SKOWHEGAN – They came fresh-faced, eager, laughing. They wore brightly colored shirts of purple, pink, yellow, rose, and white. They were big, small and tiny.

They formed a large, vivid circle on the lush, green grass with nets at either end and began stretching exercises; then calisthenics. The little girls, the big girls, and one little boy.

Next, they separated into groups at each end of the field and began side-stepping, cross-stepping, hopping, jumping, and running back-and-forth to the center.

After that, they divided into even smaller groups, sideways on the field, and worked on skill drills.

Finally, they put it all together and, with 20 minutes left, practiced what they were learning: to become field hockey champions.

They number 54, the little girls and one boy, in the summer field hockey program directed by Skowhegan High School field hockey coach Paula Doughty through the Skowhegan Recreation Department.

Eighteen Skowhegan field hockey players volunteer two hours, twice a week, for three weeks to teach their sport. Obviously, the program works.

Those who came up through it, like Middlebury College junior Pera Tory who stopped to say hello to her former coach, became champions. Skowhegan won state Class A titles in ’91 and ’92. In ’93, after losing nine starters, they finished as regional runnerup. They will be champions again.

Summer coaches Destiny Demo, Andrea Devoe, and Terri Foulkes pass on to the younger ones knowledge they gained through this program, as varsity players, and participants in the United States Field Hockey Association Futures Program. They know that starting early gives you tools to take you far.

They come here because their moms encourage them to, and because they want to. Tammy Blake brings 10-year-old Janis to learn a sport she didn’t play. Elizabeth Duty brings 9-year-old Alicia because when she was younger she played field hockey for Skowhegan. She hopes Alicia will as well. Janis and Alicia were lucky: they got to dress up in the multicolored miniature goalie equipment, and kick balls away.

Hayley King, a pig-tailed 8-year-old in the group of first- to third-graders, is a veteran. This is her second year. She grasps her miniature stick firmly and aims a long shot down the side. Her coaches cheer.

What did she learn this day? “We learned to flick. It’s like a scoop and a push.” Hayley will be back next year, and the next. She likes field hockey. “I practice with my baby sitter, Andrea. She’s one of my coaches. She’s good. She went to North Carolina in the Futures Program.”

Pam Leo watches her daughters. Jamie is a coach. Kim is a student, a good student, in the top group of seventh- and eighth-graders.

The Leo girls each started field hockey when they were 7. Mom didn’t buy sticks ’til their second year, to make sure they liked it. The girls draw big crowds, and there is a great deal of parental involvement on the high school level, she tells me. But, here, it is the interaction she enjoys.

“They are always encouraging each other, and the little girls look up to the older girls,” she said. “They have fun and enjoy working together.”

As she spoke, the oldest group ran down the field, surrounded the little ones and serenaded them with “Twinkle, twinkle, little star.” There are stars here, and more to come.

They raced back to up the field and began a drill. “It’s hockey baseball,” Kim Leo told me later. “You practice stick control, driving, finding where your open space is, and eye contact.” The eighth-grader can’t wait for varsity.

Occasionally, they sit in small groups on the grass. Resting, sipping water, checking a bump.

“I’ve got to wash out my lifeguard,” one little girl calls over her shoulder as she heads off the field. “Your mouthguard, your mouthguard,” her coach calls back.

Sometimes, when they’re resting, the coaches talk about nutrition. It’s all part of Doughty’s curriculum. “You’ll hear one girl telling another what fruits or vegetables she ate today,” Doughty said.

Off to the left, Katie Ross, a fifth-grader, tries to get her stick on the ball. But so do her teammates. Doughty said to watch the age groups as they scrimmage. The little ones swarm around the ball; the middle ones are starting to spread out; the older group is passing and looking up.

Parents begin to arrive to take their field hockey players home. You watch the big, hollow plastic trainer balls bounce off miniature sticks, off little goalie pads, and you smile.

“They are learning sports are fun,” Doughty said. “They are so confident at this age. They feel good about what they’re doing and they don’t care what they look like. But, the best thing is, they are all smiling.”