also my coach, without her guidance and pushing us we wouldn't have performed as well as we did."

Despite coming third out of four teams, Croker said the games were extremely close.

"The Netherlands which is the top team only beat us 2-1 and it was nil all at half time, same with Germany, it was one all until the last six minutes of the game, so it was always very close it wasn't like we lost six nil," she said.

"We lost those matches but they still felt like a win because we performed really well."

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