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· to establish and ensure the implementation of a co-ordinated long term strategic plan for sport, physical activity and recreation in Northamptonshire

· to bring together all agencies and organisations interested in sport, physical activity and recreation to co-ordinate their provision and development

· to be the voice of sport, physical activity and recreation in Northamptonshire

· to raise the profile of sport, physical activity and recreation within the county

· to attract other sources of funding to support the work of Northamptonshire Sport

At the foundation/participation level various tools are available for the development of hockey. The majority of schools in the county have received BT TOP Sport hockey bags with 27 clusters of schools having access to the hockey curriculum bags, There is no means at this moment in time within the LEA to evaluate the impact of these bags. In addition, _______ hockey community bags are in use throughout the county and ??? primary school teachers having attended hockey TOP UP courses. The Active Sports hockey plan will look to build upon the interest generated by these initiatives, providing more formal opportunities to participate in the game.

The presence of Roade School, which has Sports College status will significantly help the development of Active Sports hockey, as hockey is a focus sport for Roade Sports College

· County Representatives – Seniors

· County Representatives – Juniors

· Coach Development representative

· Umpire representative

· Volunteer Development representative

· Club representatives – North; West; East; Northampton

· Northamptonshire Sport’s Active Sport Manager

· Local Authority SDO representative

· England Hockey’s East Midlands Regional Development Manager

· Comprehensive county wide activity audit

· Local authorities

· Northamptonshire Hockey and the component Associations

· England Hockey East Midlands Regional Development Manager

· Northamptonshire Sport’s Active Sports Manager

· Local Schools

· Local clubs

· Ensure that all activities and services provided are open to all.

· That all recruitment processes meet the appropriate anti discrimination legislation and that the process is fair and open from the outset.

· Ensure that all publicity and promotional material uses positive images of priority groups and that all information is accessible in a range of mediums and terminology used is appropriate and development of policy.

· Develop the involvement of all sections of the community in the planning of activities.

· Positively recruit coaches, officials and volunteers from priority groups to provide role models.

· Ensure that Northamptonshire Sport provides a wide ranging training programme that caters for the different needs of the partners of Northamptonshire Sport.

· Challenge discriminatory behaviour.

· Encourage facilities to be accessible to all.

· Monitor and evaluate the programme and activities of Northamptonshire Sport against performance indicators relating to the inclusion of priority groups in the activities of Northamptonshire Sport.

· Develop research opportunities on the involvement of priority groups in sport within Northamptonshire.

· Northamptonshire Sport is committed to capacity building within priority groups, where needs are identified.

Young Disabled People – to date there has been little consultation with disabled people as regards to hockey. There are no clubs specifically for disabled people and there is little available information as to participation rates of young disabled people in hockey. Through the schools audit information, 43% of secondary schools that replied to the audit had young disabled people in their PE lessons. From those, 85% offered extra curricular opportunities in hockey. However, only 1 school said that a young disabled person attended these extra curricular hockey opportunities. Further work is required with the Special schools in Northamptonshire and the development of Zone Hockey needs to be examined.

Young People from the Black and Ethnic Minority Community - Discussion and consultation with communities from black, Asian and other ethnic minorities has been carried out via contacts established through the Council for Ethnic minorities and NCC equalities policy officer. Hockey England Limited has achieved the Preliminary level of the Sporting Equals Standard which provides hockey with an a number of objectives to achieve in the areas of Commitment, Policy and Planning; Participation and public Image and Administration and Management.

· Challenge and remove racial discrimination in Sport

· Encourage people from all communities to become involved in sport

· Welcome employees and spectators from all communities and protect all employees and spectators from racial abuse and harassment

· Encourage skilled and talented individuals from all communities to become involved in all levels of sports administration, management and coaching

· Develop the best possible racial equality policies and practices that are subject to regular review and update

· Celebrate cultural; diversity in sport

 

 

Female Involvement - from the audits returned by clubs, 338 females were identified as playing hockey in clubs. These are in female only clubs (6 clubs), clubs that have male and female teams (12 clubs) and mixed hockey clubs where the team has male and female players (6 clubs). In the junior age groups, there are approximately 298 girls aged under 18 playing in clubs. There is an active Schools Hockey Association in the county.

Priority Areas – the needs of people from the Sport England designated urban and rural priority areas have been considered in the consultation and in the planning of activity. This will continue to be a focus for hockey through the 5-Year programme. Local Authority SDO’s will play a key role and the potential for new partnerships will be explored. The situation of the Sports College will be a factor in providing and sustaining quality support for priority areas. Links will be made with the School Sports Co-ordinator programmes in Corby and Wellingborough.

Equity Targets

Population

Targets

Targets

Target

24,880 - 49%

50%

49%

49%

2,843 - 5.6%

10%

6.72%

2%

Not Known

2%

2%

1%

10,155 - 20%

40%

20%

5%

Equity Targets

Population

Targets

Targets

Target

313,100 - 51%

30%

30%

20%

21,742 - 3.5%

5%

3.5%

3%

16,772 - 2.7%

2%

2

1%

99,392 - 16%

25%

13%

7%

· All planned activity will be run in accordance with the Hockey England LTD framework

· All personnel will be inducted into Northamptonshire Sport procedures

· All coaches working on the programme will have adhered to the qualifications outlined in the hockey framework and will be supported through the provision of professional development course which will include EHA courses and generic courses including Good practice and Child Protection, Working with disabled people and First Aid

· All activities will take place where possible on a synthetic turf pitch

· All venues and clubs where activity is scheduled to take place will have been visited and assessed beforehand to ensure they meet the MOS as outlined in the hockey framework

· All clubs involved in the programme will be targeted and supported to achieve Clubmark and Hockey England Ltd accreditation

· All participants taking part in Active Sports activity will complete a Player Registration Form, which will enable tracking of participants throughout the partnership

The Active Sports Manager will ensure that all the standards are adhered to through liaison with Local Authority Sports Development Officers, the proposed Active Sports Hockey Development Officer and the Hockey Action Group.

Northamptonshire Hockey conducted a comprehensive audit of existing hockey provision across Northamptonshire. This covered all hockey activity in the partnership and not just the age groups identified in the Active Sports hockey framework

Hockey England Limited has recently re-structured its Regional Development Managers and Northamptonshire is now part of the East and West Midlands area.

· Corby District Council

· Daventry District Council

· East Northamptonshire Council

· Kettering Borough Council

· Northampton Borough Council

· Northamptonshire County Council

· South Northamptonshire Council

· Wellingborough Borough Council

All seven District/Borough Councils and Northamptonshire County Council are all formally part of Northamptonshire Sport and have signed up to the aims and objectives of Northamptonshire Sport via a Heads of Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding.

The majority of the District/Borough Councils have a person responsible for sports development. They play a central role at both local and county level in the audit and in developing the Active Sports Hockey Plan. They will continue to be key facilitators at both levels within the implementation of the Plan over the coming 5 years.

Corby Borough Council’s SDO is currently working on a part time basis; Daventry District Council has had no Sports Development Officer for the last 12 months although a recent appointment has been made which has provision for sports development (approximately 20% of the Officers time). East Northamptonshire Council employs a Sport and Leisure Officer with 25% of the officer’s time dedicated to sports development. Kettering Borough Council and South Northamptonshire have a full time SDO; Northampton Borough Council have a team of 3 SDOs; Northamptonshire County Council currently employ a team of two officers (including the Active Sports Manager) and also hosts Northamptonshire Sport and it’s Director, whilst Wellingborough has a part time SDO.

Summary of Current Provision

Evaluation: Identification of Key issues

· There is a general awareness of equity issues within the Hockey Action Group

· Increased awareness and training at all levels

· No existing policy within Northamptonshire Hockey

· Need to adopt the Partnership Equity Policy

· There are more girls playing hockey in the curriculum than boys (11,184 girls against 10,975 boys). However, there are slightly more boys playing hockey in clubs than girls (626 boys against 622 girls)

· There are leagues for women and competitive opportunities for girls

· There are a number of opportunities across the age ranges for developing further opportunities for both boys and girls from the Sport England priority groups

· There has been very little delivery of opportunities for disabled people. Zone hockey has not been delivered in Northamptonshire to date

· There is a need for a co-ordinated approach to offer opportunities for disabled people

· Need to link with disabled young people both through special and mainstream schools

· There has been some work in providing opportunities for people who are on low incomes such as subsidised fees and charging policies within clubs

· Need to ensure that people from priority groups are involved at all levels
a) participants
b) coaching, officiating and other voluntary delivery/management roles

· From the club audits there were only 11 young people playing hockey from black, Asian and other ethnic minorities (0.9%)

· All clubs need to continue to develop opportunities that are equitable

· There are a number of clubs within the county that are geographically close to the counties priority wards. No information is available as to the number of participants from the priority wards that participate in clubs.

· There is a need to gather further information on the participation of young people from priority wards in club hockey

· From the club audit, there were 73 coaches identified within the county. Of these 23 were female (32%).

· The audit did not identify the ethnicity of the coaches or whether they had a disability

· More work is needed to increase the number of qualified female coaches

 

· Further work is required to establish the number of black, Asian and other ethnicity minority coaches and coaches with a disability

· The Hockey Development network has provided opportunities across the county for the development of hockey

· Local authorities have been running coaching sessions in hockey for a number of years linked to the Northamptonshire Youth Games. However, these have varied in their length and quality

· There is little evidence of development work with target groups

· Structured, quality community coaching opportunities needed in all local authority areas for boys and girls as there are geographically inequalities

· There is disparity in the level of activity and support for hockey provided by local authorities. This needs to be co-ordinated

· More work is required in making hockey accessible for all members of the community

·1 A number of clubs operate coaching sessions for juniors although and standard of these vary. Some clubs are now providing sessions through school holiday programmes.

·2 There are synthetic turf pitches in 6 out of the 7 local authority areas in the county. The only district that does not have a pitch is East Northamptonshire

·3 Corby – Lodge Park School; Brooke Weston CTC

·4 Daventry – Daventry Sports Park; Moulton Sports Centre; William Parker School

·5 East Northamptonshire – no synthetic turf pitches

·6 Kettering – Kettering Leisure Village

·7 Northampton – Kings Heath; Kingsthorpe Upper School; Northampton

·8 South Northamptonshire – Brackley; Willison Centre

·9 Wellingborough – Wrenn School; Wellingborough School

·10 There is a need to establish formal links with schools and clubs

 

 

·11 There are disparities in pitch provision both in terms of quality and quantity. Northampton has a facility need as does East Northamptonshire; Wellingborough has a pitch that is less that 1 year old

·1 There are competitive opportunities for both boys and girls through schools. For girls these include Mini hockey; district leagues at U13, U14, U15, U16; County tournaments at U13, U14, U15, U16 and U18; U15 national Knockout cup; U16 and U18 national schools cup and U13 EHA cup

·2 For boys, there are friendly games, County tournaments at U14, U16 and U18; the RAF cup at U14, U16 and U 18; Mini hockey at U11 and U13

·3 There is also a Mixed U13 competition

·4 4 boys teams and 6 girls teams competed in the Northamptonshire Youth Games 2002. Only 1 local authority did not submit any teams for the NYG 2002

· Youth Games has served as an additional competitive opportunity that needs to be continued and developed

· There are 33 affiliated clubs within the county. 24 of these completed the audit – 12 female clubs; 6 mixed clubs (playing mixed hockey) and 6 clubs that offer male and female opportunities

· The club situation in the county in terms of number is relatively good. However, more work is required in assisting those clubs to develop in a planned, co-ordinated and co-operative manner

· Of the 24 clubs who returned their audit information 17 of them provide opportunities for juniors in the Active Sports age range – 74%

· From the audit, there are 178 boys and 155 girls playing in the clubs (in the Active Sports age range)

· However, there are gaps in age provision, both pre Active Sports and post Active Sports ages and also across the county in the Active Sports age groups

· There is a need for more coaching and competitive opportunities for the under 14 age group - boys and girls

· There is a general lack of equity policies in clubs and little awareness of equity issues

· Little representation in the majority of clubs from priority groups at any level – participants, coaches/volunteers – ethnic minorities; priority areas and disabled

· Females are represented within the structures although more work is required to increase their number across the county

· Awareness raising and training needed with respect to equity

· Support needed to help clubs deliver effectively to priority groups

· Need to promote more effectively opportunities at all levels in the sport with priority groups

· 5 clubs (21%) have an existing and up to date Child Protection policy

· 14 clubs have an identified Junior Co-ordinator

· 8 clubs have a junior development plan, with 6 of these 8 having development plans for the seniors

· Support needed to enable clubs to achieve national accreditation standard

· Need to develop consistent provision across all local authority areas - at least one quality accredited club in each local authority area

· Recruitment, training and support of volunteers a priority

· Improve club - school links

Stage 3: Local Assessments

· There is a system for identifying players to move into county levels at U13, U14, U15 and U17 boys and girls.

· This is done by selection days from players put forward by schools and clubs.

· However, it is not a county wide process and there a number of areas where this system needs to be developed and improved

· Need to develop county wide

· There is a Northampton Academy based at Roade School for talented players

· This model is similar to the Active Sports stage 4 model

· There are no other local development structures. All talented players attend county trials and then, if selected, receive training in the county squad structure

· There is a need for further development of the academy at Roade School

· There is a need for a county wide system of player development squads for both boys and girls

· From the club audit, there were 73 coaches identified within the county.

· Level 1 – 43 coaches

· Level 2 - 8 coaches

· Level 3 – 2 coaches

· Level 4 – 1 coach

· Unqualified – 19 (who have expressed their interest in attending a Level 1 course)

· The clubs audits identified a number of coaches who were unqualified that wished to attend a level 1 course

· Those in possession of an NGB qualification at level 1 have also identified an interest in gaining further qualification

· It has not been possible to differentiate between active and in active coaches as identified within the audit

· Representation of priority groups within the coaching workforce is unknown outside of females (32%)

· Little awareness/experience of equity issues

· Lack of coaches trained to work with people with disabilities

· Encourage more people from priority groups to take up coaching and provide support for their continued development as coaches

· Provide training opportunities for coaches to support them in addressing equity in their coaching practice

· Northamptonshire Hockey has an ongoing programme of Continuous Professional Development opportunities for coaches. More work is required in the promotion and marketing of these courses

· There is insufficient effective recognition of the work of volunteer coaches

· There is insufficient management of the recruitment and mentoring of coaches

· Assist in the marketing and promotion of these courses, including the recruitment of new coaches to the sport

· Establish a structured system of recruitment, training, support and recognition of coaches along the SC UK Model Process

· Provide appropriate Coach Education opportunities - sport specific and generic

· There is no database of coaches available

· Coaches on database are made aware of Coach Education opportunities

· Work is required to link this information with the CMIS programme being developed county wide

· There are 77 level 1 qualified umpires

· There are 9 level 2 umpires, although only 4 are currently active (all male)

· From these 9 level 2 umpires, 2 are level 3 and one of these was an international umpire (World and Olympic) There are

· There are 17 unqualified umpires

· There are 2 level 1 umpire coaches and 1 level 2 umpire coach. There is 1 level 1 umpire coach candidate

· The audit has identified the need for future level 1 umpire courses and for assessment session for level 2

· Northamptonshire Hockey has a successful Young Umpire scheme

· 23 (24%) of the umpires identified are female. No additional demographic information is available

· Need to support and develop the network of umpires

· Need to recruit more umpires including attracting young people into refereeing

· Embark on a continuous recruitment process with continuous professional development opportunities - at all levels

· Further enhance and develop the Young Umpires scheme, ensuring that those involved are supported to develop their skills

· No mentoring system in place for umpires, including the young umpires

· Need to develop a mentoring system for umpires

· Very little representation by people from priority groups among existing officials

· Promote opportunities for people from priority groups to become officials

· Insufficient system for recruitment, training, support and recognition of volunteers

· More volunteers needed to help facilitate development work

· A structured approach to volunteers required - recruitment, training, support and recognition

· Raise the profile of volunteer contribution

· The Partnership area is serviced by a Regional Development Officer who has responsibility for two Sport England Regions

· The Hockey Development Network have had a voluntary development officer in the past

· Need to appoint a Active Sports Hockey Development Officer specifically to develop the Active Sports hockey programme

· Increased development work in ensuring the accessibility of hockey to the priority groups within the county

· Further training provided to those actively involved in hockey to further their awareness of equity and inclusion of all in sport

· Need to gather further information on the demographic make up of players currently involved in hockey

· Development of opportunities for young people to participate in hockey needs to be more co-ordinated across the county

· There is a need to establish formal school/club links

· Need for further pitch provision as identified in the Playing Pitch strategy

· Significant number of opportunities for girls to play competitively but there are still some areas of development

· Boys competition is limited

· The area of club development is very important as there are a significant number of clubs but the majority require support and assistance

· Talent identification needs further support and development across the county

· Provision of development squads needs support and development across the county

· Significant number of requests for coach education provided in the audit information

· Further work to develop involvement of priority groups in coaching, officiating and volunteering

· Further development of officials required, especially assisting those already qualified to progress further

· Development of a mentoring scheme for young umpires and for coaches across the county

· Support needed to develop further the volunteers already involved in hockey and to recruit new volunteers

· There is a need to appoint a Hockey Development Officer

 

Active Sports will provide a significant boost to the development of hockey in the county and will assist the local governing body to develop the infrastructure of clubs and coaches within the county.

· Targeted marketing to ethnic communities

· Inclusion of disabled people

· Increase number of females in coaching, umpiring and volunteer roles

· Increase number of participants from priority wards

· Club development work in the areas of inclusiveness

· Use of Zone Hockey to promote hockey to young disabled people

· Scheme developed for ethnic minorities

· Continued development of promotion and marketing to priority groups

· Continue good practices from year 1

· As year 2, details and location of activity pending year 2 review

· New schemes based on year 3 review

· Encourage clubs and other voluntary groups to sustain activity

· Coaching Courses held in each of the 4 district hockey areas at U 13

· Festivals at ATP/schools sites across the county ensuring a geographical spread of opportunities

· Links to NYG

· Coaching Courses held in each of the 4 district hockey areas at U 13

· Investigate the need for coaching courses at U 15

· Festivals at ATP/schools sites across the county ensuring a geographical spread of opportunities

· Links to NYG

· Coaching Courses held in each of the 4 district hockey areas at U 13 and U15 (if required)

· Festivals at ATP/schools sites across the county ensuring a geographical spread of opportunities

· Links to NYG

· Coaching Courses held in each of the 4 district hockey areas at U 13 and U15 (if required)

· Festivals at ATP/schools sites across the county ensuring a geographical spread of opportunities

· Links to NYG

· Coaching Courses held in each of the 4 district hockey areas at U 13 and U15 (if required)

· Festivals at ATP/schools sites across the county ensuring a geographical spread of opportunities

· Links to NYG

· 5 Clubs developed to Active Sports and EHA club registration level

· Strengthen school club links

· Clubs to produce own promotional material

· Courses to improve quality of coaching

· Programme of work for clubs

· Generic CPD training on areas such as sports development planning and Inclusiveness

· Develop new junior sections at 2 Clubs

· 7 clubs to have developed to Active Sports and EHA club registration level

· Clubs to produce own promotional material

· More courses

· Further updates and programmes of work

· Develop new junior sections at 3 Clubs

· 8 clubs to Active sports registration level

· Further courses

· Further schemes of work

· Develop new junior sections at 5 Clubs

· Strengthen school club links

· 10 clubs to gain Active sport registration level

· 3 clubs to gain advanced registration level

· Strengthen school club links

· All clubs in the county to have developed to Active Sports and EHA club registration level

· 3 clubs to have attained advanced registration level

· All clubs to have developed school / club links

· Assessments held for U14 and U12 boys and girls in 4 districts of Northamptonshire – Northampton; Wellingborough and East Northamptonshire; Corby and Kettering; South Northamptonshire and Daventry

· 4 x 3 hour assessments

· As year 1

· As year 1

· Development Centres held in 2 districts (only one is Active Sports Funded) – minimum of 12 hours coaching

· Development Centres held in 3 districts (2 funded by Active Sports)

· Inter district matches

· Development Centres held in the 4 districts (3 funded by Active Sports)

· Inter district matches

· Development Centres held in the 4 districts (3 funded by Active Sports)

· Inter district matches

· Matches v other partnerships

· Development Centres held in the 4 districts (3 funded by Active Sports)

· Inter district matches

· Matches v other partnerships

· 1 leaders courses

· 2 level 1 coaching course

· 5 coaches supported to level 2

· 3 Induction sessions plus 2 update coaching sessions

· 20 coaches to attend additional courses

· 1 young umpires course

· 3 level 1 umpiring courses

· 1 leaders courses

· 3 level 1 coaching course

· 5 coaches supported to level 2

· 3 coaches updates

· 20 coaches to attend additional courses

· 2 young umpires course

· 3 level 1 umpiring courses

Pending review outcomes

Pending review outcomes

Pending review outcomes

Objectives

Goals

Year 5

·1 All clubs included within the Active Sports programme have received equity awareness training

·2 Information on equity issues regularly disseminated to clubs involved in hockey

 

·3 All Active Sports hockey clubs to have written and implemented an equity policy and commit to adhere to the policies of Northamptonshire Sport

·4 Coaches working on Active Sports to receive training on equity issues such as "Working With Disabled people" and "Sports equity in your coaching".

 

 

· Provide coaching and competitive opportunities for young disabled people

Ø An annual competition/festival for young disabled people linking with the development of zone hockey

Ø A county disability club with 4 satellite clubs located across the county to serve all parts

 

Potential county team developed

· Targeted number of coaches and other officials from among disabled people involved in the Active Sports programme

· All coaches working on Active Sports are able to adapt activity to include young disabled people

· Zone hockey widely delivered in the county

· The use of positive images/language in all publicity material

· As above

· All coaches

· All publicity is produced using positive images of priority groups

 

· Opportunities are provided for young people from rural areas to access hockey opportunities

· Geographical spread of opportunities to cater for young people within rural areas

· Solutions and strategies for dealing with transport issues developed

· Links made between Active Sports hockey and the Sporting Equals campaign

· Increase the club structures in priority areas

· Increase in the number of black, Asian and other ethnic minorities playing hockey at stage 1 and in local clubs

· All coaches have been trained in equity issues

· Codes of Conduct and equity policy statements are signed by all coaches working on the programme

· 100% of coaches attended the appropriate training

· 100% of coaches have signed the codes of conduct and equity statements

· Increase the participation levels of girls in clubs and in hockey across the county

·

· Equity targets achieved as identified by Northamptonshire Sport

· Every young person within the Active Sports age range to have access to local coaching courses within their district. The local coaching courses will link closely to locally identified clubs and be developed in partnership between the clubs, schools, local authorities, Northamptonshire Hockey and the Hockey Action Group

· The programme meets the Active Sports and Hockey England minimum standards and be provided for young people at U13 and U15 age groups

· All local coaching courses will be inclusive and will pro actively seek to attract young people from the identified target groups so that the minimum targets in the section above are at least achieved and preferably exceeded

· At least 1 local coaching programme per district association per year

· Up to 30 local coaching courses run over the five years of the plan

· All meet Minimum Operating standards

 

 

 

· Increase the number of young people who have the opportunity to continue to develop their interest and involvement in the game through local festivals and leagues. These will be organised for pupils at Year 6 – 10 pupils

 

· Competitions have successful harnessed links between schools and local clubs by using club venues and club staff

 

· That the Northamptonshire Schools Boys and Girls Hockey Association are linked in with the competitive opportunities developed to ensure a comprehensive provision of competitive opportunities for school boys and girls

· That there are appropriate links developed with the Northamptonshire Youth Games

· All secondary schools delivering hockey

· Competitive schools competition for U12 & U14

· School/club links leading to better exit route identification

· That there is a boys and girls hockey team competing in the Youth Games from every local authority area at every age group

 

 

Special attention will be paid to meeting the agreed social inclusion targets.

· There will be a minimum of 1 Club Mark/ Hockey England accredited club in each local authority district, providing opportunities for boys and girls for the Active Sports age group

· Ensure that the development of teams and clubs through Active Sports are linked to existing adult and junior teams (addressing gaps in age range provision)

· Officer support to clubs to develop school/clubs links and implement policies such as child protection

· That clubs are encouraged to form partnerships between themselves to enable a clear player pathway, allowing players to move onto clubs that can cater for their talent and be supported to reach the highest playing levels

· Clubs assisted with their sports development planning to enable a controlled expansion of their membership

· Assist clubs to recruit more coaches, officials and volunteers

· Encourage club members to access hockey outside the playing environment – coaching, playing, administration etc.

· Minimum of 7 Club Mark accredited clubs

· All clubs are child friendly, safe and offer inclusive activities

· Full range of opportunities are available for young people in a local club setting

· School/club links are formalised in each of the Active Sports hockey clubs

· Clubs have effective recruitment strategies for coaches, officials and volunteers

· A system of clubs working together is established and clubs successful work together

The establishment of a talent identification system that ensures that the most talented young players are introduced to the Player Development Groups in the U13 and U15 age groups. The system will meet the Active Sports Minimum Operating Standards.

· Talent ID structure established and agreed pathway for the progression of talented young players, both boys and girls is delivered in line with the policy of Hockey England and Sport England

· All assessment sessions meet the minimum operating standards as laid out by the Active Sports programme and Hockey England guidelines

· Ensure that Assessment Day link in with the county programme

· Coaches and club personnel to be familiar with the assessment process so they can recommend potential players to squads

· A minimum 12 assessment sessions established

The Partnership Squad will provide another eight hours of coaching as a final assessment for the selection of the County Squad

· There will be 1 Player Development Centre in each of the districts association areas for boys and girls

· There will sub partnership groups at U13 and U15

· Travel time will be kept to below 45 minutes for all young people travelling to a Player Development Centre

· All stage 4 activities to dovetail and support the existing club structures

 

 

· 8 Player Development Centres established

· Links established with existing hockey academies

Ensure that there are sufficient coaches, officials and other volunteers in place prior to the running of activities in all 4 Stages of the programme.

· Coach scholarships offered to the clubs targeted by Active Sports (Level 1 and Level 2)

· All coaches involved in the programmes are qualified to the minimum standards identified and assisted to access continuing professional development opportunities

· All hockey clubs within the county that provide opportunities for women and girls to have at least 1 female qualified coach

· Mentoring programme provided for female coaches and all coaches involved in the hockey programme

· Women only courses delivered on an annual basis

·