Juniors sticking with hockey in Tasmania

TASMANIA’S reputation as a hockey state continues to build with the sport recording strong growth in participation.

The Hockey Tasmania Stick2Hockey program for children aged six and over has had a 22 per cent increase in participation, with junior club participation up 8 per cent.

Youngsters are becoming hooked on the sport, with the number of players going on to register and play regularly with a hockey club increasing by 10 per cent.

Hockey Tasmania general manager Bob Gregory says the figures show the sport’s combination of fun, fitness and friendships is helping parents get children active.

“Our 2017 figures shown that hockey in have Tas- mania is on the right track. What was very pleasing is that growth occurred across the South, North and North-West Coast,” Gregory said.

The sport is almost split evenly between male and female participants. Gregory said Hockey Tasmania was focused on ensuring ongoing participation beyond school years.

“Our player projections are pointing to us needing to seek investment in a fourth playing surface in Hobart in the future to ensure the next Eddie Ockenden or Maddy Murphy are discovered and developed here in Tasmania,” he said.

Hockey Tasmania also announced that nearly 400 Tasmanians were involved in its high-performance pathways with athletes selected in national senior, development and junior development sides.