Over 200 players attend our first Under 13 Extension Programme
Over 200 players attend our first Under 13 Extension Programme
July 20, 2021
Phase one of Canterbury Hockey’s new three-day Under 13 Extension Programme has been a success, with just over 200 Canterbury players attending and over 20 Mid Canterbury players travelling to be a part of it.
The U13 Extension Development Programme was put together by Canterbury Hockey staff with the support of the Youth Development Working Group (formed in late 2020 to help plan these sorts of events), following a Hockey New Zealand review where, in place of U13/15 age group representative programmes, associations have been tasked with providing quality, development-focused opportunities that: reach a broad base of participants, are affordable and are focused on skill development and progression.
With this in mind, the team worked to provide an inclusive, enjoyable extension-based development opportunity for years 7 and 8 (Under 13) athletes, and coaches and umpires of this age group. For the first two days of the programme, split into morning and afternoon groups, the focus was on allowing participants to develop targeted principles and concepts that would benefit them in their long-term hockey development, such as technical concepts (for example, ball control), tactical concepts (for example, utilising space) and mental skill concepts (such as a growth mindset).
Although the mornings were frosty for both the morning boy groups at Ngā Puna Wai and the girl groups at Nunweek Park, this didn’t hamper the training-based activities on day one and two.
The third day was a mini tournament where groups put their skills into practice. Comprised of seven boy’s teams and 12 girl’s teams, each team played four games throughout the day of 7-a-side half field games.
Over the three days, players received coaching from a talented and experienced pool of 15 coaches, who Canterbury Hockey would like to extend a huge thank you to.
The girls coaches were:
- Georgie Leslie
- Gursharan Singh
- Jessie Anderson
- Tara Wingfield
- Charlotte Lee
- Kate Trolove
- Michelle Stanley (Mid Canterbury)
- Saasha Marsters – Goalkeeper Coach.
Boys coaches:
- Moss Jackson
- Aidan Perry
- Harrison Darling
- Jonathan Pooch
- Louis Beckert – Goalkeeper Coach.
Coach Development Support:
- Pat Barwick
- Sunjay Ganda
- Lee Munt.
There is still more to come for this programme as well! Phase two will be a two- to three-day festival event involving Mid Canterbury and South Canterbury in late August. More information on this will distributed soon.