Sutton Coldfield HC and Bury St Edmunds HC awarded Talent Academy Licenses for the 2024-25 Cycle

England Hockey are delighted to share the good news that following a comprehensive tender process Sutton Coldfield HC and Bury St Edmunds HC have been awarded Talent Academy licenses and will commence delivery from September 2024.

The Sutton Coldfield Talent Academy will largely serve the existing Birmingham catchment area, while Bury St Edmunds HC will replace the current England Hockey East Talent Academy serving the same catchment area.

Once again, the TA Appointment Panel, consisting of representatives from the Midlands and East Areas and England Hockey staff, were extremely impressed with the quality of applications which reached the final stage and would like to thank everyone involved in making it a very competitive process.

England Hockey will also lead a new Talent Academy in the North Midlands Area located in Stoke (further details to follow) which will serve a new catchment area to improve the accessibility for high potential players between Manchester and Birmingham.

This brings the nationwide network of Talent Academies to 24 for the 2024-25 cycle which together aim to support approximately 650 high potential players per gender from u15s to u18s (School Years 10, 11, 12 & 13).  Talent Academies will continue to deliver a year-round programme which offer weekly best v best hockey training and competition, education and individual support and development aligned to talent development principles and Complete Player Qualities. Great Britain Hockey Talent System Framework (englandhockey.co.uk)

The increase in Talent Academies means the Catchment Area Map will be updated to ensure clubs continue to build relations with the most appropriate Talent Academy. This map will be updated prior to the start of the 2024-25 cycle. You can find the current map on the Talent Academy Nomination webpage here as well as all details regarding nominating players.

As a reminder, the purpose of the catchment area map is to help clubs and Talent Academies identify the relationships that they should build to support player development. It does not necessarily determine which Talent Academy every player should access. In some cases, it may be appropriate for a player to access a different Talent Academy to the one their club is linked to, due to their home or school location or other personal circumstances.

For further information on Talent Academies, please visit the dedicated pages of the website where you’ll find FAQ’s and resources. If you have a query regarding Talent Academies that is not answered on the website, please email talentacademy@englandhockey.co.uk.