South Africa women’s indoor hockey captain Jess O’Connor works in the sleepwear industry, but you won’t find her napping on the court where her job is shutting down opposition attacks. 

O’Connor, 31, leads her team out in the opening match of the Indoor Hockey World Cup against Austria in Pretoria on Sunday morning hoping her side can make the quarterfinals for the first time. 

“You take the tournament as it comes,” Durban-based O’Connor said this week. “We like to believe we can make the top eight.”

They play the Netherlands on Monday (7pm), the US on Tuesday (9.40am), Australia on Wednesday (8.10pm) and New Zealand on Thursday (10.50am) before playoffs and finals on Friday and Saturday. 

“We’re looking to win three games in the group stages and then make top eight.”

Seven of the 12-strong squad also play for the outdoor team, which O’Connor did for a while some years ago, winning around 17 caps.

“I was playing such serious indoor and outdoor hockey and I was basically away for maybe 10 out of 12 months and it was just too much. I couldn’t handle it. I was also trying to start a company.”

She and mom Miranda started Home Town Sleepwear, which focuses on luxury pyjamas for women. 

“That’s what I was trying to introduce [at the time] because obviously indoor hockey isn’t professional.”

The six-a-side version might not be a paid sport, but that’s her major passion, likening it to rugby sevens. “My love is for indoor hockey ... it’s always been my first love. 

“I just love the fast pace, the intensity, it’s always exciting,” said the defender. 

“It’s a different kind of fitness. It’s very high intensity. For the period that you’re on the fitness is way more intense whereas in outdoor even though the field is bigger and you might be running longer distances, it’s maybe not as intense. It’s not so short and sharp.”

The players are allowed to bounce the ball off the boards on the side of the pitch, which is smaller than the field used for the outdoor game. 

“That’s why not everyone can play indoor hockey. You use those angles [off the boards]. I love it, I will use the board as an extra player. 

“But some people don’t read the boards the correct way and I think that’s the difference between a great indoor player and someone who just plays. 

“It is quite technical and everyone has to be able to read the boards. I can’t think I’m going to play it there and it’s going to go there. The striker has to be on the same page knowing that I’m going to pass to them behind that defender.”

Though players have set positions, O’Connor said it was crucial to be able to play other roles. “Everyone should be capable to play in any position because at any time you can be rotated into that position.”

The South African team’s best finish to date has been ninth, at the 2015 World Cup. 

The men, who have never been inside the top 10, play Australia on Sunday (9.40am), Czech Republic on Monday (8.10pm), the US on Tuesday (noon), Iran on Wednesday (7pm) and Argentina on Thursday (9.40am).