Your Top Priority: The National Hockey Fund for State Schools & EDI
For hockey to thrive, it must be accessible to everyone. Voted by our members as the single most important reinvestment area, we use the National Hockey Fund to build a sport that reflects the diversity of the communities we live in. By helping bridge the gap between state schools and local clubs, we will ensure that every child, regardless of their background can pick up a stick and play hockey.
How we’re doing it: The New Junior Hockey Framework (JHF)
To achieve sustainable progress at scale, we have developed a unified approach that ensures every child’s first experience of hockey is consistent and high-quality. The Junior Hockey Framework (JHF) is a consistent philosophy designed to remove participation barriers. It ensures every child (5–11) receives the same fun, progressive experience whether they play at school, in a club, or at a community festival.
All of the support resources can be found on Hockey Hub in the Junior Hockey Framework section. This includes:
- Content designed with you, for you: Co-created with feedback from young people, coaches, teachers, clubs, and schools—ensuring it meets real needs in real settings.
- A unified, flexible delivery model: For the first time, a single framework supports delivery across clubs, schools, and community partners—with adaptable, age-appropriate session plans tailored for 5–11-year-olds.
- Hockey intelligence built in: Every session embeds the principles of physical literacy, holistic child development, and progressive skill-building, helping develop better players and people.
- Positive, age-appropriate competition: Guidance on simplified, child-centred formats to ensure early competitive experiences are fun, inclusive, and developmentally right.
- Support for those who deliver: We’re removing complexity and providing clear guidance, training, and best practice standards to give all deliverers the confidence and tools to succeed.
Leveraging Local Networks
To bring this vision to life, we are building on existing structures and strategic partnerships to embed the framework effectively across the country:
- Strategic Leads: We have partnered with the Youth Sport Trust (YST) to reintegrate hockey into the School Games, securing the time of 28 dedicated School Games Organisers (SGOs) to act as 'Strategic Hockey Leads'.
- Teacher Empowerment: SGOs have overseen face-to-face workshops delivered by England Hockey Coach Developers, providing primary teachers with the skills and confidence to deliver the Junior Hockey Framework (JHF).
- Youth Workforce: SGOs have trained Young Leaders to support school festivals, using JHF formats that now form part of the wider School Games ‘offer’.
- Local Support: 34 clubs, supported by England Hockey Club Development Managers, are currently piloting local activity to ensure a safe, fun, and progressive transition from schools to junior sections.
- Accountability: We provide SGOs with equipment and clear KPIs to ensure hockey becomes embedded within their local school catchments.
The investment into the 28 Strategic Hockey Leads has generated a marked increase in engagement. We have seen more schools offering the sport and young people transitioning into clubs who wouldn't otherwise have had exposure to hockey. The Youth Sport Trust values enormously the commitment from England Hockey members to the future of the game.
At a Glance - Impact in Numbers (Sept – Dec 2025)
While the national trend for School Games activity across all sports dropped by 21%, our targeted pilot activity has shown that hockey participation in our investment areas grew by 42%, further emphasising the importance and impact of the investment.
Teacher & School Engagement
- 174 teachers trained through face-to-face workshops.
- 100% of teachers report increased confidence to deliver sessions and 98% state they will use the JHF support resources.
- Net Promoter Score of 84%: An exceptional rating that places hockey at the very top of industry benchmarks for teacher satisfaction and peer-to-peer recommendation.
Workforce & Festival Reach
- 387 Young Leaders trained to support local festivals, which are now part of our wider School Games ‘offer.’
- 48 School Games festivals delivered to 2,607 pupils, with a further 27 scheduled this year.
A Unified Approach: Aligning Junior Hockey
By bringing together schools, clubs, and community partners around shared principles, we are creating a consistent journey from the first touch in primary school to secondary competition that makes hockey more accessible and enjoyable for every young person.
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The Junior Hockey Framework is already scaling nationwide, alongside our wider primary school offer we are now reaching thousands of schools outside of the initial National Hockey Fund investment areas:
Festival Participation
- 227 Primary School Games Festivals (inter and intra-school) delivered so far this year.
- 11,566 participants have already picked up a stick through these events.
New and Improved Support & Resources- Tailored Training: A new primary-specific teacher workshop, plus a free online training portal (28 teachers already trained online).
- Ready-to-Use PE Plans: Two 6-week schemes of work—one focusing on unopposed, age-appropriate activities (reducing the need for mouthguards/shinpads) and one introducing progressive skills like tackling.
- Flexible Festival Formats: A new non-competitive ‘Skill Station’ offer to sit alongside traditional 4v4 games.
- Club-to-School Support: Dedicated guidance for clubs looking to build local links, plus a hockey-themed assembly and interactive activity booklets for use in or out of the classroom.
- Young Leaders: New courses to train the next generation of festival organisers.
Industry Authority & Safety- afPE Partnership: New safety guidance shared with 13,000 subscribers via the Association for Physical Education.
- YST National Conference: Practical demonstrations delivered to over 280 teachers.
The Communication Network- Teacher Newsletters: Direct updates reaching 2,670 primary and ‘all through’ teachers.
- YST Monthly Outreach: Updates shared with 450 School Games Organisers and 14,000+ teachers via the Youth Sport Trust network.
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We haven’t stopped at the primary level. We are ensuring the momentum continues through secondary school by supporting teachers and creating new playing opportunities:
- State School Championships: 32x U14 State School Festivals, involving 330 teams and over 2,100 players.
- Pilot for Success: We are piloting an U14 County State School Championship with six counties, with the goal of expanding this nationwide based on our learnings.
- Project 2011: We are identifying high-potential state school players to form a representative team for international competition this Easter, creating a direct bridge into England Age Group squads.
- Teacher Support: 21 teachers have already completed our new secondary training workshop, with regular updates reaching over 3,500 secondary and "all through" teachers.
- Core Competition: The traditional England Hockey Schools Championships remain a cornerstone of the season, with 564 teams and 6,200 participants.
What’s Next
Based on the success of our initial rollout, we are aiming to expand our reach from 28 to 50 School Games Organiser areas for the 2026/27 season. This expansion will allow us to bring the Junior Hockey Framework and our secondary pathways to even more young people across the country.
Get Involved
Whether you are a club looking to strengthen your school links or a teacher wanting to access our new resources, there’s a place for you in this journey.
Junior Hockey Framework
