- At Kirwan State High School we have a sports academy program.
We cover seven different sports, hockey being one of them.
Our program currently consists of 24 students from Years 8 to Years 12.
And each year, they progress through the program, learning new skills,
and they also represent the school in any school sport,
including the Queensland All-Schools in October.
- Pimlico, our students learn hockey
as part of our physical education program.
- They also learn a lot of social skills.
around participating in teams,
co-operation with other students, being respectful.
Physical education provides that avenue for them to do that.
- If students want to progress further, they have the opportunity
to play for our school in interschool hockey
for both boys and girls.
- Our students have grown and shown a lot of improvement
through our hockey academy program.
When you look at their development in a Townsville hockey sense,
they're quite often a lot of the fittest students in that program.
They do a fitness program along with their skills component,
so it looks at both areas of their playing ability.
- Students also have the opportunity to play hockey
outside of school for a club team.
And we have a 14-club competition here in Townsville.
- Townsville is an amazing place to be.
It's early days of winter and we're standing here in shorts and shirts.
So for anyone coming from Europe, it's quite an incredible journey.
And hockey's one of those sports, for Europeans that's quite common.
They've probably got some good understanding of it.
And it allows them to create a friendship group beyond school
when they do come in and arrive in Townsville.