Hockey’s Single System is the development pathway (see diagram below) for players, coaches and officials of all ages and abilities to reach their full potential. It is based on a set of principles that puts the participant at the centre and is based on scientific research that has been widely accepted by the majority of other major sports within England.
Why does hockey need a Single System?
Hockey in England has evolved over many years and has many historical boundaries, systems and competitions that make the hockey landscape a complicated one. Currently, the pathway varies enormously, not only between boys and girls, but also from region to region and county to county. For example, a fourteen year old living in Exeter would have a different experience moving through the pathway to a similar player living in Hull. The purpose of the Single System is to make opportunities for participants fair, equitable. and consistent. It is to ensure that a suitable level of coaching and competition is offered for people at the appropriate stage of their development and to maximise the chance they have of fulfilling their potential whether that potential is as a club or international player, coach or official.
The Single System - Progress
After extensive consultation over a two year period, the Board approved the implementation plan of the Single System in July 2006. Since then the Development and Performance staff have been working together with Regional & County Associations, and other partners to roll out the different elements of the Single System framework and an update on progress against each element is given below.
U18 Pathway - Starting at the bottom of the diagram
Club School Links
We currently have about 30,000 young people playing in our hockey clubs! Clubs linking with schools and School Sports Partnerships are key to ensuring that the first stepping stone is easy for young people who want to get more regular hockey outside of their school environment. Thanks to the hard work of many clubs, at the beginning of 2008 there were 131 clubs who had achieved their ClubsFirst Accreditation and over 80 of those clubs have signed agreements to develop more opportunities with School Sports Partnerships. Of these, 27 clubs have benefited from facility investment in the last few years through the Community Club Development Programme (CCDP) fund.
Junior Development Centres (JDC) and Junior Academy Centres (JAC)
These centres will provide coaching for young players aged 12 - 17 at sub county level (JDC) and 13 - 17 at county level (JAC). These centres will provide more coaching closer to home. The Development team have been working with our County Hockey Associations (CHAs) and the County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) and most of our CHAs are well advanced in putting together development plans that include setting up 130 JDCs and over 40 JACs across the country.
Pilot centres are being rolled out over the next 18 months in the majority of counties with the intention that centres will be operational across the whole country from July 2009.
England Hockey has accessed over £1.5 million from Sport England’s Club and Coach Fund over the next three years to help the CHAs put these new centres in place.
Junior Regional Performance Centres (JRPCs)
Our Regional Hockey Associations (RHA) have been key in moving this area of work forward. 12 locations have been chosen to provide coaching for players aged 14 - 18. In 2008 a tendering process was used to allow clubs and other providers to bid to host these centres in the locations chosen. The centres were piloted in and around these locations by the regions during 2008. The venues were confirmed in April 2009 and named in May 2009. Click here to go to the JRPC locations page.
Players will receive regular coaching from both RHA and England Hockey Centrally Contracted Coaches (CCCs) leading to a High Performance Assessment Camp for U15 and U17s and inter JRPC competition at U16 and U18 age groups which will replace the current regional tournaments from 2008. You can find more information on the competition in the competitions pages on the website.
By utilising 12 centres and England Hockey coaches, young people will be given the opportunity to access elite coaching closer to home which will also improve the selection process. This will include regular assessment rather than the one off procedure at a National Tournament which is used at present.
U16 and U18 international teams
England run international teams at both U16 and U18 age groups. Players will be identified from the JRPCs who have the potential to play at international level and will be given the opportunity to attend assessment and development camps to be selected to represent England at junior level. More information on England junior international teams can be found on the international pages of the website.
18+ Pathway (starting at the bottom of the diagram)
Senior Clubs and links with Further & Higher Education
Whilst the sport continues to grow steadily nationally and the overall number of participants increases, we see continued mergers where clubs are seeing the benefit of sharing resources both in terms of facilities, volunteers and hockey expertise.
We have been working with British Universities Sports Association (who next year merge with British Colleges) to develop a plan for better integration of university teams and participants. In 2008 / 09 we will evolve this plan into guidance for clubs to link with Further and Higher Education establishments.
Senior Regional Performance Centres
This is the safety net that will allow late developers or new people to the sport to achieve their potential. The plan is to have 20 of these centres in place across the country. Planning for delivering this element has not yet started and they will not be available till 2009 /10.
National Performance Centres
Following an extensive open and transparent tendering process in which over 30 higher education establishments applied, England Hockey has appointed six National Performance Centres (NPCs) to date.
These centres will provide daily contact / coaching for our top 100 players aged 18 – 23 who will combine their training with education or employment.
The confirmed centres are:
East Midlands NPC
(Nottingham Trent University, Loughborough University and Nottingham University consortia)Hockey West NPC
(University of Bath, University of Bristol and University of the West of England-UWE consortia)Manchester NPC
(The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University)South Coast NPC
(University of Southampton, Southampton Solent University and the University of Portsmouth consortia)West Midlands NPC
(University of Birmingham, University of Worcester, Warwick University, Coventry University, Aston University, Wolverhampton University and Staffordshire University consortia)Yorkshire NPC
(Sheffield Hallam University, The University of Sheffield consortia)
National Squads
An update on our international teams can be found in the international section of the website.
