Published on Thursday, January 28, 2010 by Gally

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Name: Wade Paton
Age: 23
Test Caps: 19
Test Goals: 5   

  

Name: Taine Michael Paton
Age: 21
Test Caps: 3
Test Goals: 0 (soon to change)

 

 

 

 

 

 

When did you make your debut for South Africa and who was it against? How did it feel?

Wade: I made my debut against the World Champions Germany in Randburg 2007. We pulled off a historic win beating them 5-3. Making your debut for your country is a surreal moment in any hockey player’s career.

Taine: In March 2009 against Germany! Besides the intense shaking it was one of the most powerful feelings I have ever felt before in my hockey career!!

 

Do you have any superstitions before or during games?

Wade: Yes, I have to tie my shoe laces before the warm up and then after the huddle before the game starts.

Taine: I like to warm up in a warm up shirt and only put my match on at the last minute.

 

What are your individual expectations when you attend the World Cup in India? What are the team’s expectations?

Wade: I have very high expectations for myself as it is an opportunity to play against the world’s best and it will be a measure of my ability. As South Africans we do not get too much international exposure but when we do we are dying to show the world who we are.

As a National team we want to prove to the world and most of all the people at home that we can compete at the highest level and be successful. Our aim is obviously to come away with a medal, if it was not our aim then there is no point in competing. We are a committed group of Lads, dedicated to change the face of South African hockey and the World Cup is the perfect stage.

Taine: I personally want to stand up to the “big names” of hockey and show them that they aren’t the only guys who can play this game and I want to make the most of every second I spend on the hockey pitch. We are going out there to prove a massive point to the world, that we are a team to be worried about and to earn some respect from the rest of the hockey playing nations.

 

Who have been the major role players in your hockey career and why?

Wade: My parents have been the biggest role players for me as they have had to make so many sacrifices in order for me to play the game I love. It’s hard to play this sport in our country and without my parents constant support nothing I have achieved would have been possible. My major hockey role players have been Jamie Dwyer and recently Paul Blake, who is a member of the current National team. Jamie Dwyer because of his brilliance, natural flair and ability to change the outlook of any game. His training ethic is also second to none and that is something I try to replicate both on and off the turf. Blakey as he his known to most is the most passionate man you will ever meet. He has taught me and many others to believe in the people around you and that one should not leave any rock unturned. Blakey is commitment and dedication personified.

Taine: My parents are number one! Without their sacrifices I wouldn’t have been able to get to where I am today and where I want to be in the next few years. My brother also has been setting the bar quite high and giving me great goals to aim for.

 

What has been the major highlight of your career so far?

Wade: It would be our win over Egypt in the final of the Africa Cup for Nations in Ghana 2009. The atmosphere was electrifying and the noise levels where to a point where you could not talk to the guy next to you on the field. The post match ceremony was incredible and it doesn’t get much better than celebrating that kind of victory with your best mates.

Taine: Being selected to go to the WORLD CUP! But before this it was most certainly the Junior World Cup in Singapore/Malaysia last year in June. 

 

You recently attended a camp before the team was selected. Can you tell us what a typical day at camp is like for you? The readers would also be interested in the pressures and competition for places in the team?

Wade: A typical day at camp would be getting up bright an early around 7am and then heading off to training at about 7:30am for a 2 hour training session from 8-10am. Once back at the hotel we usually have a pool session which is taken by the guy who arrives last at the pool, usually Brendan Botes. We then have some free time, usually spent watching movies, hockey games or some sort of series on our laptops and then a sleep to end off a good morning. The afternoon/early evening training session is usually from 5-7pm and is followed by another pool session or even an ice bath. Our evenings are usally spent doing video sessions on our team tactics or analysing opposition playing structures. The evening is usually ended with a cup of coffee with a few of the Lads and then bed time.

To be absolutely honest, with this group of players there is no pressure and the competiton is as clean as it gets. Everybody puts in their best efforts and supports the efforts put in by others. It creates a very relaxed enviroment when issues of selection are brought up which is exactly what we as a squad and team stand for.

Taine: Well it’s usually an early rise for a little pool session which is fairly gentle and then from there we head off for a light breakfast. We sometimes have a video session before we go off to morning training but that depends on the coach’s plans for the training. Training is around two hours long this also depending on what stage of the camp we are in, straight from there we go back to the hotel for a warm down in the pool along with a few bellyflops from the ‘back of the bus crew’. Lunch is next on the to do list and then we have a few hours in which we can relax a bit, do some video work on your games, do research for presentations that some of us are assigned at the beginning of the camp, the idea of this time is to try stay off your feet. I did find myself doing the laundry in this time though as this was my sworn duty. About an hour until our second training session we might have a presentation done for lads which is both full of info as well as quite an entertainment! Then off to our session for two hours (sometimes it’s a squad match/ match). We eat supper straight after that and then back to the hotel to catch a shower and get ready for a meeting in which we mainly do video or a presentation. Then finally bed after about an hour session and prepare ourselves for the next day, often find ourselves watching a good movie to wind down. Oh ya and in and amongst all that we play DER ball and I recently learnt that it’s an awesome game….. if you not on the receiving end of the DER ball !!

We are lucky in this team in that everyone is striding for the same goal and in order to get there we need to help each other and push each other through anything and everything. Competition does heat up quite a bit as there are a lot of really good players who can all play for our country so all the time you are looking to break the barriers and bring something new and brilliant to the team and this is where the pressure all builds up from. Guys hate it when they get a niggle and are told to rest cause they no its setting them back and that’s where we end up biting the bullet just to stay on a train that last little bit.

 

Tell us about yourself when you aren’t playing hockey?

Wade: When I’m not playing hockey you will probably find me on the beach relaxing with mates and enjoying the sun and surf. I really enjoy a good poker night now that I am getting a bit better and starting to win. I love my music but I am not into to much of the commercial stuff, I enjoy house music and live by the lyrics of a band called Bon Iver.

Taine: I love to spend time on the beach just chilling and going for a nice bodysurf and the odd bodyboard. A good movie is always right up my ally until recently I found a book which is taking up a lot of my spare time. Being a Durban guy things are always max relax  away from hockey, and we often have braai’s and poker with all our mates which is great entertainment.

 

If you could change or improve on any aspects of your game, what would it be?

Wade: I wish I could convert more of the opportunities that I am given in the circle. I really want to be known as a goal scoring midfielder.

Taine: I would like to have more speed, it just helps to be able to gain that extra two or three yards on the opponent and I would also like to improve my shooting, maybe become more consistent. There a few other things I want to improve obviously but I won’t bore you with them.

 

You have played in the Belgium league… How does playing overseas benefit you (Technically, tactically, training styles and ethics, growing as an individual both on and off the field? Etc)

Wade: I played in Belgium in the 2008/2009 season. The league was very beneficial for my own game as every weekend was a tough encounter of an IPT semi-final/final level and sometimes even higher. You play with and against some of the worlds best players week in and week out and this will only benefit one’s game. In Europe the game is very professional in terms of video work on opposition and training the way your team is going to counter the specifics of your opposition on the weekend. The training sessions involve a number of shooting drills incorporating all the basics that are needed in the game. Drills get as simple as running the ball in from the 25 yard line and smashing it at the keeper. Illustrating the importance that the Europeans hold in being able to score goals. The training sessions are like a war zone and everybody is training fill tilt ALL the time.

Living in an apartment was a first for me. Having to do cooking, cleaning and washing was a new experience and I am very glad that I have now learnt the in’s and out’s of living on your own. The friendships I made will stick with me forever and I never know when a Belgium contact will be able to help me out in the near future. I highly recommend that if anybody is given the chance to play overseas they should grab it. It is such a life experience!

Taine: I have learnt so many different ways to look at the game of hockey. The tactics are really to the point and you have to perform consistently during the game or else it’s almost like a certain loss, well that’s how they see it most times. It makes you have to really think hard on the field. They are very technical over there and I can see that it has helped me a lot in my game. The speed of the game is faster and so I had to learn to perform the skills at a higher intensity in order to achieve anything. Our training sessions are very focussed and specific, everyone is there to improve and grow as a player. We are always pushing each other to the max and there is no love lost when we are out on that pitch. There hockey culture is really intense and everyone wants to win the Championship. Big crowds come in to watch every game, it’s just a great feeling to know that people admire the skills of hockey.

Meeting all those new people and seeing how they go through their lives just kind of opens up new windows to look out at life from. All of this just gives you that extra energy and drive to work harder to get what you want both on and off the field. I’m more aware of what I do off the field so that i’m able to impress on the field. It’s a huge confidence thing! Bottom line is that my hockey has improved and got much ‘faster’ in one season there!

HockeySA.co.za would like to congratulate the Paton’s on a fantastic achievement!!!