Game … Werribee’s Ross Cowlishaw teaches the basics to Ella, Natalie and Connor. 59605 Picture: SARAHMATRAY
By Michael Esposito
A minkey hockey program will begin on 19 February for children aged between six and nine. Organiser Ross Cowlishaw, a Werribee senior player, is hoping to form eight teams based loosely on which school the children come from.
A five-week competition, with modified rules, will be played on Saturdays at President’s Park in Werribee.
Cowlishaw said it was all about generating interest in the sport from a young age, and hopefully retaining the minkey players when they get older.
The club has dropped an under 9s and under 11s team in the past two years, because of a lack of numbers. The minkey program is an effort to get the teams back.
The club has already had success with a newly introduced Wednesday night summer competition, which finishes in two weeks.
“We’ve recruited a few players from there as well. We went to schools and got a big response from them,” Cowlishaw said.
It costs $20 to register for the program, and all children receive a hockey stick, ball, shinpads, drink bottle and team socks. For more information, call Ross on 0423 274 403 or visit www.werribeehockeyclub.com.au.
