South Yorkshire County Hockey Academy Centre

Welcome to the South Yorkshire County Hockey Academy Centre!

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.