South West United Hockey Club is on the lookout for new players, offering introductory hockey sessions for juniors every Tuesday in February.
Club secretary Gillian Henschke said the sessions, which will be run at Graceville Memorial Park, are designed for kids aged four to 14 to try their hand at the sport.
“It is primarily for children who’ve never played hockey before,” Ms Henschke said.
“However, we’re very happy for anyone who has played and wants to get back into playing hockey…
Or someone who just wants to get their eye back in before the season starts again to come along as well.”
The first session will be run on Tuesday, 3 February, with three others on 10, 17 and 24 February.
Ms Henschke said attendees should wear comfortable athletic clothing like shorts, a t-shirt, and running shoes.
A drink bottle and a hat are the only pieces of equipment participants need to bring to the sessions, which will be run in the early evening from 4pm to 5pm.
The club will provide the rest, Ms Henschke said.
“If you have your own hockey stick, that’s great, but if not, we will have hockey sticks for everybody.
“The sessions will very much be introductory, so equipment like mouth guards will not be required.”
South West United began in 1970 and has been running for 56 years.
“We’ve got men, women, boys and girls from as young as five to our eldest player, who is 82, I believe,” Ms Henschke said.
“In 2025, we had approximately 300 players, and that’s split between boys, girls, men and women,”
“We had 14 junior teams last year, nine senior turf and five masters, which are people over the age of 35.
Although their teams train regularly at the state hockey centre in Morningside, the club is based in south-west Brisbane and attracts players from all over the city.
“Graceville was our original base, but now, a lot of hockey is on astroturf, and those grounds are based all around Brisbane,” Ms Henschke said.
“Our players do come very much from the southwest Brisbane corridor, from Kenmore, Graceville, Sherwood, Oxley, Jindalee, Westlake and Forest Lake.
“We have a lot of children from different schools that partake in the club; we definitely have children from Forest Lake who play for South West United.”
Aside from the sessions which cater to a junior age group, Ms Henschke said the club would be delighted to accept players into any division.
“We’re just very happy to accept any player that’s interested, old or young,” she said.
“We have senior and junior grass and turf teams, so we offer a real mix of competitive, social and fun hockey.
“The club is really a community, grown and run by volunteers.”
