In June this year Shepherd and his fellow teammates travelled to The Hague in the Netherlands where they played in the 60s division team.

The team were extremely successful in their venture, emerging undefeated at the conclusion of the championships.

Along the way they defeated New Zealand 4-1, Malaysia 3-2, Italy 8-0 and Belgium 4-2 in the rounds. 

They defeated Japan 6-1 in the quarter finals and England 3-2 in the semis. 

During the final against home side the Netherlands, the winning goal was scored by Shepherd in the final 10 minutes of the match taking the final score to 2-1.

“It came down to the last quarter - not much was happening,” Shepherd said.

“They (Netherlands) put through a ball, I jumped on it, ran it toward the circle... our two big forwards were being marked very tightly... I passed the ball to one of our forwards, and then he passed it back to me! I said ‘Oh well, here it goes’, so I had a shot and it went in!”

National coordinator of Australian Masters hockey and the playing coach of the Australian Men’s Masters 60s team Peter Sweeney was impressed at Shepherd’s standard of play.

“Peter had an outstanding tour and scored goals in both the semi-final win over England and again in the final in which the team defeated the Netherlands 2-1,” Sweeney said.

“The team was undefeated on the European tour, winning 11 games and drawing one. 

“The three-week tour included two test matches against Spain in Barcelona, test matches against Belgium in Brussels and against France in Lille and the World Cup.

 “Peter played in every match and his role was mainly in the midfield where his strong defensive abilities were well-used. 

“He was our number one penalty corner striker as he possesses the most powerful shot in masters hockey.

“Peter is a superb team man and relishes a challenge from any opponent.”

Shepherd is also extremely proud of his achievements.

“Being a world cup holder at my age - that’s fantastic,” he said.

“I think it’s great to be able to run around and have fun at my age.”