Talent Centre

SECTION TITLE: Talent Development

England Hockey’s Talent System

Our club and its members play an important role in England Hockey’s Talent System (link 1 below) which aims to produce greater breadth and depth in the talent pool across the country.

The attached document summarises how Ben Rhydding HC supports players with potential to develop throughout the club, and this page adds further detail about the range of opportunities at the club and within the Yorkshire & North East Region.

Junior Club Hockey

Ben Rhydding offers age group hockey for boys and girls of all abilities and experiences at the following age groups:
– U8
– U10
– U12
– U14
– U16
– U18

Members can access weekly training sessions, and competitive hockey by taking part in regional and national leagues and competitions. There are different levels available across all age groups, so that all children and young people can take part at the right level.

Junior County (Sub Area) Hockey

Junior County Hockey offers an important development experience within England Hockey’s talent system. Junior County Hockey will provide an exciting and aspirational representative opportunity for the U12-U17 age groups that provides a different experience to regular club or school hockey.

It is a standalone development experience, focused on preparing for and competing in representative teams. It is one route to progress to the next stage of the talent system and counties can nominate players for Talent Academy and/or England Age Group trials.

For some players, County (Sub Area) Hockey will be one of several talent foundation opportunities they take up and it is regarded as steppingstone towards both elite domestic and international performance hockey. For others it will be the pinnacle of their representative hockey and hopefully a steppingstone to life-long enjoyment and involvement in the sport. Both these outcomes are worthy aims and valuable to the long-term development of hockey.

Many of our junior players enjoy playing Junior County Hockey for West Yorkshire, and you can see the latest news on their Twitter page by following @westyorkshockey.

England Hockey’s Talent Centres

Ben Rhydding HC is committed to talent development. We are using England Hockey’s Talent System Framework (see link 2 below) to help us create an environment where players, coaches and volunteers of all ages can develop and reach their potential. We are currently working towards Talent Centre accreditation, which will demonstrate that our club provides high quality provision for players at early talent development level (Talent Foundations). This provision will be embedded within Ben Rhydding’s junior programme.

Talent Centre accreditation recognises the quality of a club’s talent development environment and provision, not individual players. England Hockey will recognise, through accreditation, environments within the Talent System that provide high quality talent development. In time, England Hockey envisage the operation of around 100-120 Talent Centres so that every child should have reasonable access to one or more of these opportunities if they wish to and if it is right for them.

Talent Academies

Talent Academies are intended for the highest potential 15–18-year-old players. Clubs, Counties and Talent Centres are all able to nominate (the right) players for Talent Academy assessment (u15 to u18). You can read about Talent Academies in link 3 below.

There will be multiple opportunities most weeks for high-quality coaching and training through a combination of dedicated sessions and integration with other activity delivered by the host.

Every Talent Academy will have a squad of players selected through a robust process based on the England Hockey Player Profile. Further information about the selection process can be found here https://www.englandhockey.co.uk/play/talent-system/talent-academy/talent-academy-nominations.

Ben Rhydding has regular representation each year at Talent Academies by our junior players. You can find out the locations of Talent centres by clicking on the link 3 below.

1. About England Hockey Talent System
https://www.englandhockey.co.uk/play/talent-system/about-the-talent-system

2. England Hockey Talent System Framework:
https://assets-eu-01.kc-usercontent.com/d66c6a48-e05a-01b8-e0ec-59ee93833239/92249ba3-fc21-48c1-8fbd-07a58623fd11/GB%20Hockey%20TS%20Framework%20FINAL%20%28003%29.pdf

3. Talent Academy
https://www.englandhockey.co.uk/play/talent-system/talent-academy