In an effort to bring more kids into the sport of hockey at a young age, Bermuda Hockey Federation will be holding a coaching clinic with primary school teachers today.

Organiser Liz Osborne said that, at the moment, hockey was not included in the physical education curriculum at any of the Island?s primary schools.

The aim of the clinic is to change that and the BHF have succeeded in recruiting teachers from all of Bermuda?s primary schools to participate.

A veteran group of local players ? Osborne, Megan Spurling, Val Holder and Cath Griffiths ? will be running the clinic.

At the end of morning event, each of the 18 teachers participating will receive a package of 20 hockey sticks, as well as balls, shin guards and mouth guards, to help get their school?s programme off the ground.

The equipment donation was made possible with the help of the XL Foundation.

The three-hour clinic will kick off with some basic skill training and will be followed by dribbling and shooting instruction.

The last hour of the clinic will be used for games where the teachers can show off their new skills.

?The whole goal of it is to get hockey into the schools,? said Osborne. ?A lot of the teachers don?t know the sport so we need to show them how it is played and teach them the game so that we can get it out to the kids.?

The long-awaited addition of the new Astroturf pitch at the National Sports Centre makes now the ideal time to start bringing more children into the sport.

Osborne said the focus would be on children between the ages of seven and 11.

?With the new pitch, now is really the time to get the kids out,? she said. ?The best way to do that is to get hockey included in the schools? PE (physical education) programmes. Then, hopefully, that interest will transfer to wanting to play in the clubs.?

The new pitch also offers an ideal, safe training environment.

?As long as hockey is taught properly, it is completely safe,? added Osborne. ?This pitch is completely flat, so there is no danger involved at all.?

In another effort to draw more children into the sport, the BHF will be offering coaching sessions for both boys and girls between the ages of seven and 14 on Saturday mornings beginning in November.

Training will take place at the Astroturf pitch, which is located behind the grandstand at the National Sports Centre and the sessions will run through until March.

For more information on these training sessions, Osborne can be contacted at 333-5496 or bhfhockeyhotmail.com.