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Durham University Hockey Land Talent Development Pathway

1 March 2023
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Durham University Hockey Club has been named one of twenty-one accredited Talent Academies, representing England Hockey, to provide high-quality coaching and training opportunities for high-potential 15-18 year old players.

Durham University Hockey Club has been named one of twenty-one accredited Talent Academies, representing England Hockey, to provide high-quality coaching and training opportunities for high-potential 15-18 year old players. As a host, Durham will provide a combination of dedicated training sessions, as well as integration with other activity to develop robust hockey players. Read more on England's Talent Academies here. 

In order to qualify for the Talent Academy, athletes are nominated from their current hockey environments and assessed across a series of sessions.   Durham now have a pool of 52 athletes from schools across the North including but not limited to;

  • RGS Newcastle
  • Grammar School at Leeds
  • Barnard Castle School
  • Yarm
  • Dame Allan's
  • Benton Park School
  • Bradford Grammar School 

Most of these athletes belong to an existing club, and work with the Talent Academy in addition to their sporting commitments. Clubs include, but not exhaustive of; Harrogate, Leeds, Stockton, Tynedale, Newcastle and Durham City. 

These athletes have weekly sessions in addition to weekend training, with additional sport off-the-pitch focused on nutrition, video analysis and performance lifestyle; contributing to creating a well-rounded athlete for their performance sport journey ahead. Both the boys' and girls' squads played in their first matches in January at Timperley Hockey Club, with upcoming fixtures still to play for. 

A testimony to the graft these players put in, Durham University Talent Academy athlete, Hannah Cutler of Northumberland, was recently awarded the  Hockey Writers U16 Junior Player Award, presented by Durham alumna Tess Howard.

Durham University Hockey Club are excited by the opportunity to further progress their work within the community, and the support they can provide to talented northern athletes to continue their hockey development pathway.