The silver medal-winning Tui Wairarapa women’s hockey team. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
JAKE BELESKI
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Wairarapa athletes were among the medals at the Pan Pacific Masters Games, which took place on the Gold Coast last week.
More than 15,500 participants from over 40 countries took part in the biennial event.
The Tui Wairarapa women’s hockey team won the silver medal in the 45+ competition, to go with the gold medal they won at last year’s World Masters Games.
The Wairarapa team were on a roll after winning the Wairarapa women’s two grade this season, and carried that form into the masters event.
They recorded two wins, a draw and a loss in pool play, before coming up against CCs in the semifinal.
Team member Catherine Rossiter-Stead said they may have played their final a match early, as they battled to a tense 1-0 win.
“I would say that we played our final in the semi against CCs.
“We played against current Masteroos and ex-Hockeyroos in the final, and we definitely held them and found our mojo in the second half, but they got ahead of us in the first half.”
The final score in the final against Hot Shots was 6-1, leaving the Wairarapa team with the silver medal.
Rossiter-Stead said the standard of hockey was even better than it was at last year’s World Masters Games, with the home teams proving particularly tough.
“We only ended up playing Australian teams, but there were teams there from PNG, Britain and another couple of Kiwi teams.
“The Australian teams were very good – it was a very good and competitive standard of hockey.”
Playing together throughout the Wairarapa hockey season had proven beneficial for the team, and it showed in their performances on the Gold Coast.
“We played all season in the Wairarapa women’s two grade, and won that grade,” Rossiter-Stead said.
“We played together as a team and did do some training leading up to the trip – we were really cohesive and knew how to play with each other.”
Goalkeeper Libby Paterson was voted player of the tournament for the team.
Another Wairarapa team – the Skulls cricket team from Greytown – also picked up a silver medal in the Super 8s competition.
They lost their first match of the competition, but won their next two and recorded a tie in their final match to sneak into second spot and secure a place in the gold medal match.
