PORTLAND Hockey Club’s Hookin2Hockey junior sessions began over the weekend, with the club describing it as a very successful start to a seven-week program.

The sessions, which are aimed at young kids just being introduced to the sport, will run until the beginning of April, with club representative Bec Gould saying they saw good numbers on the pitch week one.

“We got started with an in-schools program… that kind of acted as a roadshow for us to encourage the kids to get down and have a go at the sessions,” she said.

“It was pretty successful, we had about 16 kids down there having a go… they were all new faces that we hadn’t seen at the club before which was great.”

Gould said the program is open to kids with zero prior experience playing hockey, and that there are pathways available for kids who want to go on to more serious competitions later on.

“The kids we had down there were starting from scratch, so it’s really just about teaching them the basic skills,” she said.

“We’re hoping to get even more numbers this weekend… hopefully some of the kids went away and told their mates about how much fun it was.

“We’re expecting to get a couple of junior teams up and running in the Warrnambool competition… that’s open to kids as young as eight years old to try.”

Unfortunately, senior hockey has “fallen by the wayside” in recent months due to the lack of competition in Warrnambool, however, Gould said that they’re hoping to get a women’s side up and running.

“We’re looking at possibly heading over to Mount Gambier for the upcoming season, the opportunity could be there for that,” she said.

The Hookin2Hockey sessions are being held at St John’s Lutheran Primary School, 9am-10am each Saturday. Further details available at the Portland Hockey Club Facebook page.