Ellen Van Hoek has had that date in her diary for a long time waiting for her side’s first game of the Hockey NSW Under 15 Girls’ Indoor State Championship, and three days’ time it’ll finally be here.

“I’m excited,” Van Hoek said, Orange set to compete in division two of this year’s championship.

Their opening game on Saturday is against Western Conference rivals Bathurst, no less.

“I’m really excited. I think we’ll do well,” Van Hoek continued.

“I think we’re [preparing] really well. We’ve got a couple of girls that haven’t played yet but they getting the hang of it. 

“They’ve all already improved so much since our first couple of training sessions.”

Orange’s first game will begin at 8.50am on Saturday, with further pool A games against Grafton (1), North Sydney and Beaches (2) and Tamworth (2) set to determine whether or not Van Hoek’s girls can press their claims for a top two spot and a semi-final berth come Monday.

After being relegated from division one following a disappointing 2014 campaign, Van Hoek says her side is determined to bounce back hard and with a host of young guns with Premier League Hockey experience at her disposal there’s no reason they can’t.

The Orange Ex-Services gun is predicting the Sydney-based sides to be her team’s toughest opposition.

“I haven’t’ looked [at the draw] yet, but all of the Sydney teams are really strong. They’ve got so many people to choose from, and we only have a couple,” she said.

The girls completed a round robin warm-up tournament against sides from Bathurst and Dubbo at Kinross on Monday, and their first game of the 2015 state championship begins at 8.50am on Saturday morning.