A Little Bit About Us…

We are delighted to have been selected by England Hockey as a Talent Academy host from the 2024/25 season. The club will take on the hosting of primarily the Birmingham TA catchment from England Hockey. Sutton Coldfield will form part of an expanded group of 24 Talent Academies across England. We will be responsible for the staffing, leadership, governance and day to day operational management and delivery of the Talent Academy.

Our talent academy will operate weekly sessions between October to July, however careful consideration has been given to the player loading and therefore a mixture of weekly, bi-weekly and twice-weekly activity will be incorporated across the boys and girls programme, players will also access some day camps which include player education workshops to support their holistic athlete development.

We will initially play matches against the other local TA at Beeston, Stourport and Stoke. In addition, the Sutton Coldfield Talent Academy will compete in the new Midlands/East Regional Competition with Cambridge, Stourport, Old Loughtonians, Bury St Edmunds and Guildford Talent Academy. We will also join the other 23 Talent Academies at the end of cycle competition known as the Talent Academy Cup which takes place in late July, the results in the regional competition will now determine seedings.

What is a Talent Academy?

The main purpose of the Talent Academy is to provide an exceptional player development environment for the highest potential young players from School Years 10 to 13 (c. 25 per gender) across our catchment area where they access regular high quality coaching, training and competition. We aim to mix individualised and team coaching along side a broader programme of provision that supports each young person and athlete to thrive. Talent Academy is focused on creating an environment that puts the development of each player at the heart and considers all the complete player qualities Great Britain Hockey Talent System Framework (englandhockey.co.uk) to support their progression. We want players to enjoy and value being a part of the Talent Academy that hopefully supports many to take steps into performance environments in the future such as the Elite Domestic Game, University Hockey, the GB/England Elite Development Programme and the England Age Group Programme.

Where can I find out more information?

For more information on Talent Academies please visit Talent Development | Talent Academy (englandhockey.co.uk)

For more information on the player identification and selection process into a Talent Academy please visit Talent Academy Nomination Process and Guidance (englandhockey.co.uk)

For more information on the principles of the England Hockey Talent System please visit Play | About The Talent System (englandhockey.co.uk)

If you would like to contact the Sutton Coldfield Talent Academy please email the Talent Academy Manager at [email protected]