Mr Woolner said that 11 junior representative teams had recently been selected throughout the Goulburn area, to attend “various state championships and carnivals throughout the state”.

“And we’ve just had a number of state representatives selected in the boys and girls Under 15 state sides and Under 18 state sides.” 

This success is critical to Goulburn’s future in Australia hockey, Mr Woolner explained. 

“That’s where our growth is, that’s where our future is, in the kids. We’ve had some fantastic representations, which is great,” he said. 

“A prime example of that from last year was the Under 13s Australian championships and the AHL, which were actually held in conjuction with each other. 

"We had 13 kids representing and we had 13 adults representing.

We had 13 players at the top level in Australia playing, and we had umpires over there as well. You just can’t get much better than that at the moment.”

With regards to the men’s and women’s hockey, Mr Woolner said that player numbers for both are “looking good”. 

“It was pretty good. They always start a little quiet, but people certainly do come on board most seasons.

“We’ve got good strength in players numbers which is pleasing.

“The men will be defending their premiership in the capital league in Canberra … [and] the women will be contesting that in Canberra as well.” 

Despite the strength of the numbers in local hockey, Mr Woolner said that “we’re always looking for players.”

“While we’re going strong at the moment, it’s always nice to see new players.” 

The local hockey tournaments begin tonight with the men’s, and the first round of the women’s competition will start on Thursday night with the juniors following on Friday and across the weekend.