About 70 juniors have honed their skills at Albert Park on Wednesday afternoons this month as the build-up to the winter season continues.

The program, run by Phoebe and Toby Webb, follows a visit from Hockey Victoria representatives to primary schools in the area.

WDHA president Tomas Tait said he was encouraged by interest in HookIn2Hockey, which wrapped up in perfect weather this week.

“We had kids there as young as four or five, right up to 12 and 13,” he said.

“We’re quite happy to take anyone. It doesn’t matter what skill level they are. They can soon be helped along. A club can take them under their wing.”

Tait hoped the juniors would progress to one of the association’s Saturday programs for under nines and under 11s, which kick off on May 2.

There is also a Wednesday night under 13 competition, starting on April 29.

“It’s like everything, you hope they come. The parents seemed quite happy with what was going on,” Tait said.

“The idea of it is it’s a fun experience in hockey and realistically that’s what it’s going to be next term too.

“They’re organised into little teams and looked after by players from the different (WDHA) clubs.

“The whole idea is to keep it fun for the kids. They’ll play 30-minute games and do 30 minutes of drills and skills to advance them in hockey.”

Among other WDHA competitions, the opening rounds of the open men’s and women’s competitions are on April 17 and 18.

The under 17s also start that weekend, while the under 15s hit the pitch on May 1.