hockeyact.org.au

Start at hockeyact.org.au and use the Play Hockey section. It contains the two entry points you need: Find A Club (to locate a local club) and How Do I Get Started? (a beginner guide). From there you choose a program — Hookin2Hockey for first-timers, Holiday Clinics for school-break sessions, or Schools Program if you're coming through a school — then complete registration through the HACT Registration pages. This path suits children, juniors, and adults; the specific program and competition you enter depends on your age and experience.

The two starting points on the website

The site is organised so a new player doesn't have to guess. Under Play Hockey, two links do most of the work:

• Find A Club — identifies clubs you can join. Clubs are the normal route into weekly hockey, so this is usually your first stop.
• How Do I Get Started? — the site's own beginner walkthrough, which pairs with Find A Club.

If you already know you want a structured intro rather than a full season, go straight to the programs below instead.

Beginner programs to choose from

Hockey ACT lists several entry programs under Play Hockey. Pick based on who is playing and how much commitment you want:

For a child's first experience, Hookin2Hockey is the natural starting point. For an adult who wants to play without full-speed running, Walking Hockey is the relevant option. If you're unsure, How Do I Get Started? is designed to answer exactly that.

Step-by-step: from zero to registered

1. Go to hockeyact.org.au and open the Play Hockey menu.
2. Use Find A Club to identify a club near you. Club choice matters because it determines your training location, team, and competition entry.
3. Read How Do I Get Started? to confirm which program fits your age and experience.
4. Pick a program — Hookin2Hockey, a Holiday Clinic, or another entry option from the table above.
5. Register through HACT Registration. The site's registration section covers Registration Terms and links to the registration system.
6. Check the competition structure under Competitions once registered. HACT runs its own competitions plus Masters and Social Competitions, so there is a level for most players.
7. Note the season calendar under News | Calendar so you know when your program or competition starts.

Expected result: after step 5 you should have a club affiliation and a program or competition place. If you reach registration and aren't sure which competition fits, the club you chose in step 2 is the right people to ask.

If you want to play beyond social level

Hockey ACT also lists pathways for players who progress:

• Representative — outdoor and indoor team information, with separate pages for coaches and team officials.
• Regional Programs, ACTAS, and the High Performance Hockey Program — development pathways.
• Chill Academy Program — an academy route.
• Coaches, Umpires and TO's — if you'd rather officiate or coach than play.

These are not entry points. They are what you move into after starting, so don't begin here unless you're already an experienced player relocating to the ACT.

Common sticking points

• Choosing a club before a program. Clubs are the durable route into weekly hockey; programs are often short. If you want a season, sort the club first.
• Assuming one program fits everyone. Hookin2Hockey, Holiday Clinics, Walking Hockey, and the inclusive programs serve different players. Match the program to the person, not the other way around.
• Skipping the calendar. Competitions, come-and-try weekends, and themed rounds are listed under News | Calendar; checking it prevents turning up at the wrong time.
• Registration questions. The HACT Registration section includes Registration Terms and a Team Vacancy List — useful if you want to join a team that needs players rather than forming your own route in.

Quick answer

Go to hockeyact.org.au → Play Hockey → Find A Club and How Do I Get Started?, choose Hookin2Hockey (or another program matching your age and needs), then register via HACT Registration. Children, juniors, adults, and players seeking inclusive or low-impact formats all have a listed pathway; representative and high-performance routes come later, once you're playing.

Hockey ACT publishes draws and results under Competitions → Draws & Results, and season dates and themed rounds under News | Calendar → Hockey ACT Calendar. Both are reachable from the main menu on hockeyact.org.au. The draws page covers HACT competitions, while the calendar is the place to check for event weekends and awareness rounds rather than individual match times.

Draws and results

The site separates competition information into three areas, and which one you need depends on who is playing:

Draws & Results sits alongside these and is the page to open for fixtures and scores. If you are looking for a specific team's match, start from the competition type that team plays in, then move to the draw.

Season calendar and key dates

The Hockey ACT Calendar lists season events and themed rounds. From the site's own listings, these include:

• Come & Try Weekend
• Reconciliation Round
• June Long Weekend
• Livin For Hockey Mental Health Round
• Pride Round
• Chris MacKinnon Breast Cancer Awareness Round
• Brophy McKay Awards Night

These are season-wide dates, not match schedules. Use the calendar to plan around themed rounds and events, and the draws page to find when and where a particular game is played.

Finals and major fixtures

Finals fixtures are announced on the site as their own news items rather than only inside the draw. For example, the site has published a 2026 GRAND FINAL FIXTURES post directing readers to the draw for the weekend. If you are chasing a grand final or a representative fixture, check the news area as well as Draws & Results — the draw may not carry the fixture until closer to the date.

Registration and team entry

Registration sits under HACT Registration, with separate pages for Registration Terms and a Team Vacancy List. The Team Vacancy List is useful if you want to join an existing team rather than enter your own. Representative pathways — outdoor teams, indoor teams, coaches and team officials — are grouped under Representative.

Practical notes

• The site's homepage includes a Score Live scoring login. Live scoring is behind a login, so it is intended for registered users rather than open public viewing.
• If a draw looks incomplete, check the news area for a fixtures announcement before assuming the game is not scheduled.
• Club-level questions are usually faster to resolve through Find A Club or your club directly than through the general site pages.

For anything not covered by the draws or calendar — facilities hire, the Hockey Shop, or staff contacts — use the Contact Us section.

Hockey ACT (hockeyact.org.au) is the governing body for field hockey in the Australian Capital Territory. Its website is the central hub for the local hockey community: news and calendar items, competition draws and results, registration, club and team information, and participation pathways ranging from first-timers to high-performance athletes. If you are a player, coach, umpire, technical official, volunteer, parent, or someone looking to try hockey in the ACT region, this site is the place to start.

What the organisation is

Hockey ACT runs and coordinates hockey across the ACT. The site presents it as the administrative and competition body behind local clubs, representative teams, and development programs. It also covers the Canberra Chill, the ACT's entry in national-level competition, with dedicated pages for the Chill women's and men's teams.

The site is built on the revolutioniseSPORT platform, a sports management system used for memberships, finance, events, and governance. In practice, that means registration, payments, and competition administration are handled through the same online environment you reach from this site.

What the website covers

The navigation reflects the main areas of activity:

News and calendar

The homepage surfaces current items such as the Brophy McKay Award winners, grand final fixtures, board nominations, and ACT athletes selected in national squads. The calendar lists recurring events and themed rounds, including a Come & Try Weekend, Reconciliation Round, Pride Round, a mental health round, and a breast cancer awareness round.

Play hockey and participation pathways

This is the entry point for new participants. It covers:

• Find A Club and a "How Do I Get Started?" guide
• Hookin2Hockey, the introductory program for beginners
• Holiday clinics and schools programs
• Urban Rec and J-Ball as alternative formats
• Walking Hockey, for those wanting a lower-impact version of the game
• Inclusion-focused programs: women and girls, LGBTQ+ pride and diversity, all abilities, and multicultural programs and events

Competitions, registration, and officials

Competitions pages carry draws and results plus information on HACT competitions, masters, and social competitions. Registration pages explain registration terms and list team vacancies, which is useful if you are looking to join a side. There are separate pathways for umpires and technical officials, and for coaches.

Representative and high performance

Representative pages cover outdoor and indoor teams, coaches and team officials, and regional programs. High performance is handled through the ACTAS Hockey Program and the Chill Academy Program, with the Canberra Chill as the visible national-level presence.

Who it is for

• New players and parents — start with Play Hockey, Find A Club, and Hookin2Hockey
• Existing players — use Competitions for draws and results, and Registration for terms and team vacancies
• Coaches, umpires, and technical officials — dedicated sections cover accreditation pathways and appointments
• Volunteers and administrators — About covers governance, board and directors, vacancies, and integrity
• Clubs — the Club Hub and facility hire pages support club operations

Practical notes

The site links out to Score, a live scoring and login system, and to social channels including Facebook and Instagram. Sponsors are listed on the homepage. Registration and competition functions run through the revolutioniseSPORT platform, so you will typically need an account to register or manage team details.

If you are unsure whether the site is relevant to you, the quickest test is the Play Hockey section: it tells you how to find a club and start, which is the answer most newcomers need.

Hockey ACT lists dedicated pathways for coaches, umpires and technical officials, plus a separate page for staff and volunteer opportunities. Start with the Coaches and Umpires and TO's pages if you want a role on the field or bench, and the Staff + Volunteers page if you want to help the organisation run. The site does not publish course dates, fees or accreditation requirements in the material available here, so treat those pages as your starting point and use Contact Us to confirm current intakes.

Coaching pathways

Hockey ACT groups coaching information under its Play Hockey section, alongside the Hookin2Hockey, holiday clinic and schools programs that coaches typically support.

What the site points to:

• A Coaches page for coaching-specific information and resources.
• Representative team information, including Coaches & Team Officials, which indicates that representative outdoor and indoor teams need accredited coaches and officials.
• Regional Programs, ACTAS and the High Performance Hockey Program as higher-level environments where coaching roles exist.
• Chill Academy Program as a development setting connected to the Canberra Chill.

If you are new to coaching, the practical route is to decide which level you want to work at first — club, school or representative — then ask Hockey ACT what accreditation that level requires. The site does not state prerequisites, so this is a question for the office rather than something you can assume from the pages.

Umpiring and technical officiating

Umpires and technical officials (TOs) have their own section rather than being folded into general volunteering.

• Umpires and TO's appears under Play Hockey as a dedicated entry point.
• The same category appears again under Competitions, which suggests officials are appointed through the competition structure.
• Draws & Results and the Hockey ACT Calendar are where you would see when officials are needed across the season.

A useful first step is to look at the competition calendar, identify the competitions running near you, and then contact Hockey ACT about officiating in those competitions. The site does not list umpire courses, grading levels or pay rates, so confirm all of that directly.

Volunteering and paid roles

Hockey ACT separates ongoing volunteering from paid vacancies.

The site's news items show governance volunteering is active — for example, Hockey ACT has called for nominations for a Finance Director on its board. That is a specific, skills-based volunteer role rather than a general helper position, so it suits someone with a finance background.

For club-level volunteering, the Club Hub and Find A Club pages are the sensible starting points, because most match-day volunteering happens at club level rather than through the association.

Events and program roles

Hockey ACT runs a calendar of rounds and events that depend on volunteers and officials, including:

• Come & Try Weekend
• Reconciliation Round
• June Long Weekend
• Livin For Hockey Mental Health Round
• Pride Round
• Chris MacKinnon Breast Cancer Awareness Round
• Brophy McKay Awards Night

These are concrete opportunities if you want a short-term or one-off commitment rather than a season-long role. Check the News | Calendar section for dates as they are announced.

How to actually make contact

The site provides Contact Us with separate entries for Staff + Volunteers, Pick Up Stix, Facilities Hire and The Hockey Shop. For coaching, umpiring or volunteering enquiries, use the Staff + Volunteers contact route.

When you get in touch, it helps to state:

1. Which role you are interested in — coach, umpire, technical official or general volunteer.
2. What level you want to work at — club, school, social competition or representative.
3. Any relevant experience or accreditation you already hold.
4. Your availability across the season.

Hockey ACT also maintains a Team Vacancy List under Registration, which is worth checking if you are looking to join a team rather than officiate.

What the site does not tell you

The available material does not include course schedules, accreditation costs, working-with-vulnerable-people requirements, or whether any officiating roles are paid. Do not assume these are free or open — confirm each one with Hockey ACT before committing. The pages give you the correct entry points; the office gives you the current requirements.

Hockey ACT runs a range of community and inclusion programs alongside its regular competitions, covering accessibility, cultural diversity, women and girls, LGBTQ+ inclusion, schools, and alternative formats of the game. The programs listed on its website include Walking Hockey, All Abilities, Multicultural Programs and Events, Women and Girls, LGBTQ+ Pride and Diversity, Schools Program, Urban Rec, J-Ball, Hookin2Hockey, and Holiday Clinics. It also marks themed rounds during the season, such as Reconciliation Round, Pride Round, Livin For Hockey Mental Health Round, and Chris MacKinnon Breast Cancer Awareness Round.

Inclusion and accessibility programs

These programs are aimed at people who may not otherwise take part in mainstream hockey competitions.

• Walking Hockey — a lower-intensity version of the sport, suited to participants who want to stay active with reduced physical demand.
• All Abilities — hockey opportunities designed for people with disability.
• Multicultural Programs and Events — initiatives that welcome and involve people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
• LGBTQ+ Pride and Diversity — programs and signals of inclusion for LGBTQ+ participants and allies.
• Women and Girls — dedicated pathways and opportunities for female participation.

If you are unsure which of these fits your situation, the program names map fairly directly onto the audience: Walking Hockey for reduced intensity, All Abilities for disability-inclusive play, and the others by community group.

Entry points for new and casual players

Hockey ACT lists several ways to try the sport without committing to a full competition season:

• Hookin2Hockey — the introductory program for newcomers, typically the first step into the sport.
• Holiday Clinics — short, scheduled sessions during school holidays.
• Schools Program — hockey delivered through schools.
• Urban Rec — a social, recreational format.
• J-Ball — another listed participation format.

These sit alongside the main "Play Hockey" pathway, which includes finding a club and joining competitions. If your goal is simply to try hockey, Hookin2Hockey, a Holiday Clinic, or Urban Rec are the most direct starting points; if you want regular competitive play, the club and competition route is the relevant one.

Themed rounds and awareness events

Hockey ACT's calendar includes rounds tied to inclusion and community causes, including:

These rounds are scheduled within the season calendar rather than being standalone programs, so they are worth checking if you want to take part in or support a particular cause.

How to decide what suits you

• Want to try hockey casually or with lower intensity: Walking Hockey, Urban Rec, Hookin2Hockey, or a Holiday Clinic.
• Looking for disability-inclusive hockey: All Abilities.
• New to the area or from a multicultural background: Multicultural Programs and Events.
• Female participant or coach: Women and Girls.
• LGBTQ+ participant or ally: LGBTQ+ Pride and Diversity, plus Pride Round.
• School-aged and want hockey through school: Schools Program.

Program availability, dates, and registration details are not fully specified in the source material, so confirm current offerings directly through Hockey ACT before relying on any single program being open at a given time.