Under-18 hockey teams from each state and territory have rolled into the Northern Hockey Centre's fields for the national championships this week.
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After the event was cancelled last year due to COVID-19, players and officials were happy to be back and hosting the high-calibre competition.
"It's really nice to have all the states and territories represented here," Hockey Tasmania chief executive Damian Smith said.
"It was a bit tricky last weekend with Queensland and the Northern Territory [but] it's pleasing to say they're all here so we're really happy about that."
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The championships will be played throughout the week at St Leonards and Mr Smith said it was important the event go ahead with many young, eager players looking to further their careers.
"We were really keen to make sure this year, this particular group of kids in the under-18 cohort, actually had a chance to represent their states," he said.
"Otherwise, it would've been two years without any competition ... and that would have an impact moving forward in terms of future players on national teams and whatnot."
Launceston has hosted the under 18 Australian National Championships twice in four years.
However, due to the age of the centre, further upgrades are required before any more national events are held.
"We've just come to the end of a five-year cycle of national allocation of tournaments and we're working through the next one with Hockey Australia at the moment," Mr Smith said.
"We desperately need to get funding to fix this centre to make it fit-for-purpose for national carnivals.
"This will be the last one we have in Launceston until it is upgraded and we're working with local council [as well as] state and federal government to put some money into redeveloping this facility."
While fewer interstate visitors are expected for the tourney due to travel restrictions, Mr Smith was optimistic a decent turnout was still possible.
"We would expect there would be slightly less people coming particularly parents and grandparents," he said.
"But with age group, we'd still expect to see several thousand people in Launceston which is great for this region."
Harry Murtough
Born and raised in Launceston. BA of journalism from Monash University. Sports reporter covering basketball, netball and cricket.
Born and raised in Launceston. BA of journalism from Monash University. Sports reporter covering basketball, netball and cricket.
