Developing fundamental hockey skills and having fun are two of the key elements of Taranaki Hockey's Fun Sticks programme, says Stratford co-ordinator Brooke Wyllie.
On Monday nights during the school term, 20 children from around the Stratford district lace up their shoes, grab their hockey sticks, and head down to the TET Stadium to learn different hockey skills and techniques.
The programme, which also runs in New Plymouth, was developed for children in Year 1 and 2 at school and 4 to 6-year-olds who are new players and relatively new to hockey, says Brooke.
"It's all about teaching them the basics and making sure they're having fun learning. At our last session we taught the children how to pass. We started by getting them to roll a ball to their teammates with their hands and then introduced the hockey sticks once they were confident. It's all about the experience and making sure they're having fun."