I’d just like to let you guys all know that I’m transitioning into the Athlete Development role which Sharyn has recently left. I’m sure I’ll see most of you at the upcoming P&S meeting anyway, but I’d just like to take this chance to set out my stall for the coming year.

First of all, Hook In2 Hockey and Schools Hockey are both looking good due to the hard work of Sharyn, Jade and Cayte, as well as our teams of coaches. Hopefully both programmes are as successful as they possibly can be this year…

Secondly, I would like to re-iterate the importance of getting all your coaches qualified at the appropriate level as soon as possible. Your currently unqualified coaches should, at the very least, be completing the online component of the Community Level qualification. This qualification is free, and from my point of view will be non-negotiable for all HAW coaches this year. The practical component of the qualification can be signed off on by a club President, coaching co-ordinator, or Level 1 or 2 coach. I’ll also be more than happy to help out personally if any of you need an extra assessor. HAW are currently working on a Level 1 course for late April. Coaches must have completed their Community Coaching course in order to be eligible for Level 1, so you should really get onto it asap. Community Coaching is a free qualification, the theory component is all online, and there is nothing in there to catch anybody out. I’ve had a few students at Scots complete the course without any hassle, so there should be no reason why all our coaches can’t do so by season’s start.

Thirdly, linked to the point above, I’m attaching some resources related to athlete warm-ups. Hockey Australia has endorsed the FIFA 11+ as the preferred warm-up for all athletes, and I would like to pass on that endorsement to your clubs. (See attachments below) Injury prevention may not be something that many of our younger players think about, but I think that it’s important to get these foundations in place for our players as they progress into our Senior ranks.

tl;dr This year I’ll be focusing greatly on coaching qualifications and the quality of experience for all our players.

Many thanks,

Douglas Agar