I am writing to you on behalf of the South Yorkshire Hockey Development Group (SYHDG) to request your assistance. We are looking to identify any players within your club who may have a passion and aptitude for Hockey which would lead you to recommend them for assessment by South Yorkshire County Hockey (Academy Centre). The successful players would be offered the opportunity to receive coaching alongside players from other clubs and schools in the region as well as progress to represent South Yorkshire in a series of competitive tournaments during the season.

You may already be involved in England Hockey's Talent Development Programme yourself or have club members who have attended and benefited from the programme in previous seasons (nominated via their Club or the school). The AC contributes to the development of their game playing skills and provides team building opportunities as well as introducing them to new, like-minded, friends. Any players who were actively involved last season will have been invited directly but please feel free to share the letter with them too.

Please may we ask that you share the below letter with any players and parents whom you may consider to be both interested in, and capable of, participation in the South Yorkshire County Hockey Academy Centre. If they wish to take this further and attend the age appropriate trials, in the interests of data privacy, please may I ask that the Parents register their child directly with us, using the Enrolment form accessed via a Hyperlink in the letter. Please feel free to cut and paste this into an email to forward to interested parents.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

Many thanks and all the best

Sam Clark
South Yorkshire Hockey Development Group - Academy Centre Admin (Girls)

???????????????????????????????????????????

South Yorkshire County Hockey Academy Centre

Welcome to the South Yorkshire County Hockey Academy Centre!

I hope you are all well and have had an enjoyable summer. You are receiving this letter as your club has identified you as having the potential to represent South Yorkshire Hockey. Please do read this email to establish if this would be of interest to you. If so, there is a link to an Enrolment Form (online) within this letter. Please complete this form prior to the Assessment day, if you have any issues with this, please let me know. We look forward to meeting you at the appropriate trial session!

England Hockey - Talent Strategy

England Hockey have made the proposed changes to their Player Pathway with Performance Centres now replaced by Talent Academies and South Yorkshire Academy Centre (Sub Area County Hockey) now taking part in competitive leagues across the Yorkshire and North East Area for all age groups from U12 to U17. Further information on the England Hockey Talent Strategy can be found by clicking on the following link.

England Hockey ~ Talent Strategy

What are the aims of the Academy Centre?

Academy Centres aim to:

• Develop high calibre players who will be proud to represent their County.

• Provide regular, high quality contact time for a targeted group of players.

• Provide appropriate competition against other ACs in the Yorkshire North East Region to support player development.

• Provide high quality coaching that effectively prepares the very best young players for performance environments.

Why are players being assessed and what is the format of the Academy Centre?

To help identify the players that will represent South Yorkshire in the 2022/23 cycle, we are holding
Assessment sessions on selected dates and these will be followed by training sessions led by dedicated, qualified Hockey Coaches.

Competition dates are scheduled throughout the AC cycle and all players selected for the AC are likely to play all the Competition days (subject to their own availability).

What does this mean for my child?

You child will be assigned to an age group aligned with “school year”, please see details below:

AC Age Groups for season 2022-23:
U12 (Yr6) 01 Sep 2011 - 31 Aug 2012
U12 (Yr7) 01 Sep 2010 - 31 Aug 2011
U13 (Yr8) 01 Sep 2009 - 31 Aug 2010
U14 (Yr9) 01 Sep 2008 - 31 Aug 2009
U15 (Yr10) 01 Sep 2007 - 31 Aug 2008
U16/17 (Yr11) 01 Sep 2006 - 31 Aug 2007
U16/17 (Yr12) 01 Sep 2005 - 31 Aug 2006

Competition Structure for season 2022-23:

u17 & u15 (11 a-side)
One League running on a cumulative basis through the 3 tournaments. Longer games than previous competitions and not all teams will play each other at one competition, but it will be equal over the season. Fixtures and venues/times will all be confirmed at the start of the season for ease of planning.

u13 & u12 (7 a-side)
Two Leagues of teams. All play all in the group on a Competition Day. “Promotion” and “Relegation” after each competition (either 1 or 2 up / down from each League). Venues/times all confirmed at the start of the season for ease of planning.

u14 (11 a-side, which is a change to last season)
Structure to be confirmed depending upon team entries however will be one of the options above.

2022-2023 Academy centre

Please find attached the key dates for your diary including initial trial dates and a competition schedule.

ALL assessments will take place at:

The Hockey Pitch, Sheffield Hallam University Sports Park, Bawtry Road, Rotherham S9 1UA (the old Aurora site).

Please can you complete the following online form (click on the hyperlink below ) to register your child for South Yorkshire Academy.

>>>>>> Player enrolment form