He shoots! He falls! The littlest players in Petrolia Minor Hockey, the Timbits, took to the ice at the Greenwood Recreation Centre Saturday. Minor Hockey is offering incentives to encourage more Timbits to come out to learn to play the game.

There aren’t as many little people lacing up for hockey on Saturday morning.

Charlotte Wright Boyd of the Petrolia Minor Hockey Association says this year only 40 players in the 4 and 5 year-old program registered. That’s down from about 80 last year.

Wright Boyd says the birth rate has dipped a little, but she doesn’t believe that is the only reason.

In an effort to attract more little people, minor hockey has decided to offer families an incentive to play. Any Timbit player who registers and plays for the entire season will received their $200 registration fee back through the MacFarlane Hockey Bursary.

Wright Boyd is hopeful the offer will give parents the extra nudge they need to start their children in what can become a life-long passion. “You have to get them into hockey at 4, 5, and 6,” she says. “If you put them in at 4, they just love it and they will continue to play.”