The whole committee was excited for the new season to begin, North Otago Hockey president Shane Emerson told the Oamaru Mail earlier this week.
"We’re looking forward to it.
"Numbers are looking pretty similar to last year across all grades.’’
The senior men’s competition started on Thursday night and the senior mixed grade began on Friday night and Saturday while juniors will begin next week.
This year there are four senior men’s teams and seven senior mixed teams.
Tainui Hockey Club has also decided to re-enter the Dunedin competition for the first time since 2023.
They are playing in division two and are yet to record a win but have been improving week by week.
"It’s quite good to have that happening again and we’re getting a few home games up here which is nice," Emerson said.
He loved seeing the next generation of hockey players giving the sport a go.
"I just enjoy seeing everyone out there enjoying the sport, especially the kids."
There was also an uptick in younger players trying out umpiring as well.
"That’s something we’re short on is umpires so I love to see the young ones getting out there and giving it a go."
Emerson was happy to say that hockey was in a good place in the region.
"We seem to manage quite nicely here — plenty of teams and towards the back end of the season we always have representative teams heading away to different competitions so that’s nice to see."
