Sevenoaks HC was delighted to be one of the 17 clubs awarded a licence to deliver a Talent Academy in May 2022.
Sevenoaks Talent Academy is part of the England Hockey Talent System, supporting juniors with the potential and commitment to make it to the highest level. Talent Academies aim to develop selected players through high quality coaching and holistic athlete development. The Talent Academy provides an additional environment for talented young hockey players to join together and experience high level coaching and competition, in addition to their existing hockey diet at club and school. The TA coaches work with the catchment area clubs/schools/county centres to ensure the most appropriate decisions are made about where and how selected players develop and play their hockey based on the RARE (right athlete, right environment) principle.
Each year the TA each year selects and develops squads of around 25 girls and 25 boys aged 15-18 (school years 10, 11, 12 and 13) from schools, clubs and counties in their catchment area. It is also recognised that in exceptional circumstances there may be one or two players each cycle in year 9 who would benefit from accessing Talent Academy provision to support their development. New Talent Academy players are identified via Open Nominations from our catchment area clubs, schools, and counties. Nominated players will be invited to the open trial assessment and observations sessions throughout the cycle.