The club is offering a rebate on membership fees to all girls aged 13-18 who register for the 2019 season and has introduced a family deal where the fourth and subsequent family members are registered free.

“We’ve been analysing our registration figures over the past few years and we were concerned by the reduction in numbers from U11s-13s to the next age brackets," secretary Lindsay Brown said.

"The latest participation data on kids sport from the Australian Sports Commission shows that there was a jump in participation in 2017, however the gap between boys and girls participation is widening with fewer girls aged 12-14.

"Having looked at our situation we decided on a two-pronged approach; to reduce fees to assist parents to support their girls, and to increase mentoring directly to the girls.”

The club has decided to address the issue by bringing an incentive to all the parents by offering a full rebate on club fees to any girls between the ages of 13 and 18.

“They will still have to pay to register with Hockey NSW," Mr Brown said. "We are also encouraging families to participate together to improve the chances that the kids will want to continue playing when they also reach adulthood. So we’ve also introduced a rebate for the fourth and all subsequent family members.”

The second part of the club’s approach to increasing the retention rate of the girls is to establish a mentoring program, which aims to connect the girls to the more senior players before the season commences, allowing the girls to feel more confident and supported when they are attending games.

The first mentoring event will kick off on March 23 with a barbecue and meet and greet, and plans to run team building and basic hockey skills sessions.

Club member Roxy Gwyn-Kabayama has her whole family playing and she is excited to also be involved with the club’s initiative to provide mentoring to the younger girls.

“I am trained as a life coach to provide support to women and girls in regard to body image and confidence issues which is one of the reasons why girls stop participating in sports," she said.

"I could see that the club was keen to provide a pathway that will encourage the girls to keep coming back and to stay active, right through to their adult years and beyond.”

There are many hidden benefits for girls and women who continue to participate in sports that go beyond the obvious health benefits. The Women’s Sports Foundation published a report that showed that participation in sport can lead to higher education aspirations, and can also be most beneficial for the management of mental health.

“We all have a responsibility to look after our mental health and staying active is a key element of that. As well as the physical and mental benefits, we get connected, we create a community around the sport and the club, and we are creating friendships that will last well beyond any game time,” says Roxy.

President Nicole Le Grange said that for young families, playing hockey at the Bay made a lot of sense. “We are a fun, inclusive club with fantastic facilities at Salamander Bay where all of our games are played. We cater for all ages, starting from five years.”

If anyone is interested in playing hockey go along to registration day 9am–12pm on February 23 at Salamander Bay fields.