The future is very much female for Southern Highlands hockey.
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It was a successful weekend at the State Championships for the Under 15 Girls with the Division Three side winning the title while Division Four made the semi-finals.
Both teams had topped their respective pools, vindicating the decision for Southern Highlands Hockey to send two sides to Lithgow for the tournament.
Representative coordinator Dan Parker said a move away from the traditional 'selective' policy had seen stronger teams in all age groups.
"[We've] put the time into the development side of it," he told the Southern Highland News.
"We made the program more inclusive, not so much selective. When we've had the opportunity to take the second team we've taken them.
"We're not just selecting that one team to go away and represent and given that second lot of players who may have missed out on selection, we've given them an opportunity to still go away."
It is hoped that having players gain experience instead of staying home and trying again next year will have a positive effect on future teams.
"It's the first time we've taken two teams for any age group to my knowledge," Parker explained.
"We've got two teams for the Under 13's Boys as well.
"Nine of the Division Three players will age out into Under 18's so there will be a big hole for those players in the second team [Division Four] to step up into. So we're looking good.
"Most likely next year we will have two Under 18's girls teams and we've got a fair talent pool to keep building on but they'll still be in Division Three next year, both teams. It's looking pretty good for the women at the moment, that's for sure."
The victorious Under 15 Division Three side comfortably won their pool before seeing off Newcastle in the semi-final 1-0 and dispatching Canberra 2-1 in the final.
Division Four fell just short after also going unbeaten in their pool, losing 1-0 to Orange in the semi-final.
Parker said the results showed the Division Four team would be well placed to move up the ranks in 2022 with the Division Three side moving up a grade after their victory and having nine players move up to Under 18's.
"The Division Three team were pretty dominant all tournament.
"They won 2-1 against Canberra in the final but we we were well in control of that game. It was a good result to have both teams pretty successful.
"The Division Three team will now get promoted up into Division Two next year and we've set the building blocks in that second team to come through and take over."
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