Former Northcliff High learner gets national hockey team call-up

A former Northcliff High School learner and hockey player, Kirsten Paton, received a call-up to the national women’s hockey team for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

The Commonwealth Games take place in April in Australia, home to the Hockeyroos, Australia’s women’s national team.

The 21-year-old chiropractic student was surprised by the call-up for the games as last year during her national team debut she thought her inexperience might count against her. “In all honesty, I was really surprised about my selection and am still in awe,” she said.

Because of her concern about being inexperienced, she said she tried not to worry too much about making the Commonwealth team but rather focus on performing well.

“I’d really put it out of my mind and was just enjoying playing again, really content with the space that I was in. So my selection definitely came as a pleasant surprise.”

Paton said she was looking forward to the World Cup later this year as well as possibly making her debut in the Olympics. While her dreams are big, she said she was trying to take it one step at a time.

She was introduced to hockey at Constantia Kloof Primary School in Grade 3. “I didn’t really know anyone so my teacher gave me her hockey bag and stick and convinced me to play hockey.”

She said she fell in love with the sport and at that time used all sorts of household items as training beacons in her home’s lounge turned astroturf.

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While it was love at first sight, her relationship only really started to develop with the sport in Grade 10 at Northcliff when she was selected for a provincial team for the first time.

After high school at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), she said two years under coach Robin van Ginkel provided her with a crucial high-performance environment that she needed for her hockey growth.

“The coaching staff have also played a big role in my development… Funnily enough, the UJ men’s first team coach, Gareth Ewing, invested in me at the age of 16 when he selected me for the Gauteng U21 team and he has been involved ever since.”

While individuals have shaped and polished her game she said no single individual could take the credit as it had always been a collaborative effort.

Paton added that her family played and still plays a huge role in her hockey career, encouraging her when disappointment strikes and always being the voice that kept her going.