Organisers of the first masters hockey seven-a-side tournament at the Tauranga Hockey Centre hope to expand the format in the spring to include teams from Waikato and Auckland.
Tauranga Hockey Association's Alan Prestage said the masters committee is looking at holding an invitational tournament in November as part of thelead-up to nationals.
"We're hoping we can get a whole Sunday and try to get teams from Waikato and Auckland, or have them come for the weekend and have a much bigger tournament," said Prestage. "It's a combination between serious and a little bit of social. We're trying to get the older generation playing again."
Yesterday's tournament, comprising men's, women's and mixed divisions of four teams, was the first move in increasing its presence on the hockey calendar outside of the March nationals.
The move appeared successful, with a number of players taking to the turf for the first time.
"I was quite surprised by the mums and dads who had never played before," said Prestage. "They picked up a lot of things really quickly and it worked out quite even."
