Canterbury Hockey is excited to inform the community with details for the U13 Extension Programme in 2024. A similar format will be followed this year with the extension programme being delivered in two parts once again, both delivered as standalone events. The Development Camps will be delivered during the July school holidays, and then the Regional Festival will take place during the September/October holidays (Please note – each module will have a separate registration process.)

The development camps will take place during the July school holidays over a three-day period. The camp will include a mixture of skill development and game play. Participants will be exposed to high-quality coaching to develop targeted technical and tactical principles that will benefit their long-term development. For the game play element, players will be assigned to teams to partake in a hockey 5’s festival.

The Regional Festivals will be delivered during August & September. Participants will be allocated to teams, that will participate in a Regional Festival event which will include games against teams from several associations from the Upper South Island. The buildup to the festival will incorporate several weekly training sessions focusing on skill and tactical development. For this event Year 7 teams will play 7-a-side and Year 8 will play 11-a-side.  

Programme Purpose:

Provide an inclusive development opportunity that extends year 7&8 (under 13) athletes, and coaches and umpires associated with this age group.

Programme Objectives:

• Incorporate all interested athletes, coaches, and umpires, into a high-quality development focused programme that is distinctly different from club and school hockey experiences.
• Provide an enjoyable experience that encourages participants and supporters to connect with others in the wider hockey community.
• Develop targeted technical and tactical principles and concepts that will benefit participants long term development. 
• Ensure athlete welfare and workload is managed effectively.

Who:

Open registration for year 7&8 athletes who want to participate in a development programme that aims to extend them beyond their club and school playing experiences. Athletes must meet the below criteria:

• Must be Year 7&8 at school.
• Must play for a club or school team entered in Canterbury Hockey’s winter competitions.
• Must have a minimum of at least 1 year playing experience for a club/school team.

If you do not fit the above criteria and would like to enquire about registering, please contact Canterbury Hockey.

Programme Detail:

Development Camps:

• 3-day development camp that will consist of a mixture of training and small sided match play.
• Targeted development focus – Technical skills, tactical concepts, character traits.
• Day 1 & 2 split into morning and afternoon groups (by gender). On these days all groups will have a mixture of skill training sessions and hockey 5’s games. Day 3 will be all match play, hockey 5’s games.
• Block timing’s as follows – 9am-12pm & 1pm-4pm. Day 1 = Boys morning, Day 2 = Girl’s morning, Day 3 = both genders integrated across the day.
• Please note – due to hosting U18 National Tournament we had less space and to make the programme work we must balance with U15s during one week.

Dates:

Development Camp: 3 days in second week of school holidays.

• Day 1 = Wednesday 17^th July
• Day 2 = Thursday 18^th July
• Day 3 = Friday 19^th July

Regional Festivals: Start date TBC for team trainings – concludes with one of the two Regional Festivals:

• Year 7 = 14^th & 15^th September (one day in Ashburton & one day in Christchurch).
• Year 8 = 27^th – 29^th September (in Christchurch).

(Registrations for the tournament will take place separately, late July).

Cost:

Development Camp = $94.00. This price includes turf hire, training gear, coach and umpire development/support and administration-based costs.

Registration:

Registrations for both parts of the Extension Programme (Development Camp & South Island Tournament) will be completed separately.

All registrations will be completed using Play HQ. Please follow this link and then select the appropriate programme: https://www.playhq.com/hockey-new-zealand/org/canterbury-hockey-association/df572316/register

For any questions please contact: joe@canterburyhockey.org.nz

Athlete registration closes – midnight Sunday 30^th June, 2024