UJ athlete helps SA qualify for the Hockey World Cup

The national women’s hockey team will be heading to the 2022 Women’s FIH Hockey World Cup in July after a successful 2022 Women’s Hockey Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

One of the standout players from the tournament was the University of Johannesburg’s chiropractic master’s student Kristen Paton who helped her side win their eighth Hockey Afcon title in Ghana.

Paton said, “It was the first competition for the year after a long break for me in my personal capacity. My goal was to be simple and ease back into competitive play. It functions as a good springboard for the rest of the year. I was not particularly happy with my performance and felt it was below my standards, but given that I had taken time to deal with aspects of my life outside of hockey, I was satisfied. It lit up the highly competitive athlete in me again which was something that I felt I lost after the Tokyo Olympic Games.”

The 2022 Women’s Hockey Africa Cup of Nations was the eighth edition of the Women’s Hockey Africa Cup of Nations, the quadrennial international women’s field hockey championship of Africa organised by the African Hockey Federation. In February 2021, it was announced that the tournament would be held alongside the men’s tournament at the Theodosia Okoh Hockey Stadium in Ghana. The South African women’s team beat Ghana 3–1 in the final.

The South African team along with Paton are now turning their energy and attention to the World Cup which will be hosted by Spain and The Netherlands.

Paton said, “We have a much younger squad than we have previously taken to big international competitions. So, we are in a very different phase. That being said, I think yes we can be competitive and addressing the consistency I’ve spoken about will depend on preparation and exposure to international hockey in the build-up. Younger players need the chance to be exposed to a high level of hockey and as a team, we need opportunities for playing more games together.”