Pfingst ready for Masters Hockey World Cup

The Paris 2024 Olympics may be over, but the Peninsula’s Cath Pfingst will be wearing green and gold with pride when she represents Australia at the 2024 Masters Hockey World Cup.

Pfingst will play in the over 50s team for players aged 50-55 years, at the competition to be held in Auckland from November 4-16.

Her team will face sides from Chili, Argentina, New Zealand, England and Belgium.

“I’m very excited about this one,” Pfingst says.

“I’ve played for Queensland Masters for 14 years. I’ve nominated a few times for Australia, and I previously played at the Trans-Tasman (tournament), but this will be my first World Cup.”

It’s the pinnacle of a playing career which has spanned 42 years.

“I started (playing) at primary school, just in the local school competition at Humpybong Primary School. I was a striker,” Pfingst recalls.

“A couple of years later, I joined the local club and played for Redcliffe and played for them for about 35 years. I played all different positions there.

“I have settled pretty much in the backline. I play left half. It’s my preferred position and probably the one I’m most useful at. I am quite a versatile player and have been on many a team playing other positions because of that skillset.”

These days, Pfingst plays for Valleys on Saturdays in the PL3 competition, with players aged 14-50+, and for Easts in the Monday Masters 1 competition for over 35s. She’s also the Principal at Clontarf Beach State High School.

Making Australia’s World Cup team has helped take her game to a new level.

“I’m incredibly excited, very proud, very humbled. It’s a great honour. To go away and have this experience is so exciting. I think it’s really given me a confidence I’ve always played with, but not to the point that I thought I was good enough,” Pfingst says.

“It certainly built up my confidence and I take that on the field every week now ... that I can give back to my team a little bit more.”

She says Australia has had varied success at previous Masters World Cup tournaments, which are held every second year. It’s a round-robin competition, with semi-finals and finals.

Pfingst enjoyed gold medal glory at the Trans-Tasman tournament in Melbourne in 2015 and was named in an Australian World Masters team to go to South Africa in 2020. The tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19.

“It (this year’s World Cup) is very exciting. I do remember that last time and standing there hearing the national anthem for the first time being played for you. I’m really looking forward to those aspects,” she says.

“The sport is a fantastic avenue for lots of lifelong friends and I’ve got lots of friends both from my local club as well as all across the state and now in other countries.”

Doing it for the team

Pfingst particularly enjoys playing a team sport.

“I think playing in a team, it means you’re accountable to somebody other than yourself. You’re doing it for the team, you’re turning up for the team,” she says.

“Together you win and together you lose, you take the good with the bad and I think that’s really important, so that nobody suffers individually in team sport. We’re all in it together. That’s what I really like about it.”

Her focus, as the hockey season wraps up this month, is to maintain her cardio fitness, strength and conditioning, and sprint speed so she can get off the line quickly.

“I’m quick for my age but, in reality, I can go toe-to-toe with some young girls so I’m pretty quick,” Pfingst says.

She’s grateful to the sport that has given her so much for more than four decades.

“Thank you to the community that has supported me for so long ... Redcliffe as much as Valleys and Easts because they’ve all given me opportunities to grow my skill and continue to play at the level I’m playing at,” Pfingst says.

“Whatever the outcome, it will be a positive experience.”