Competition is expected to be tight in all three divisions of play as Bermuda Hockey Federation kick off their league season this weekend.

With 17 teams across the three divisions hitting the National Sports Centre for the BHF?s third season on Astroturf, the sport?s popularity is booming.

BHF president Justin Freisenbruch told that senior level participation in the league had jumped by 25 percent since the introduction of the much faster artificial surface in 2004.

Freisenbruch said the turf was actually upgraded over the summer and the facility should be at its best ever as play begins tomorrow.

The men?s league ? won by Upstarts last year ? is again expected to be a hotly-fought contest with talented players sprinkled among the teams.

?The men?s clubs line up with few changes,? Freisenbruch said, ?and the teams again look to be fairly evenly matched. The league has been won by four different clubs in the last four years which is demonstrative of a very open contest.?

In fact, there are no back-to-back league champions entering the league this year after some upsets at title time last spring ? Ravens took the women?s A title while the Saltus team Swifts swept up the B league.

With just five teams competing in the women?s A division this season, Freisenbruch predicts that dominant forces like the Ravens and long-time league title holders, the Swallows, will remain the teams to beat.

?The women?s ?A? league will be contested by last year?s champions Ravens, Swallows, Canaries, Swifts and newcomers Wildcats,? he said. ?Ravens and Swallows would start as favourites given their relative dominance of the league over the past two seasons, but Canaries have an ever-strengthening squad, Swifts have momentum having won the B League last year, and, together with Wildcats, have some incredibly promising juniors.?

Seven teams will be competing in the B league, which is seen as an ideal entry point into the sport as well as often considered the most social division.

?The women?s ?B? league offers a great forum for all different types of players from developing juniors through more social members and seasoned veterans in what is always a very close competition,? Freisenbruch explained.

In addition to B squads from all the A women?s clubs, Cardinals and Bluebirds will field sides in this division.

League play is expected to run through to the end of April next year and while this weekend opens with some fun games today followed by a light schedule tomorrow, next weekend will see play heat up.

Set for tomorrow are B league matches between Cardinals and Swallows at 2 p.m. and Ravens and Bluebirds at 3.45 p.m.

As the league continues to grow in popularity, so does youth interest in hockey in Bermuda, Freisenbruch added.

?Striking and encouraging is the growth in junior participants where we have more than tripled in size and continue to introduce more and more juniors from a broadening range of schools to the sport,? he said.

?We run junior leagues from January through April, and there is no question in my mind that the standard of the sport will really start to take off once these youngsters round out their skills to the point where they start to participate in the higher levels of competition.?