Hockey is set for a boost in Hume.
The sport has had a presence in Hume since 2013 under the banner of the Craigieburn Hockey Club, but the club has been predominantly run by Hockey Victoria.
The club ran programs in schools, Junior Hookin2Hockey and informal matches in the past three years.
Looking to build on the work that had been done, Hockey Victoria and Hume council set about taking the club to next stage, including having sides which compete in external competitions.
This season, the club will field at least one men’s side.
Taking on a new name, Hume Hockey Club, to embrace the whole municipality, the rebranded club was officially formed in January.
Club secretary Hayden Whitton there had been a fair bit of interest in getting the club up and going.
He said the council, especially sports development and inclusion officer Jarrod Smith, had been behind the push to ensure the club was ready to go for the 2017 season.
Both Smith and Hockey Victoria will continue to work with the club.
The club is based at Newbury Park in Craigieburn. Work on clubrooms recently began.
The Highlander men’s side which will play in a metro competition.
“We had our first official training session and 11 guys turned up,” Whitton said.
“We had one player interested and he brought some other player with him. They are guys who live in the Hume corridor and want to play hockey more locally. They have more than 1000 games experience between them.”
While the club would love to have women’s side and junior teams this season, Whitton said he didn’t think it would have the numbers by deadline.
The club will continue to run a junior program every Thursday night, including skills sessions/drills and intra-club games with involvement from the senior team.
The club will look at the possibility of holding junior intra-club matches at weekends.
Whitton said the club was looking for more members to join the committee.
The club will hold an open day Sunday, March 19, at Newbury Park Hockey Field.
Details: humehockeyclub@gmail.com
