Junior Hockey Philosophy

Philosophy & Culture

Our thriving junior section has over 380 members aged 6-18.

We aim to offer an inclusive and welcoming environment where we can provide hockey for as wide a range of children as possible, whilst also stretching those who are driven to achieve their full potential.

The junior section has two over-riding aims:

• Participation - provide opportunities to play hockey for as many children as possible
• Talent Development - provide stretch opportunities for motivated and high potential players

Our aim is to create an encouraging environment where players can learn through experimentation and solving problems. We want players to always be working on something, setting goals for themselves and to have a “why not me” mindset for what they can achieve in the future. Our coaching sessions are built around gameplay with constant decision making and plenty of competition. We focus on continual improvement rather than results and highly value strong basics and good connectivity. We use the England Hockey golden thread and the Talent Development Framework as a reference point for our ongoing progress.

We are predominantly a volunteer-led club, and we encourage parents, guardians and other interested parties to involve themselves in the running and supporting of the junior section. We employ some professional coaches who are responsible for supporting our volunteer coaches and maintaining the high standard of coaching across the section.

Our current plans are set out in the Junior Section Strategic Plan, which is part of the Club Development Plan and which you can find here.

Club Welfare & Safeguarding

Our Club Welfare Officer, (CWO), Louise Leyland, is responsible for ensuring compliance with our Child Welfare Policy, and should be contacted if you have any welfare or safeguarding concerns. Louise can be contacted through the Committee Contacts page, and will respond to communication quickly and confidentially.

More information can be found on the safeguarding page

Senior Section

Once players reach the age of 13 they can play adult hockey. We manage this transition carefully, with players placed in suitable environments with adults who are responsible for their welfare and development. The first stage is the men’s and ladies’ academy teams. If players are ready and of a required standard, they may be invited to participate in the senior premier squads.

Opportunities for Non-members

Many of our opportunities are open to non-members:

• Our Introduction to Hockey Programme provides players with entry level opportunities to try out hockey and learn the basics of the game (see development camp page)
• Our Talent Development Programme provides stretched opportunities for motivated and high potential players, designed to help them to achieve their full potential (see development camp page)
• We run regular holiday camps open to all players aged 6+ (see development camp page)

The Club generates a progressive 5 year rolling development plan, and development of the junior section, young players and coaches is a key part of this. The current Junior development programme can be downloaded here:-