hockey_new_zealand

Seriously Fun - Learning

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 18:47:57 GMT

How adults shape junior hockey environments for kids to learn, belong, and grow, and have some serious fun!

A Seriously Fun junior hockey environment is one where:

Confidence grows because kids feel safe to try
Friendships flourish because everyone feels they belong
Learning thrives because effort matters more than outcomes

When hockey feels positive and engaging, kids are more open, more focused, and more willing to learn. Fun isn’t something we add at the end — it’s what unlocks everything else.

Practical Tips: How adults can support learning

1. Keep activities simple and clear

Children learn best when they know what they’re doing and why.

Show, don’t tell, whenever possible.
Share instructions as you need to, this can be one at a time, while an activity is going.
Repeat activities from previous trainings, players will feel confident in knowing how they work and can focus on finding new solutions

2. Let kids explore and try things out

Learning happens when children experiment.

Allow players to find their own solutions.
Avoid stepping in too quickly — give them time to figure things out, it is suppose to look messy!
Let kids play, there doesn't need to always be structure.

3. Celebrate small improvements

Progress builds motivation.

Notice tiny steps forward: “Nice first touch,” “Great effort to stay involved.”
Highlight what’s working before offering guidance.
Help kids see their own growth.

4. Create activities where everyone can be involved

Kids learn more when they’re active, not waiting in line.

Use small‑group games with lots of touches on the ball.
Avoid elimination games — everyone should stay in.
Make sure every child has a role in the activity.

5. Use mistakes as learning moments

Mistakes are part of the process — and kids need to know that.

Keep your tone calm and positive when things go wrong.
Say things like “let’s try that again” or “what could we try next time.”
Show that mistakes are normal, expected, and helpful.
Avoid any form of consequence for mistakes, instead reward it, maybe its a bonus point for trying a new skill.

Support for Coaches and Parents

Creating Seriously Fun junior hockey doesn’t rely on having all the answers.

CoachMate is a free phone and tablet app designed to help coaches and parents run engaging, inclusive sessions where kids move, learn, and work together. It includes training session plans for the season, activities built from best practice for foundation players, and simple tips to adjust each activity to suit your team and environment.

CoachMate helps adults create the kind of environment where learning thrives — and where kids feel excited to come back each week.

Friendships help kids feel they belong.

Belonging builds confidence.

Confidence opens the door to learning.

When adults create environments where children feel included, supported, and encouraged,

junior hockey becomes Seriously Fun.

Seriously Fun - Confidence

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 18:47:18 GMT

How adults shape junior hockey environments for kids to learn, belong, and grow, and have some serious fun!

A Seriously Fun junior hockey environment is one where:

Confidence grows because kids feel safe to try
Friendships flourish because everyone feels they belong
Learning thrives because effort matters more than outcomes

When hockey feels positive and engaging, kids are more open, more focused, and more willing to learn. Fun isn’t something we add at the end — it’s what unlocks everything else.

How adults can help grow confidence - Practical Tips

1. Praise effort and progress

Kids feel more confident when adults notice what they’re trying to do, not just what they achieve.

“You kept going even when it was tricky.”
“Great focus during that activity.”

This helps kids understand that improvement comes from trying, not perfection.

2. Make mistakes feel normal

When mistakes are treated as part of learning, kids feel safe to try again.

Use calm, positive language when things don’t go to plan.
Say things like “let’s try that again together.”

A relaxed response from adults helps kids stay relaxed too.

3. Give every child meaningful involvement

Confidence grows when kids feel included and valued.

Use small‑group activities where everyone gets touches on the ball.
Rotate roles so all players get a chance to lead, support, or try something new.

Small moments of success build big confidence.

4. Use simple, encouraging language

Clear, positive messages help kids stay calm and ready to learn.

“You’ve got this.”
“Let’s give it a go.”

Simple encouragement goes a long way.

5. Highlight confident behaviours when you see them

When adults name these moments, kids repeat them.

“Great bravery trying that new move.”
“Nice job backing yourself.”

This helps kids recognise what confidence looks and feels like.

Support for Coaches and Parents

Creating Seriously Fun junior hockey doesn’t rely on having all the answers.

CoachMate helps adults create the kind of environment where confidence grows naturally — and where kids feel excited to come back each week.

When kids feel connected, they feel confident.

And when they feel confident, they learn more, try more, and enjoy hockey even more.

Seriously Fun - Friendships

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 18:13:42 GMT

How adults shape junior hockey environments for kids to learn, belong, and grow, and have some serious fun!

C hildren play sports, first and foremost, to have fun, be with their friends, make new friends, develop, and learn new skills

A Seriously Fun junior hockey environment is one where:

Confidence grows because kids feel safe to try
Friendships flourish because everyone feels they belong
Learning thrives because effort matters more than outcomes

When hockey feels positive and engaging, kids are more open, more focused, and more willing to learn. Fun isn’t something we add at the end — it’s what unlocks everything else.

Why friendships matter

Strong friendships help children:

Feel like they belong
Feel brave enough to try new things
Enjoy sport more and stay involved longer
Work together and show positive behaviour

When kids feel included and supported by their peers, everything else becomes easier — learning, confidence, and enjoyment.

How adults can support friendships - Practical Tips

Start every session with a simple partner or group activity - Kids connect fastest when they talk, laugh, and move together.

Use quick partner games (e.g., “find a partner and mirror their movements”).
Ask players to share something small (“what was the best part of your day?”).
Rotate partners so kids meet new teammates without pressure.

Use small groups that change often - Small groups make it easier for kids to talk and feel included.

Create groups using fun prompts: “stand with people who like the same fruit”, “find someone wearing the same colour”.
Keep groups small (2–4 players) so everyone gets a chance to talk and be involved.
Switch groups every few minutes during warm‑ups or activities.

Show the behaviour you want to see - Kids copy the tone adults set.

Greet every child by name when they arrive.
Show interest in them as people, not just players.
Use calm, friendly language that makes everyone feel welcome.

Create moments for kids to talk and laugh - Not everything needs to be structured

Allow time between activities for kids to chat or reset.
Use playful games where laughter is expected, not controlled.
Keep the environment relaxed so kids feel comfortable being themselves.

Notice and name positive interactions - When coaches highlight connection, kids repeat it.

“I love how you invited them into your group.”
“Great job helping each other out.”
“That was awesome teamwork — you all stayed connected.”

When kids feel connected, they feel confident. And when they feel confident, they learn more, try more, and enjoy hockey even more. Friendships make junior hockey Seriously Fun.

Support for Coaches and Parents

Creating Seriously Fun junior hockey doesn’t rely on having all the answers.

CoachMate helps adults create the kind of environment where friendships grow naturally — and where kids feel excited to come back each week.

When kids feel connected, they feel confident.

And when they feel confident, they learn more, try more, and enjoy hockey even more.

Friendships make junior hockey Seriously Fun.

Junior Hockey - Seriously Fun!

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:26:01 GMT

How adults can shape junior hockey environments for kids to learn, belong, and grow, and have some serious fun!

Junior hockey is a place where kids feel excited to turn up.

Where they feel safe to try, free to learn, and connected to the people around them.

Where the game sparks confidence, friendships, and growth.

A Seriously Fun junior hockey environment is one where:

Confidence grows because kids feel safe to try
Friendships flourish because everyone feels they belong
Learning thrives because effort matters more than outcomes

When hockey feels positive and engaging, kids are more open, more focused, and more willing to learn. Fun isn’t something we add at the end — it’s what unlocks everything else.

How We Create the Environment That Matters

Junior hockey environments don’t create themselves. They’re shaped every week by the adults involved — through conversations, decisions, and reactions big and small.

Parents, coaches, team managers, and administrators all contribute by:

What we prioritise
What we celebrate
How we respond to mistakes
How we talk about progress

Kids notice these signals. Over time, they learn what “matters” here.

When adults are intentional about creating a positive, supportive environment, kids feel safe to explore the game — and that’s when confidence, connection, and learning flourish.

One Shared Purpose, Many Roles (need a new heading)

Adults in junior hockey have different responsibilities, but a shared purpose.

Whether you’re:

On the sideline
On the turf
Organising teams and competitions

You help shape the experience.

When adults are aligned around Seriously Fun, junior hockey becomes a place where:

Effort is valued
Everyone belongs
Development happens naturally

That alignment makes a real difference to how kids experience the game.

Support for Coaches and Parents

Creating Seriously Fun junior hockey doesn’t rely on having all the answers.

Support is available through schools, clubs, and Associations, along with the coaching resources provided by Hockey New Zealand. Tools like CoachMate , a free Hockey NZ app, are designed to help coaches and parents plan engaging, seriously fun activities, stay organised, and feel supported in their role.

The focus is on making coaching and supporting junior hockey more manageable and enjoyable, so attention can stay on creating positive experiences for young players.

Over the Next Few Weeks we’ll explore three foundations of Seriously Fun junior hockey:

Confidence – creating spaces where kids feel safe to try
Friendships – building environments where everyone belongs
Learning – supporting growth through enjoyment and engagement

Together, these foundations help create junior hockey experiences that are meaningful, positive, and lasting.

If kids are smiling, moving, learning, and making friends - they are having some Serious Fun.

Bringing the National Coaching Direction to Life

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 09:41:12 GMT

Understanding the National Coaching Direction and what it means to you and the wider coaching community.

The National Coaching Direction sets out a clear and shared aspiration for coaching in Aotearoa. At its heart, it is about coaches having a positive impact on people, so that through hockey they experience enjoyment, development and success.

This does not require coaches to do more. It requires coaches to be intentional in how they coach, how they relate to others, and how they contribute to the wider coaching community.

Below are the core actions of impactful coaching, along with simple examples of what they can look like in practice.

1. Lead with purpose

Coaches lead themselves and others, and are motivated to create positive outcomes.

What this can look like:

Being clear on why you coach, and letting that purpose guide how you show up at training and on game day.
Modelling the behaviours you expect from players, such as effort, respect, curiosity and accountability.

2. Build strong connections

Coaches foster trust and communicate effectively to support meaningful relationships.

What this can look like:

Taking time to learn about players as people, not just athletes, and using this to build trust.
Communicating clearly and calmly, especially in challenging moments, so players feel supported rather than judged.

3. Create person centred environments

Coaches create safe, high quality experiences based on the needs of those they work with.

What this can look like:

Adapting sessions to suit the age, stage and confidence of the group in front of you.
Creating an environment where players feel safe to ask questions, make mistakes and express themselves.

4. Develop people

Coaches contribute to the growth of themselves and others, on and off the field.

What this can look like:

Helping players build life skills such as communication, leadership and resilience through hockey.
Actively seeking feedback on your own coaching and being open to learning and change.

5. Evolve coaching knowledge

Coaches seek important coaching knowledge and adapt it to the needs of who is in front of them.

What this can look like:

Engaging with coaching resources, courses or conversations, then applying what is relevant to your context.
Trying small changes in your coaching and reflecting on what works for your players.

Impactful coaching does not happen in isolation. It is strengthened when coaches are connected, supported and learning together.

1. A welcoming coaching community

The coaching community fosters belonging, embraces diversity and creates positive environments for all coaches.

What this can look like:

Making an effort to include new or less experienced coaches in conversations and activities.
Valuing different coaching backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

2. A collaborative coaching community

Coaches share knowledge, support each other and work together to strengthen hockey.

What this can look like:

Sharing ideas, challenges or resources with other coaches, rather than trying to do everything alone.
Attending coach development opportunities or informal catch ups to learn from others.

Every coach plays a role

Every coach has a role to play. Bringing the National Coaching Direction to life comes from small, consistent actions, taken by coaches at every level, that reflect shared beliefs about what impactful coaching looks like.

So, how might you bring the National Coaching Direction to life in your own coaching?

Coaching at JHL

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 09:13:14 GMT

2026 Junior Hockey League Coaching - collaboration in action.

The Junior Hockey League (JHL) is underway this week at King’s College, Auckland, bringing together New Zealand’s leading U21 men’s and women’s players in a fast paced, highly competitive event.

Modelled on the Premier Hockey League, the JHL is designed to bridge the gap between U18 hockey and high performance environments, and the coaching groups leading each team play a key role in that transition.

It provides not only players, but coaches and an official’s valuable experience in a high-performance environment and support to develop their knowledge and skills.

Coaching for the Game You Can’t Predict

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 09:45:46 GMT

How do you prepare players for situations they haven’t seen before?

No matter how detailed the session plan, how well‑organised the activities, or how clear the game model, coaches know one thing for certain: the game will never unfold exactly as planned.

Yet, much of coaching still leans heavily toward control — rehearsed activities, predictable patterns, and solutions pre‑determined by the coach. The challenge with this approach is not effort or intent, but transfer. When conditions change, players often struggle to adapt.

A useful way to think about this problem comes from an idea explored by coach and writer Samuel McKenzie, drawing on the concept of repentización — a term borrowed from music that refers to sight reading: responding intelligently to something unrehearsed.

McKenzie, S. (2026). Repentización. The Deep Dive Coaching.
�� https://the-deep-dive-coaching.beehiiv.com/p/repentizacion

From Rehearsal to Adaptability

In musical terms, sight reading is the ability to perform a piece never seen before. In sport, the parallel is clear: players constantly face moments they haven’t practised exactly — unfamiliar space, pressure, teammates, opponents, time constraints.

The coaching challenge isn’t to prepare players for every possible scenario (because that’s impossible), but to help them build the capacity to adapt in real time.

This means shifting focus:

From perfect repetition → flexible responses
From “the right answer” → multiple viable options
From coach‑led correction → player‑led problem solving

Great players don’t memorise solutions. They recognise situations.

What This Means for Session Design

Adaptability doesn’t require complic ated activities or abandoning structure. It requires intentional variability.

Effective learning environments:

Present players with problems rather than prescriptions
Allow space for exploration, mistakes, and adjustment
Retain key game information (pressure, space, perception, decision‑making)
Encourage players to read and respond rather than wait for instruction

Small changes — to space, numbers, rules, or scoring — create new pictures for players to solve without needing a new activity.

How This Shows Up in CoachMate

This philosophy sits underneath the way CoachMate activities are designed.

Rather than isolated drills, CoachMate prioritises:

Small‑sided, game‑informed activities
Tasks that naturally create decision‑making
Constraints that guide behaviour without prescribing solutions
Simple adaptations that increase or reduce challenge

The aim isn’t randomness. It’s repeat exposure to different problems within a familiar structure, allowing players to build a deeper library of experiences they can draw upon under game pressure.

For coaches, this shifts the role:

Design the environment
Observe what the game reveals
Adjust the challenge
Resist the urge to over‑correct

Learning happens in the activity, not after it.

Why This Matters Across All Levels

Whether you’re coaching juniors, youth athletes, or senior teams, the game places the same demand on pla yers: perceive, decide, act.

When we consistently provide environments that invite adaptation:

Players become more confident decision‑makers
Skill execution becomes more robust under pressure
Transfer from training to competition improves

Structure still matters. Clarity still matters. But adaptability grows when players are trusted to engage with the game itself.

The Takeaway for Coaches

You can’t control the game — but you can prepare players for its uncertainty.

By designing sessions that expose players to varied, game‑like problems, you help them develop the capacity to respond, not just repeat. That’s the foundation of adaptable performance, and it’s a principle embedded throughout CoachMate’s activity design.

As coaches, our greatest impact often comes not from telling players what to do — but from creating environments where they learn how to think.

Where to Start as a Junior Coach

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 09:12:50 GMT

Here is your guide to the first steps as a Junior Coach and how the FREE CoachMate App is there to help

What Really Matters in Your First Session

Research shows players are far more likely to return if they:

Enjoy their first session
Feel included and welcome
Get moving quickly

If players leave smiling and wanting more, you’ve done your job.

Here are five key priorities to focus on for your first session.

You don’t need to be perfect—just positive, prepared, and present. Your first session is the beginning of both your coaching journey and someone else’s love for the game. Keep it simple, keep it fun, and use CoachMate to support you.

FIH Courses in Action

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 03:32:27 GMT

FIH Coaching Courses Delivered Across New Zealand in Early 2026

To date in 2026, the following FIH courses and workshops have been successfully delivered:

FIH Level 1 Coaching Course, Christchurch , led by Canterbury Hockey. Delivered by FIH Educators Sunjay Ganda and Chris Leslie.

FIH Level 2 Coaching Course, Christchurch , led by Canterbury Hockey. Delivered by FIH Educators Sunjay Ganda, Chris Leslie and Joe Piggott. This course deserves special recognition as the first association-led FIH Level 2 coaching course delivered in New Zealand in several years.

FIH Level 1 Coaching Course, Hamilton , led by Waikato Hockey. Delivered by FIH Educators Nicky Smith and Jamie Carroll.

FIH Foundation Goalkeepers Workshop, Nelson , led by Canterbury Hockey. Delivered by FIH Educator Sunjay Ganda.

FIH Technical Skills Workshops, Nelson , led by Canterbury Hockey. Delivered by FIH Educator Sunjay Ganda.

Keep your Coaching Ticket Current

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 10:18:42 GMT

The National Coaching Ticket is a must have for all Coaches, make sure you have a current ticket today!

Whether you’re stepping into coaching for the first time or you’ve been around the game for years, the National Coaching Ticket is there to support you as much as it supports your players.

At its heart, the coaching ticket isn’t about checking boxes. It’s about making sure coaches feel connected, supported, and confident in their role—no matter where they’re coaching or how much experience they have.

Your ticket is valid for 2 years, so it might be time to complete it for the first time, or renew it!

What is the National Coaching Ticket?

The National Coaching Ticket is your formal recognition as a coach. It’s free, online, and for anyone involved in coaching.

It shows that you:

Are part of the national coaching community
Have access to coaching support, resources and learning
Understand key expectations around safety, wellbeing and good coaching practice

Why does it matter?

Coaching is rewarding—but it also comes with responsibility. The National Coaching Ticket helps make sure coaches aren’t left on their own when things feel challenging or unclear.

A current ticket means:

You know where to go for help when questions come up
You understand what good practice looks like for player safety and wellbeing
You’re supported to create positive, inclusive coaching environments
Clubs, schools and parents can trust that coaches are informed and connected

It helps protect players—and it helps protect you as a coach.

It also gives coaches a voice. As part of holding a coaching ticket, coaches share information about:

Where and who they coach
What they feel confident with
What they’d like more help or support around

This helps build a clearer picture of what coaches actually need, so the support available stays practical, relevant, and based on real coaching experiences.

Why does the ticket need renewing?

The coaching ticket needs to be renewed every few years so it reflects what’s happening now—not what was happening several seasons ago.

Renewal helps:

Keep safety and wellbeing guidance current
Ensure coaches stay connected to available support
Reflect how coaching roles and environments change over time

Is Your Ticket Current?

Log into your online learning account to check your Ticket status.

New to the platform - Create a free account, log in, search for the National Coaching Ticket, and start the course.
Already have an account - Log in and search for the National Coaching Ticket. You’ll see a status logo in the top‑right corner of the course which will be one of three colours.
Green - your up to date and you can click the logo to view your certificate
Red - you need to renew, click on the course and complete the lessons
Grey - you have not started the course - click on the course and complete the lessons

FIH Academy Level 3 Coaching Course 2026 EOI now Open

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 04:35:39 GMT

FIH Academy Level 3 Coaching Course 2026 EOI now Open

Hockey New Zealand is pleased to offer an FIH Academy Level 3 Coaching Course in 2026, providing a high quality development opportunity for experienced coaches operating in advanced development and performance environments.

The FIH Academy Level 3 Coach Award is an internationally recognised qualification designed to support coaches to lead effective performance programmes, apply contemporary coaching theory, and demonstrate reflective, evidence informed practice. The programme also places a strong emphasis on developing coaches who can positively influence athletes and other coaches within their environment.

This course will be delivered through a blended model across May and June 2026, combining live online learning, targeted online workshops, and a face to face practical course in North Harbour. The learning experience is aligned with FIH Academy requirements and includes formal assessment against Level 3 coaching competencies. The face to face component will coincide with the start of the FIH Nations Cup, providing an enriched learning environment connected to international high performance hockey.

Delivery will be led by experienced FIH Educators Amy Ryan from Australia and Jude Menezes based in New Zealand, supported by additional educators across selected online components.

Places on this course are limited to 13 coaches. Hockey New Zealand has secured funding to heavily subsidise course costs, including travel and accommodation, ensuring the programme is accessible to coaches who are well positioned to apply learning within their current roles and contribute to the wider performance coaching system.

Coaches must hold an FIH Academy Level 2 Coach Award or an equivalent qualification to be eligible.

For full course details, costs, timelines, and Expression of Interest information, please click the link below.

Note - expressions of interest now close Monday 13 April at 12:00PM.

CoachMate – Your Free Coaching App

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 20:10:48 GMT

CoachMate is now live — a free, all‑in‑one coaching and team‑management app for our hockey community. Coaches can now access best practice training activities, session plans, and season plans to coach with confidence. The app includes great tips for coaches, and a communication and scheduling tool to make it the must have for coaches and everyone in hockey.

Watch the video above to see how CoachMate works and how it can support you and your team this season

Who Is CoachMate For?

CoachMate is for everyone in our hockey community.

While it’s designed first and foremost for coaches, anyone involved in the game will benefit. CoachMate gives coaches simple, tailored support, to plan engaging sessions, grow their coaching skills, and feel confident. All activities and tips are built around best‑practice coaching and designed specifically for Foundation Coaches and Foundation Players, so no prior hockey experience is needed.

But CoachMate goes far beyond coaching. Players, parents, supporters, clubs, schools, officials, and associations can all use the communication tools to stay connected. It brings people together in one place, helping our hockey system stay aligned, informed and supported.

Confidence in Your Coaching

Every activity and practice plan in CoachMate is created to maximise player engagement, enjoyment, and development. They align with the Hockey NZ Player Competency Framework and are built to reflect the realities of our unique community hockey environment.

CoachMate provides:

Activities built on best‑practice coaching
Content designed for Foundation Coaches and Foundation Players
Adaptable activities suitable for any team or environment

The heavy lifting is done for you. By using CoachMate, coaches can feel confident they’re delivering quality sessions that help players reach their potential—and foster a lifelong love of hockey.

Acknowledging Our Supporters

CoachMate has been made possible thanks to the generous support of Jon and Sue Tanner. Their commitment to strengthening community hockey and empowering coaches across Aotearoa has played a vital role in bringing CoachMate to life.

The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:49:38 GMT

Applications are now open for Sport Exchange Advisors for Hockey in Japan, through the JET Programme

What is the JET Programme

The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme was established by the Japanese Government in 1987 to promote internationalisation at the local level and New Zealand was one of the four original countries invited to participate. On 1 July 2025, the Programme included 5,933 participants from 54 countries, including 171 (165 ALTs, and 6 CIRs) from New Zealand in locations throughout Japan. Since 1987, over 3,500 New Zealanders have participated in the JET Programme.

Most participants are selected as Assistant Language Teachers, mainly at public schools. Others join the JET Programme as Coordinators for International Relations (CIR) or Sports Exchange Advisors (SEA).

Sports Exchange Advisors (SEAs) work for local governments, coaching and promoting internationalization through the universal language of sports. They are sports professionals whose role is to assist with sports training and the planning of sports-related projects.

Sport Exchange Advisors for Hockey

The JET Programme now has applications open for Sport Exchange Advisors for Hockey.

Role: Community hockey coaching, international exchange activities through hockey, coaching (men and women) in conjunction with the establishing of an inter-university field hockey club, participation in municipal sports events.
Placement: The successful applicants will be placed in Akaiwa City, Okayama Prefecture.
Contracting Organisation: Akaiwa City Board of Education - Social Education Section

Application Timelines

13 March 2026 Applications close
Late March 2026 Second stage of screening process (interviews)
May 2026 Notification of selection (results announced)
Late July - Early August 2026 Depart to Japan

General eligibility requirements:

Successful candidate must meet all the following criteria below.

Be a New Zealand Citizen with a coaching certification/qualification or 3 years coaching experience
Excel at and have practical experience coaching Field Hockey
Have an interest in living and coaching in Japan
Driver's license holder
Be able to depart for Japan in early August 2026
Conversational Japanese speaker
Please check that there are further criteria in the guidelines below for more details.

How to Apply

Applications are now open, with a deadline of 13th March 2026 . All applications must arrive at the Embassy of Japan in Wellington (by post or hand delivered) by this deadline.

Please use the links below for information regarding the application process and overall programme.

Developing Leadership Across Codes through the HNZ and NZC Trainer Programme

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 14:38:46 GMT

Hockey NZ and NZ Cricket join forces to support sport development leaders

The Hockey NZ and NZ Cricket Trainer Programme wrapped up in late 2025, completing a 16month pilot project designed to grow the capability of people in sport development leadership roles across hockey and cricket. It brought together coaching, umpiring, and competition leaders for an integrated professional development experience.

Across the 16 months, participants engaged in face‑to‑face workshops, action learning projects, small group connections, mentoring, and reflective practice. This structure created an environment where meaningful learning could take place, with individuals able to apply insights directly into their regional contexts.

At the heart of the programme were four core development themes.

Leading oneself
Working with others
Influencing change
Cultural competency

These themes guided the design of each learning session, supporting participants to grow in confidence, connection, and capability.

Programme facilitation

The programme was co‑led by experienced facilitators from both national bodies

From Hockey NZ - Danielle Cranston and Ben Owers
From NZ Cricket - Toby Doyle and Mark Borthwick

Partnership and support

The programme was supported by Sport NZ, and we thank them for their contribution, which helped make the project possible.

Looking ahead

Participants now bring enhanced capability back into their positions and communities, and Hockey NZ looks forward to further collaboration with NZ Cricket as we continue to strengthen the development workforce across both sports.

Building Coaching Capability

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 17:15:12 GMT

Hockey NZ Developers support Australia to strengthen Oceania's Coaching Network

The New Zealand Coaching system continues to strengthen. The quality of coaching leaders in New Zealand was highlighted last year where Hockey New Zealand partnered with Hockey Australia to support the growth of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Academy workforce across Oceania.

In October 2025, Hockey NZ supported Hockey Australia to deliver an FIH Educators Course in Melbourne, Australia. Co-led by FIH Lead Trainers Michel Kinnen (Belgium) and Ben Owers (New Zealand) , the course supported the development of trainee Trainers and Educators from Australia and New Zealand. As part of the course, Educators delivered an FIH Level 2 Coaching course to practically apply their learning.

FIH Trainers and Educators form part of a global network responsible for delivering FIH’s e-learning, online, and face-to-face programmes . Congratulations to New Zealand’s James Birkefeld (Wellington) and Bruce Brownsey (Auckland), who successfully achieved their FIH Educator accreditation. Their achievement adds depth to New Zealand’s growing pool of qualified coaching leaders, enabling Hockey NZ to expand FIH Academy offerings and provide greater support to our hockey community.

This initiative not only enhances coaching capability in New Zealand but also builds valuable connections with Hockey Australia and their coach educator network—an exciting step forward for hockey in Oceania.

Image: New Zealand representatives Bruce Brownsey (Auckland Hockey, FIH Educator), James Birkefeld (Wellington Hockey, FIH Educator), and Ben Owers (FIH Trainer)

Sport NZ - Women in Coaching Programme - Applications now Open

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 20:28:49 GMT

Applications are now open for the 2026 Sport NZ Te Manaakitanga - Women in Coaching Programme

Te Manaakitanga – Women in Coaching is a new development programme designed to support and grow the number of women coaching rangatahi (secondary school-aged young people) in New Zealand.

Over 12 months, coaches will gain tailored mentoring, learning opportunities, and access to regional communities of practice in Auckland, Waikato, and Canterbury.

This initiative is part of Sport NZ and High Performance Sport NZ’s commitment to retaining and advancing women in coaching roles across the sporting pathway—from community to performance.

Applications are now open, and will close Friday 12 December 2025

Who can apply

Applications are open to all women coaches aged over 18 who are New Zealand citizens or residents. They should:

be coaching rangatahi (secondary aged young people aged 12 to 19) in school, club or regional representative settings
have a minimum of 3 years coaching experience (*exceptions will be considered)
be supported by a school, club, national or regional sports organisation
have demonstrated commitment to personal development, the Balance is Better approach and their community
live in, or are able to travel to, 1 of the 3 regional areas. please note, any costs associated with travel are the responsibility of the individual.

What is Involved

Selected coaches will receive:

mentoring and coach developer support
access to regional communities of practice
in-person and online learning opportunities – including workshops delivered by current and former High Performance coaches.

Key Dates

Applications open: Thursday 27 November 2025
Applications close: Friday 12 December 2025
Coach selection and confirmation will be completed by mid-January 2026
Programme start: February 2026 (12-month duration) and will begin with the first in-person workshops:
Waikato: Saturday 21 February 2026
Auckland: Sunday 22 February 2026
Canterbury: Sunday 22 February 2026
Additional in-person dates will be confirmed following the first workshop.

How to Apply

Apply using the link below. Make sure to include information about your coaching experience and approach to coaching.

All applications must be supported by your associated club, school, regional sports organisation or national sports organisation. A brief reference check with the endorser will be completed before any coaches are offered a place.

Coaching for Impact Applications now Open

Fri, 07 Nov 2025 22:05:22 GMT

Applications are now open for the FREE Sport NZ Coaching for Impact Programme. Targeting Secondary School Coaches

Coaching for Impact is a free coaching programme introduced by Sport NZ in 2021. The main objective of the programme is to grow a collaborative network of coaches who influence positive change in youth sport aligned with the  Balance is Better philosophy . Coaching for Impact will broaden the availability and access to high-quality coaching experiences for rangatahi in secondary schools and their local clubs.

The upcoming programme will be led by New Zealand Cricket, with the support of Sport NZ and other National Sporting Organisations, including Hockey New Zealand. It will be delivered to a North Island cohort of coaches (centered in Wellington) and a South Island cohort of coaches (centered in Christchurch). Coaches outside of these areas are welcome to apply, but will be responsible for any cost associated with travel.

Hear from coaches involved in the first ever Coaching for Impact programme in 2021 and find out more information about the programme below.

Who can apply

Coaching for Impact is open to all experienced New Zealand coaches who;

Actively coaching secondary school age athletes in a school, club, regional or national sport organisation (or similar).
Three or more years coaching experience is recommended,
History of continuous learning and development
A committed learner and be willing to invest time in your own development

This opportunity is for up to 50 selected coaches from different sports, split across two hubs in Wellington and Christchurch. Coaches outside of these areas are welcome to apply, but will be responsible for any cost associated with travel.

Programme Information

The full programme will run over 14 months from February 2026 to April 2027.

The content and structure of the programme has been designed to take into account the particular needs of coaches working with secondary school age athletes, balanced against the time constraints you operate under.

Costs: Costs associated with the programme that will be covered by New Zealand Cricket, Hockey New Zealand and other partnering National Sporting Organisations are: Morning teas, lunches, external presenters and venue hire. Any travel or accommodation costs affiliated with participating in the programme are the responsibility of the coach.

Dates: The following dates have been set out for the 2026 - 2027 programme:
Introductory session hosted virtually on Monday the 23rd of February 2026 (7.30 - 8.30pm)
Learning camp 1: Sun 15th March, 2026 (9am - 4pm)
Learning camp 2: Sun 29th March, 2026 (9am - 4pm)
Learning camp 3: Sat 12th - Sun 13th September, 2026 (9am - 4pm both days)
Learning camp 4: Sat 3rd - Sun 4th April, 2027 (9am - 4pm both days)

Additional Opportunities: There will be pre-recorded webinars that will be made available to coaches who are confirmed as attendees – it is expected coaches consume these in their own time as they will supplement the face-to-face learning camps.

How to Apply

Coaching for Impact is a free programme, and applications will be open from Monday 3 November, 2025 to Friday 21 November, 2025 at 5pm.

The programme is limited to 50 spaces (25 in North Island programme and 25 in South Island programme) and coaches will be notified of selection prior to the 16th January, 2026.

All applications must be endorsed by a school, club, regional or national sport organisation. Hockey New Zealand will contact them if required for further details regarding your eligibility. All coaches will need to undergo Police Vetting to be accepted into the programme. Hockey NZ will work with coaches to complete this process.

If you have any questions please contact us at   coachsupport@nzc.nz

Image: 2023-2024 Coaching For Impact Auckland Hub Coaches Workshop

Left to Right, Danelda Van Der Merwe, Lydia Woods, Carla Johl, Jack Clayton (Developer), Will Lacey, Elliot Bartholomew, Nicole Youman (Trainer)

Celebrating ICCE Global Coaches Day: Honouring New Zealand’s Role in the Global Hockey Coaching System

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 01:38:22 GMT

Recognising New Zealand’s coaching leaders and their contribution to the New Zealand and International Federation of Hockey coaching system.

Since piloting Hockey New Zealand’s first-ever Developer Programme in 2021, the country now boasts a network of internationally recognised FIH Trainers and Educators. These individuals are delivering courses globally and supporting the development of Educators, Developers, Coaches, and Officials. This progress is a testament to the quality, commitment, and passion of our people.

Image: Hockey NZ Coaching Layers. The FIH Academy have an additional layer of FIH Educator. FIH Educators are experienced Developers accredited to deliver FIH Coaching and Officiating Courses.

Hockey New Zealand would like to thank the FIH Educators and Developers who have contributed to the delivery and success of these courses:

FIH Educators and Developers: Jamie Carroll, Sam Bartholomew, Sunjay Ganda, Chris Leslie, Joe Piggott, Bevan Nichol, Kelly Hudson, Emma Phelps, Ben Owers
Developers Supporting Delivery and Learning: Tracy Edmond, Chris Arthur, Mark Page, Taylah Carter, Juliet Dunlop-Fraser, Hamish Carr, James Birkefeld, Jack Paton

The growth of FIH’s online education has enabled coaches from community to performance levels, and from different countries, to come together, share diverse experiences, and learn. New Zealand Trainers and Educators continue to play a strong role in the FIH workforce for online delivery, supporting FIH Developer, Coaching, and Officiating courses this year.

Looking Ahead
In October 2025, New Zealand will send a team of Trainers and Developers to Melbourne, Australia. Ben Owers (Hockey NZ) will co-lead a course to train 18 new Educators from Australia, alongside James Birkefeld (Wellington), Bruce Brownsey (Auckland), and four trainee Trainers from Hockey Australia. This initiative will strengthen connections with Hockey Australia and expand the FIH Academy workforce across Oceania.

Hockey New Zealand would like to thank the FIH and Oceania Hockey Federation for their continued support in growing the coaching network and strengthening the coaching system.

We look forward to continuing to support opportunities for New Zealand Coaches, Developers, and Trainers to access FIH courses and contribute to the global coaching system.

Image: FIH Educator Sunjay Ganda delivering a local FIH Course in Christchurch

Celebrating the Coaching Advisory Group

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 08:10:17 GMT

The CAG concludes its role, leaving a lasting legacy through their leadership, insight, and contributions to coaching strategy, processes, and projects.

As Hockey New Zealand continues to evolve, we take this moment to acknowledge and celebrate the incredible mahi of the Coaching Advisory Group (CAG) — a collective of passionate and knowledgeable individuals who have played a pivotal role in shaping the coaching landscape.

Commencing as a 12 month pilot in 2022, the CAG demonstrated significant impact and value, leading to its continuation. The group brought together a diverse range of voices from across New Zealand. The six members included:

James Davidson – Waikato
Kiri Playle – Wairarapa
Steven Dillon – Auckland
Lydia Woods – Auckland
Sunjay Ganda – Christchurch
Samuel Chatfield – Hawkes Bay

Since inception, the group has provided invaluable insight, leadership, and direction across a range of priority projects and workstreams. Their influence has contributed to meaningful progress in areas such as:

Coaching Strategy and Planning: Helping to define a clear and purposeful direction for coaching.
Coach Workforce Mapping : Building a better understanding of who our coaches are, where they are, and what support they need.
Capturing Coaching Data : Through initiatives like Voice of Coach and the Coaching Ticket, the group has helped amplify coach perspectives and improve data-informed decision-making.
Connecting Coaching to the Wider Hockey Network : Strengthening relationships between coaches and other key roles such as Connected Managers, fostering a more integrated system.
Diversity and Equity in Coaching : Championing inclusive practices and ensuring coaching reflects the diverse communities we serve.

The group’s impact can be framed through the lens of the three P’s - People, Processes, and Projects:

People: Supporting and advocating for coaches at all levels, ensuring their voices are heard and their development is prioritised.
Processes : Enhancing systems and structures that underpin coaching, from data collection to strategic planning.
Projects : Driving forward key initiatives that have shaped the future of coaching in Aotearoa.

Following recent changes within Hockey NZ, we’ve taken time to review our ways of working — including how the CAG fits within our evolving structure. The review has highlighted an opportunity to build on the strong foundation laid by the CAG and transition into a new, dynamic approach to best meet the needs of our coaching community.

This new approach will enable us to engage a broader range of voices and expertise, allowing us to adapt quickly to emerging needs and opportunities. As part of this evolution, the CAG will conclude in its current format, having played a pivotal role in paving the way for the next phase.

Hockey NZ would like to acknowledge the significant contributions of the CAG and extends sincere thanks to every member for their dedication, insight, and leadership. The CAG’s legacy will continue to guide Hockey NZ coaching, inspiring future progress and innovation .

Expressions of Interest Open NOW for Masters World Cup

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 04:02:07 GMT

Expressions of Interests are now open for Coaches, Assistant Coaches, and Managers for the 2026 Masters World Cup.

World Masters Hockey have confirmed the venues and dates for the 2026 World Cup. There will be four tournaments, three venues and two separate dates as outlined below:

Tournament 1 (O35/O40) and Tournament 2 (O45 and O50) Men and Women
(National and International Masters Cup)
HC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
22 July – 01 August 2026

Tournament 3 (55 – O70 Women; O55/O60 Men)
(National and International Masters Cup)
KHC Dragons, Brasschaat, Belgium6 – 16 August 2026

Tournament 4 (O65- O80 Men)
(National and International Masters Cup)
BHV Push Breda, Breda, The Netherlands6 – 16 August 2026

Hockey New Zealand will be entering teams across all age groups and genders where there is a suitable number and quality of players registering their availability.

We are calling for expressions of interest from experienced and qualified individuals to coach and manage the National teams up to and including the events.

The intention is to hold a selection weekend for all age groups at North Harbour early in November (likely dates are 7 - 9 November 2025 but still need to be confirmed). Squads will be selected and named after the selection weekend with the final travelling teams to be confirmed after National Masters Tournament in February 2026.

Hockey New Zealand encourages all interested in being part of the team management for the World Cup to register their interest. The closing date for registration is 14 September 2025.

For any questions please email National Masters Coordinator, Peter Lowndes at masters@hockeynz.co.nz

Canterbury Hockey Leads Collaborative Coaching Initiative with VBSM

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 22:27:54 GMT

Canterbury Hockey partnered with Vantage Black Sticks Men to create a rare hands-on coaching experience as the national team returned to Christchurch.

After a 15-year absence, the Vantage Black Sticks Men (VBSM) returned to Christchurch for a national training camp focused on athlete preparation and squad selection for upcoming international competitions.

Twelve experienced coaches from Canterbury and Otago—representing senior representative, club, and school environments—were invited to take part in a three-day immersive programme. This combined observation with hands-on coaching and offered a rare behind-the-scenes look at how a national team operates.

The programme began with a welcome session, offering coaches insight into the VBSM’s preparation strategies for international competition. This was followed by on-turf observation of a full training session, providing a close-up view of the team’s technical and tactical work. Later, a smaller group of coaches were embedded with the two internal squad teams during match play, contributing directly to coaching conversations and team preparation.

These opportunities offered a unique look into how a national team operates and delivered practical learning that coaches can apply in their own environments.

One coach reflected on the experience, saying:

"It was an amazing experience that helped me understand what coaching at this level involves and where I want to grow next."

Special thanks to Canterbury Hockey staff and VBSM coaches Greg Nicol and Shea McAleese for enabling these opportunities. Hockey NZ looks forward to more initiatives like this, supporting the transition to a decentralised model and a more connected national coaching network.

New podcast - Canterbury Coaches Box is launched

Thu, 15 May 2025 01:49:58 GMT

��️ Introducing Canterbury Coaches Box – a brand-new podcast

Hosted by Sunjay Ganda, Canterbury Hockey’s Hockey Development Manager, this series dives deep into the stories, strategies, and successes of coaches that help shape our game.

✨ Episode 1: Chris Leslie – Insights on NZ Women’s Hockey Team During Their Most Successful Period
In this debut episode, Sunjay chats with Chris Leslie, former Black Sticks player and long-time assistant coach of the NZ Women’s team, about the team’s most successful era. Chris shares firsthand experiences from four Olympic Games — Athens, Beijing, London, and Rio — where the team reached a world ranking of 3rd and made two semi-final appearances.

He reflects on the leadership of captains Kayla Sharland and Stacey Michelsen, the Gold Medal win at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and the coaching philosophies of Mark Hagar and Ian Rutledge that helped shape a championship-calibre team.

�� Click the links below to listen on Spotify or YouTube — and take a deep dive into the heart of New Zealand women’s hockey.

��: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1NrUSPl8XRRC4A3hnVi2FW

�� : https://podcasts.apple.com/.../chris.../id1811924147...

��: https://youtu.be/pdXFVB1JEu4?si=aGgydmzPIWWXXjRY

��: https://media.rss.com/canterbury-coaches-box/feed.xml

Collaboration and Coaching Innovation: A Cross-Code Success Story

Fri, 09 May 2025 03:32:17 GMT

A recent cross-code collaboration between Canterbury Hockey and Canterbury Cricket has delivered a positive impact on coach development, community engagement, and youth sport environments.

A recent cross-sport partnership between Canterbury Hockey and Canterbury Cricket has delivered a meaningful impact on coach development, community engagement, and youth sport environments. With the support of Sport New Zealand Ihi Aotearoa, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and Hockey New Zealand (HNZ), as well as an Australian based Skill Acquisition expert, Ian Renshaw, the regional sport organisations (RSOs) worked together to develop a community focused skill acquisition framework, grounded in the Constraints-Led Approach (CLA). The result was not only a more athlete-centered experience for rangatahi (youth) but also strengthened ties across sports and between organisations.

At the heart of the project was a shared goal: improve coaching outcomes by introducing a clear and practical way to apply the CLA in community settings. Both RSOs successfully integrated the model into their coaching programs and shared resources throughout the project. The project had a ripple effect well beyond the two RSOs. The partnership helped build stronger relationships between the respective National Sporting Organisations, marking a step forward in cross-code innovation and showcasing the power of collaboration in sport.

A key milestone in the project was the delivery of content to coaches involved with the delivery of 2024 player development programmes, and the impact on young athletes was clear. Feedback gathered during a skills camp highlighted the difference rangatahi noticed between their usual club or school coaching environments and the skill development program sessions shaped by the CLA. Participants rated the CLA-informed sessions more highly for their ability to promote skill development and enjoyment. This feedback helps to validate the CLA theory and importance of designing learning environments that reflect the realities of the game while encouraging player creativity and decision-making.

Developers from both cricket and hockey were also integral to the success of the project. Not only did they receive upskilling opportunities themselves, but they were also actively involved in co-designing the delivery of CLA within coaching courses. Led by Sunjay Ganda, Canterbury Hockey, Hockey Development Manager, they trialed the simplified model in coach development sessions which created opportunities to test, refine and gather feedback from community coaches, ensuring the content is both practical and impactful. This hands-on involvement extended into practical training environments, where developers observed coaches implementing the approach and provided feedback to further support coach learning and confidence.

Importantly, the project laid the foundation for lasting change. The CLA is now being embedded within local coach education frameworks, and as part of the HNZ skill learning modules. The next steps in integration of the key learnings and framework developed is the upskilling of HNZ Coach Developers and the offering of the ‘skill learning’ courses to community coaches, specifically those involved in the ‘Coaching of Competitive Players’ (CCP), National Coach Development Programme.

In summary, this project is a great example of how collaboration, shared learning, and a focus on evidence-based practice can drive positive change in coach development and youth sport experiences. HNZ is thankful for the support received from NZC, Sport NZ, Ian Renshaw, and would like to shout out Sunjay Ganda (Canterbury Hockey, Hockey Development Manager) for his work leading this project.

If you're a coach interested in exploring the modern skill learning framework, join the upcoming Modern Skill Learning webinar hosted by Canterbury Hockey. Sunjay Ganda will guide the session, breaking down the streamlined skill acquisition framework and offer practical coaching guidance shaped by the project, including how to embed the Constraints-Led Approach into your training sessions. Further details below:

Modern Skill Learning Webinar

Webinar Date & Time: 26 May, 7:00-8:30PM.

Target Audience: Open to all NZ based coaches.

Note, it is designed for those who fit within the Coaching of Competitive Players, National Coach Development Programme.

Venue: Online, calendar invite will be sent following registration.

Webinar Facilitator: Sunjay Ganda, with the support of a NZC Developer (Jack Hilton)

To register please CLICK HERE .

Image: Ian Renshaw, Australian based skill acquisition expert, sharing his knowledge with Christchurch based community coaches.

Verity Sharland - Coach Profile

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 23:52:17 GMT

The Coaches Kōrero, created by 'Te Korowai - Sports Performance Coaches NZ,' recognizes and celebrates Verity Sharland.

The Coaches Kōrero, launched by 'Te Korowai - Sports Performance Coaches NZ,' celebrates New Zealand's performance coaching community. Each month, they profile two coaches, and in February, they featured our U21 Future Black Sticks Women's Head Coach, Verity.

Verity Sharland has a passion for helping the next generation, and has influenced many of New Zealand’s top hockey players. A former representative of the Junior Black Sticks, Sharland not only coaches young hockey players, but also influences youth through her role at Feilding High School.

Sharland is a Head of Faculty for health and PE, and her role in education is something that’s always been important for her.

She first started coaching hockey when she was teaching at Westlake Girls’ High School in Auckland.

“That must have been around 2011, just helping out with some of the secondary school teams, then over time got given opportunities to work within the New Zealand age group programmes,” Sharland explains. “Once I left Auckland and moved back to Palmerston North, that’s when I got a bit more involved in the regional representative programmes as well.”

Sharland has worked with age representative groups and says it’s important for her athletes to love the game. “It often is quite a big commitment that we ask of them at that age, whether they’re within hockey, they’re often committed to club hockey, school hockey and then representative hockey,” she says. “So finding the enjoyment from it, and having that growth mindset where they’re always looking at ways in which they can improve, and helping others as well.”

Having worked a lot with the under 21s, in 2022 the opportunity came up to work with the women’s Black Sticks as one of three assistant coaches. The part-time role meant Sharland could still be based in the Manawatū and keep her teaching job, which was important to her. “It was a big step up, but it was really enjoyable, just being able to help support the athletes and really tested a lot of what I thought of my knowledge,” Sharland says.

“In 2022, we were really lucky, we went to the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, so those opportunities were pretty awesome.” New Zealand made it to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, and were agonisingly close to a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, losing on penalties.

Darren Smith was the head coach for those campaigns, and Sharland worked alongside Bryce Collins and former men’s Black Stick Shea McAleese in the assistant coach roles.

Being one of three assistant coaches was a challenging but rewarding experience for Sharland.

“We worked really collaboratively and had quite a cool, open and supportive environment, where we would bounce ideas off each other, help support each other and challenge each other in really positive ways,” she says. “It also was quite unique that we were all distributed across the country as well, so it meant that we had to communicate regularly to make sure that we did all remain on the same page.”

After the Oceania Cup in 2023, Sharland stepped away from the Black Sticks but has stayed involved with Hockey New Zealand through junior programmes – the Future Black Sticks, and the under 21 women’s team. “It’s been really cool cause the junior programme aligns quite nicely with the school year,” says Sharland on being head coach of the U21 team. “It’s also an opportunity for me to lead a programme which is really valuable as well, and to see it through to the Junior World Cup.”

Something that has helped Sharland stay involved with hockey, particularly with coaching, was being accepted into the High Performance Sport New Zealand residency programme. ‘Residency Experiences’ for women in high performance sport help those looking for leadership and coaching positions, and help prepare and develop women for further opportunities. “That’s been awesome, I’ve been really fortunate with that,” Sharland says of the residency. “The network of people – not just coaches – is really supportive.

“The lead with Helene [Wilson], she’s pretty outstanding, helping to challenge me to look at things differently and to progress not just with my coaching, but within my leadership skills and capabilities.

“Essentially the role that they have helped create, I probably wouldn’t still be coaching if it wasn’t for the residency programme.”

As Sharland continues to give back to the sport that’s given so much to her, she’s aware that the learning never stops. “Listen to the athletes, I just think they have a wealth of knowledge,” she says.

“Sometimes we can forget that they are a really important part of the puzzle.”

Check out Te Korowai here: https://te-korowai.org.nz/2025/02/18/coaches-korero-february-2025/

And the link to the full article here: https://te-korowai.org.nz/2025/02/11/verity-sharland/

National Developer Residential Workshop 2025

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 01:45:41 GMT

Hockey NZ hosted its annual National Developer Residential Workshop in Mount Maunganui, with the support of Tauranga Hockey. The three-day event brought together 14 new Developers from 7 Associations, and focused on enhancing their skills in coach development.

Building Future Leaders

The National Developer Residential is a key component of Hockey NZ’s National Coaching of Coaches Development Programmes. By empowering Developers, we are building a strong network of coaching leaders who will continue to elevate the quality of coaching and experiences for our officials and players across the country.

The success of this year’s workshop is a testament to the dedication and passion of our Developers and Trainers, as well as our outstanding hosts, Tauranga Hockey. We look forward to seeing the positive impact this training event will have on the hockey community.

Highlights of the Workshop

Networking and Collaboration: The workshop provided a platform for Developers and Trainers to connect and share experiences, fostering a collaborative environment that will benefit the hockey community in the long term.

Professional Development: Participants engaged in intensive training sessions, gaining valuable insights into the Developer Approach. This hands-on experience ensured they could effectively support the growth of coaches across the country.

Cross-Code Learning: The inclusion of a Trainer and Developer from cricket organizations enriched the learning experience, allowing for the exchange of different coaching strategies and perspectives.

Quality Facilitation: The workshop was led by Trainers Danielle Cranston, Kelly Hudson, Bevan Nichol, and Joe Piggott, with support from Lisa Williamson, Simon Insley, and oversight by Ben Owers. Their delivery made the workshop highly interactive and insightful. Additionally, the trainers enhanced their own skills and knowledge through practical facilitation review and the sharing of ideas.

List of Developers involved

Neil Watson (Rotorua), Guy Strawbridge (Canterbury), Rory Crawford (Canterbury), Maggie Martin (Canterbury), Carey Wessels (North Harbour), Jay Dhanjee (North Harbour), Hamish Carr (Tauranga), Lance Workman (Tauranga), Kaye Barnett (Tauranga), Kelly Newlands (Wellington), Matt Fraser (Wellington), Chris Neal (Waikato), Stu Pitu (Waikato) and Truman Wee (Waikato).

List of Trainers involved

Lead Trainers: Danielle Cranston (Hockey NZ), Kelly Hudson (Tauranga), Bevan Nichol (Waikato) Joe Piggott (Canterbury).

Support Trainers: Lisa Williamson (Hockey NZ), Simon Insley (North Districts Cricket)

Image: Developers and Trainers involved with the 2025 HNZ National Developer Residential.

FIH Level 1 & 2 Coaching Courses at JWCQ

ben.owers@hockeynz.co.nz (Ben Owens) — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 03:50:53 GMT

FIH Level 1 & 2 Coaching Courses at Oceania Junior World Cup Qualifier in Auckland.

Hockey New Zealand is excited to announce that FIH Academy Level 1 and 2 Coaching Courses will be offered alongside the Oceania Junior World Cup Qualifier in Auckland at Lloyd Elsmore Park, on Saturday February 1 and 2.

FIH Coaching Courses provide coaches with the opportunity to take part in accreditation-based coach education programmes that are internationally recognized. For more information on the FIH Academy and Coaching Courses, please refer to the FIH Academy page .

Expressions of interest have been opened to gauge course interest and will close on 23 January 2025. Spaces for both workshops are limited, and participants will receive confirmation and payment details before attending.

If you have any questions, please contact Hockey New Zealand’s Community Coaching Manager, Ben.owers@hockeynz.co.nz

FIH Level 1 Course Details

Dates & times: Saturday 1 February 1:15PM-4:15PM & Sunday 2 February 9:30AM-12:30PM.

Target audience: Coaches who are actively coaching youth and adult aged players through school, club, or association programmes. Note, coaches must be aged 16+.

Course Cost: $92.00.

Please CLICK HERE to register your interest in the FIH Level 1 Coaching Course.

FIH Level 2 Course Details

Dates & times: Saturday 1 February 9:30AM -4:15PM & Sunday 2 February 9:30AM-12:30PM.

Target audience: Coaches with several years of experience, actively working with youth and adult players, typically coaching premier, reserve, or age-group teams in school, club, or association programs.

Course Cost: $144.00.

Please CLICK HERE to register your interest in the FIH Level 2 Coaching Course.

FIH Level 3 Coaches Spotlight

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 00:22:29 GMT

Coaches from around the country attended an FIH Level 3 Coaching Course in Auckland.

Last month Auckland hosted a highly anticipated FIH Level 3 Coaching course, a 34-hour practical course that allows participants to improve their coaching with access to advanced knowledge and skills, administered by an FIH Hockey Academy Coach Educator. The FIH Level 3 Coaching Course not only equips our coaches with technical knowledge but also encourages an environment that nurtures collaboration and continuous learning within the hockey community. Last week’s course was attended by 13 aspiring Hockey New Zealand and Future Black Sticks program coaches.

Making the course even more notable was its facilitator Darren Cheeseman, an ex-England and Great Britain hockey team member, who now in addition to his role with FIH as an accredited Coach Educator actively coaches in Europe. Currently, he acts as Head Coach of Berliner HC in the German Bundesliga and as Assistant Coach to the German U21 Men’s programme.

Congratulations to the following people who completed the course and received their FIH Level 3 Coaching accreditation:

Elliot Bartholomew - North Harbour

Ben Owers - Canterbury & Hockey New Zealand

Hymie Gill - Otago

Will Lacey - North Harbour

James Birkefeld - Wellington

Jamie Carroll - Bay of Plenty

Christine Arthur - Auckland

Danielle Cranston - Auckland & Hockey New Zealand

Joe Piggott - Canterbury

Jolene Casey - Otago

Sunjay Ganda - Canterbury

Sam Bartholomew - Tauranga

Tinesha Carey - Queensland (previously Hawkes Bay)

We took the opportunity to catch up with three of the coaches before the course commenced to find out about their hockey coaching journeys to this point.

Elliot Bartholomew

Home town:

North Shore, Auckland
First memories of hockey:

Both of my parents worked at North Harbour Hockey in the late 90's early 2000's so it was always my 2nd home as well as watching both of my older brothers play. I first got involved with organised hockey as a 4/5 year old in the midgets program and have played or coached ever since.
Why you are passionate about coaching:

First and foremost I have always found coaching great for my personal mental health, despite it being awfully stressful at times it keeps my mind active outside of work, especially the problem solving element. I also had some fantastic experiences of coaches as a player where I was able to grow as an individual with their help and so I hope to recreate some of those experiences for the players I coach.

Aspirations/what you hope to gain from the course:

I really want to gain new information and fresh perspectives on coaching in general and hockey specifically. By doing so I hope to have more of a positive impact on the players I coach. So far the discussions between coaches on this course have been highly beneficial for my coaching practice as I have reflected and altered a number of my coaching characteristics.

Fun fact about yourself:

I play in a social sports team (cricket/indoor cricket, football) called the Barry Battlers.

I'd also like to thank my wife and daughters especially for supporting my coaching journey and allowing me to dedicate countless hours to this craft. I'd also like to thank Westlake Boys for allowing me to pursue this course.

Danielle Cranston

Home town:

Auckland

First memories of hockey:

My earliest memory was being dragged to my older sister's hockey game to watch, I was adamant I wasn't going to play hockey but had to come along for the ride or else I'd be left at home alone. My sister's team was short so mum asked me if i'd fill in 'just this week' (reflecting on it, maybe it was her plan all along..), I was still trying to get out of playing but on I went and of cause loved it and I guess it leads me to where I am today.

Why you are passionate about coaching:

I have had so many amazing people over my life span of playing and coaching within the game who have added so much value to my life on and off the field. I am passionate about coaching because of that and I want to give back to the sport that has given me so many opportunities. I love seeing people getting to achieve whatever it is they want to achieve, it fills my cup.

Aspirations/what you hope to gain from the FIH coaching course:

I think most people understand self-doubt/imposter syndrome, so getting accreditation will help me identify where I am at as a coach and help me continue to progress with my coaching. I love the opportunity to sit in a room with other coaches and get perspective from different lenses, the opportunity to take a step back and look at everything from a wider lense helps my development, as coaches we don't always get the chance to do this so I am looking forward to the learning opportunity in this.

Fun fact about yourself:

I am a pretty lame person, is that a fun fact?

Chris Arthur

Home town:

Stratford, Taranaki born and bred, now living in Auckland.

First memories of hockey:

Mum was a PE teacher and hockey coach, so I attended practices and games from the age of 2. I remember racing from my primary school to the high school to join in with her team trainings.

Why you are passionate about coaching:

I love supporting individuals and teams to achieve their goals. Coaching allows me to share my passion for hockey, challenges me to find an individual`s superpowers and think creatively to build a game plan that allows everyone to contribute. I thrive on competition and being in a performance environment.

Aspirations/what you hope to gain from the FIH coaching course :

I want to be the best coach I can, and I hope we have developed a community of coaches to share ideas and learn together. Gaining accreditation is validation so I can offer my services at a higher level.

Fun fact about yourself:

I chose to go to Dunedin for University to play with my idol, Jenny McDonald.

National Developer Residential Workshop

Mon, 04 Mar 2024 00:31:28 GMT

Developers from around the country will come together for three days to enhance their knowledge and skills to support the development of our Coaches.

The 3 day live in workshop will involve 20 Developers from 10 Associations. They will gain:

Valuable Professional Development to be a Developer – understanding how to support the development of Coaches
An opportunity to connect with other Developers across the country, to share knowledge and experiences during and beyond the workshop
Engage in learning by doing, providing hands on experience to truly understand and apply the Developer Approach

Experienced Trainers from Hockey and other codes will facilitate the workshop. The Trainer team will receive individual support from Sport New Zealand Sport Development Consultant Brett Reid. The workshop will be held from the 8-10 April in Palmerston North and supported by Hockey Manawatu.

The National Developer Residential is a key part of the National Coach Development Programmes. The Developer Programme is critical in growing a strong network of individuals nationwide to support the development of our coaches, and ultimately, better prepare Coaches to provide quality experiences for our officials and players.

Who will be Attending?

The following 20 Developers have been nominated and selected to attend the 3 day workshop.

Our Trainer Team Facilitating the Workshop

The workshop will be facilitated by a team of four Trainers with a depth of experience in working with Developers, coaches of players, and coaches of officials, within and beyond hockey.

Trudi Kemp - Sport Development Advisor at Sport Bay of Plenty, Sport NZ Trainer
Kirsten Stuckey - Hockey New Zealand Umpire Coach and Developer, FIH Educator
Wade Manson - Active Communities Advisor at Sport Gisborne, Sport NZ Trainer, FIH Educator
Bevan Nichol - Umpire Development and Pathways Manager at Waikato Hockey, FIH Educator

The Trainer team will be supported by Sport New Zealand Sport Development Consultant Brett Reid.

Image: The Trainer Team from the 2023 National Developer Residential, left to right, Jolene Casey - Otago Trainer, Nicole Youman - HNZ, Mark Borthwick New Zealand Cricket Trainer, Brett Reid - Sport NZ Sport Development Consultant, Sunjay Ganda - Canterbury Trainer, Sophie Rider - North Harbour Trainer

National Coaching Ticket now Available for ALL Coaches

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 04:40:52 GMT

The National Coaching Ticket is the must have for ALL Coaches, find out how to get yours today!

From February the 8th 2024, the National Coaching Ticket will be available for all coaches on the Hockey New Zealand Online Learning Portal.

Over the last 3 years there has been a big push in response to Coaches wanting more resources to enhance their knowledge and skills and provide the best possible experience for players involved in our great game of Hockey.

The key changes during this time have included the development of the:

Coaching Resource Hub: Central space for everything Coaching from the latest coaching workshops, to articles, training activities, and more
Community Coaching Facebook Group: A place to connect with fellow coaches and to keep up to date with the latest resources and development opportunities
Training Resource Library: A library of FREE training activities
Online Learning Courses and Resources: A FREE portal of different online courses and resources
National Coach Development Programmes: A range of programmes for coaches to access on-going learning relevant to their specific needs and the players they are coaching
Coaching Newsletter: A free newsletter for subscribed coaches with critical information on coaching and exclusive articles and resources, sent out three times a year

The National Coaching Ticket is the latest release for Coaches

"The major ity of our coaches in New Zealand are volunteers, and they are a critical influence on a players experience of our game. So we've been working with the hockey community to prioritise the creation of resources for coaches at every level to make sure Coaches have the support to take on this important role", said Hockey New Zealand's Community Coaching Manager, Nicole Youman.

"The National Coaching Ticket is the next big step for us to ensure coaches are prepared and supported on the priority areas of coaching. It will also help us learn more about our coaching community and give them a greater voice to help shape the future of coach development."

What is the Coaching Ticket?

A FREE, online course to provide coaches with the essential information to be ready to coach, no matter if you are a new or returning coach, the ticket is for everyone.

The interactive online course takes approximately 30 minutes and covers:

Critical information for coaching young people
Important practical Health and Safety for Coaches and their players
Information about how to access all the current coaching resources
Opportunity to share personalized coaching insights to shape the future of coaching

Once the course is completed, Coaches receive a National Coaching Ticket certificate valid for 2 years. This is nationally recognised, and can be shared with clubs, schools, Associations, and anyone involved in appointing coaches.

How do you get your Coaching Ticket?

Coaches just login or create a FREE account on the online learning portal to access the Ticket. It will be available on every coaches dashboard immediately after logging in. The dashboard will also include other free online resources, and an opportunity to register to the National Coaching Development Programmes.

What if I am a Club or School wanting to promote the Coaching Ticket?

Hockey NZ strongly encourages clubs, schools, and any organisation who have coaching roles, to share the National Coaching Ticket directly with their Coaches. Please click here for more information for Clubs and Schools including access to promotional assets such as posters and social media images to share with your coaching community. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact Community Coaching Manager Nicole Youman, nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz, 022 067 5511.

Check out the link below for more information and the video to see how easy it is to access and complete your Coaching Ticket. And who knows, you may be the winner of a $200 Kookaburra Voucher if you complete your Ticket NOW!

Hockey part of Global Coaches Conference 2023

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 03:25:19 GMT

The Global Coaches Conference for 2023 was held in Singapore and involved representatives from our Hockey community!

What is the Global Coaches Conference?

Every two years, the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) brings together coaches, coach developers, researchers, sport scientists, technical directors and sport administrators to address issues in coaching, to learn about new coaching research, and to share experiences with the top coaching development experts in the world.

The 14th Global Coaches Conference was held in Singapore from 30th November to 3rd December, 2023 with the theme; "Coaching for a Better Tomorrow”. The main focus was on effective coaching practice, coach learning and development, coaching policy and systems, and inclusivity but with a view of preparing coaches better for a future that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, and technologically advanced.

Over 700 people attended the conference from around the world. The next Global Coaches Conference will be held in 2025 in Athens.

Hockey NZ involved in the Conference

For every Global Coaches Conference individuals from around the world have the opportunity to submit their work and be chosen to present at the Conference. This year Hockey's Tania Cassidy and James Davidson were selected as part of the prestigious team of speakers to share their respective work.

Furthermore, Sport NZ selected Developers to have the opportunity to attend the conference as a Learning Challenge Team facilitator. This years selected team included 5 representatives from Rugby League, Cricket, Football, Yachting, and Hockey NZ's Community Coaching Manager Nicole Youman.

The conference provided a reconnect with Henry Wong, who moved from New Zealand to Singapore in October to take on the role of Hockey Singapore's Women's National Programme coach. Henry has been previously involved in coaching across New Zealand, and most recently at Northland Hockey, and involved in the Hockey NZ Trainer programme.

Hockey New Zealand would like to congratulate Tania and James for their involvement in the conference and thank Sport NZ for their support of Nicole attending the conference. In 2024, resources will be available here, on the Coaching Resource Hub, to be able to share the learning from the conference with the wider hockey community.

Find out more about Hockey's presence at the conference below.

If you have any questions about the conference please do not hesitate in contacting Nicole Youman, nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz

Video: Here is a highlight clip of Day 3 of the conference, and you may even see a Hockey Singapore activation session at the Sports Hub where the Floorball World Championships were being held.

HNZ Annual Awards

Sun, 19 Nov 2023 20:03:36 GMT

Congratulations to this years Hockey New Zealand Outstanding Contribution to Coaching Award Recipients!

The Hockey New Zealand Annual Awards, traditionally celebrated in April each year for the preceding season, have been brought forward to November to be held in the same year as the season being celebrated. The Outstanding Contribution to Coaching Award is one of the Hockey NZ Annual awards.

Hockey NZ defines coaching as the development of people, and the Contribution to Coaching award recognises and celebrates individuals who demonstrate this at the highest level. This prestigious award identifies individuals who have had a significant impact across the coaching space and demonstrate the Community Coaching Core Beliefs.

This year Hockey NZ is excited to recognise and congratulate three recipients of this special award.

Ben Grant, South Canterbury
Brandon Roach, Manawat ū
Sunjay Ganda, Canterbury

Hockey New Zealand would like to congratulate all individuals who were nominated, and thank them for their support of coaching in their local community.

Please enjoy learning more about our winners below.

FIH Educator and Trainer Accreditations

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 01:25:04 GMT

Congratulations to our newly accredited FIH Trainer and Educators following engagement in the FIH courses alongside the Oceania Cup

The FIH Academy is the Education & Development home of the International Hockey Federation. The Academy includes support for Coaches, Umpires, Officials, and Executive. The education courses involve assessment against standardised competencies, providing the opportunity for individuals to obtain an internationally recognised qualification.

The executive arm of education captures the Train the Trainer approach, growing capability of Developers, Educators, and Trainers. This aligns with the Hockey New Zealand and Sport New Zealand approach, to grow networks of capable people to be able to support the development of others. The FIH Trainer and Educator roles, are specifically designed to support the delivery of FIH Courses.

As part of the suite of FIH Courses ran alongside the Oceania Cup earlier this year, eight individuals from New Zealand were assessed for the FIH Trainer and Educator Accreditation. This involved engagement in theory and practical learning environments, as well as hands on delivery of FIH Level One and Level Two Coaching courses and Hockey NZ Umpire Coach and Umpire Courses.

Congratulations to the following individuals for their accreditation and acknowledgement of the investment they have made in growing their knowledge, skills, and experience to become FIH Trainer and Educators.

Coaching Advisory Group to Continue!

Tue, 07 Nov 2023 00:44:18 GMT

12 month Coaching Advisory Group Pilot leads to the establishment of an on-going Advisory Group for 2024 and beyond

In November 2022 the Coaching Advisory Group (CAG) 12-month Pilot commenced. The pilot focused on exploring how advisory functions may be provided to the Community Coaching Manager to support the implementation of the Community Coaching Plan and capture critical insights to support future steps following the pilot.

The Advisory Group boasted a wealth of experience, knowledge, and skills, from within and beyond hockey. The six selected members for the pilot were:

The CAG met three times in person across the 12 months, with regular online connections in-between. These meetings focused an induction for the group, diving into key topics of Diversity and Inclusion, and Workforce Planning, and wrapped up with a review of 2023 and recommendations of priorities for 2024 in alignment to the Community Coaching Plan.

Recommendations for 2024 priorities in alignment to the Community Coaching Plan included:

Communication Plan including Databases
Player Development Framework
Workforce Planning
Connected Network Managers link
Review of Community Coaching Plan and alignment to HNZ Strategy Connect

Following a review of the pilot, it has been determined that the CAG has provided significant value to the Community Coaching Manager, the implementation of the Community Coaching Plan, and an impact on Hockey NZ. The group will continue for an additional 12 months followed by a review of the membership to welcome new members to join in 2025.

Hockey NZ would like to acknowledge and thank the members of the pilot for their support and work, and looks forward to continuing to work with the group for 2024 and establishing the CAG as a long term support mechanism for Coaching.

Sport NZ Coaching for Impact Programme Underway

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 22:20:55 GMT

Hockey Coaches and Developers have enjoyed the start of the cross code Sport NZ Coaching for Impact programme. Find out who is involved in the 2023 programme.

Coaches

The following hockey coaches have been selected for the 2023 Coaching for Impact Programme

Image: First Auckland Hub Coaches Workshop, Left to Right, Danelda Van Der Merwe, Lydia Woods, Carla Johl, Jack Clayton, Will Lacey, Elliot Bartholomew, Nicole Youman

Developers and Trainers

Coaches will receive support from Developers from different sporting codes within their area. Hockey has a total of 6 Developers who will also gain access to professional development opportunities throughout the programme. The Trainers will lead the facilitation of the coaches workshops and support of the Developers.

Coach Development at National Hockey Championships

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 02:48:20 GMT

Don't miss out on Hudl support videos, a workshop with Vantage Black Sticks Mens Head Coach Greg Nicol and drop in sessions with Performance Analyst lead Sam Mulholland-Goad

Coaches can enjoy a range of development opportunities as part of the National Hockey Championships in Hamilton from the 10-16th of September. Find out more about these opportunities below.

Balanced Female Health

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 17:58:42 GMT

NEW Resource for Coaches and any adult supporting young people and females in sport

Sport NZ recognises that female-specific needs in community sport are unique. As coaches, parents, instructors and administrators, understanding female health is critical to being able to respond and provide support for young people to be active in ways that boost their wellbeing.

Developed by health professionals working in the sport sector, the new Balanced Female Health resource provides information and practical tips on topics such as changes throughout female puberty, the menstrual cycle, and factors that impact young people’s physical and mental wellbeing.

Hockey New Zealand would like to thank and acknowledge Sport NZ, Netball New Zealand and Netball Smart with funding from ACC, to be able to develop and share this resource. Click here to find out more about Sport NZ's initiatives in the Women and Girls space.

FBS Coaches Programme

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 04:30:35 GMT

The Future Black Sticks Coaches Programme welcomes 15 Coaches for 2023-24.

The Future Black Sticks (FBS) Coaches Programme gets underway with the first residential camp in October alongside the Future Black Sticks Programme super camp.

The programme will provide a blend of hands on coaching, peer to peer support, individual development plans, FIH formal coach education, and opportunities to observe and/or engage in the Vantage Black Sticks and Future Black Sticks Programmes.

Development will be provided through residential camps, Hockey NZ and FIH Workshops, engagement in regional activities, and connection to external opportunities.

Coaches will remain on the programme for a 12month period to support on-going development, and capture key learnings to inform and enhance the programme for the future.

This year 51 applications were received from 14 associations, and 15 coaches were selected.

Congratulations to the 15 coaches selected and thank you to all coaches who applied.

FBS Coaches Programme 2023-24

* U21 Junior World Cup campaign coaches. Due to JWC commitments will have access to the FBS Coaches Programme when available.

Coach Development at Sentinel Homes Oceania Cup

Sun, 09 Jul 2023 07:00:01 GMT

There is something for everyone at the Sentinel Homes Oceania Cup, sign up now for coach development opportunities.

Hockey New Zealand is excited to hold a number of international FIH Coaching Courses, with something on offer for everyone!

These opportunities will run alongside the Sentinel Homes Oceania Cup in Whangārei, where both the Vantage Black Sticks men and women will be looking to secure a spot for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Check out the opportunities below!

'Playmaker' Research Opportunity

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 00:22:48 GMT

There is still time for Coaches to support an international research project and develop their coaching for FREE

Hockey NZ is excited to part of an international research project targeting coaches of hockey, basketball, ice hockey, and rugby union from around the world.

This research pursues an area not previously investigated around key playmaker positions and specifically what coaches want from a behavioural perspective of the players in these positions. The application of this research can be used in coach education, game strategy, player selection, and development programs.

This opportunity is FREE for Coaches.

Coaches taking part in the project will receive a CoachDISC Profile, and an opportunity to attend an interactive online workshop facilitated by Lead Researcher and PhD Candidate Liz Masen . This workshop will allow coaches to debrief the CoachDISC Profile and understand how it applies to their coach environments.

Watch the video below to hear from Vantage Black Sticks Assistant Coach Verity Sharland, and her experience of being involved in the project.

More infor mation about research project can be found by clicking on the tabs below.

Shane McLeod Workshop

Wed, 05 Jul 2023 07:25:28 GMT

Check out some tips from World Class Coach Shane McLeod.

Coaches from around New Zealand had the unique opportunity to attend an online workshop with Shane McLeod.

Through partnership with the Coach for Life Foundation , Hockey New Zealand picked 22 Coaches who watched and completed the online reflection on the documentary on Shane McLeod, "The Players Coach", to attend one of two online workshops.

The session allowed coaches the opportunity to hear from Shane, including question and answer time.

Check out the documentary and key takeaways from the workshop below. The online reflection is still available via the online learning portal for coaches to complete.

Repeatable Outcomes, not Repeatable Movements.

Wed, 05 Jul 2023 06:40:31 GMT

Interesting insights from Skill Learning Consultant Derek Panchuk.

This information has been taken from Derek Panchuk, Linked In.

The below graph is a from a classic motor control study by Bootsma & van Wieringen (1990; https://lnkd.in/gSfU4w_k ). They were measuring how top table tennis player coordinated their actions relative to the flight of the ball.

What the graph shows, is that players would use very different movement patterns to get to the same outcome - hitting the ball.

Contrary to popular thinking, there are many different ways athletes can move to get to the same solution. In fact, we know that the idea of highly repeatable movement patterns is something of a myth. Almost every time we "repeat" a movement, there are subtle variations.

What does this mean for coaches?

You can't got bogged down trying to perfect repeatable movements. Focus on repeatable solutions.

Are athletes able to do what they need to solve the movement problem?
Are they able to do it in a safe way that won't cause injury?
Are they able to do it in an efficient way that doesn't cause problems in-game?

If they're ticking these boxes, they're probably heading in the right direction and too much tinkering with technique can cause more harm than good!

Calling all Performance Coaches

Wed, 05 Jul 2023 06:15:10 GMT

Applications are now open for the Future Black Sticks Coaches Programme

The Future Black Sticks (FBS) Coaches Programme, is a National Coach Development Programme providing development for current and potential Performance Coaches.

Coaches selected for the programme will receive on-going development through attendance to residential camps, connection to local opportunities such as regional training environments and regional camps.

Coaches must complete an application form by midnight the 12th of July to be considered for selection to the 2023 programme intake.

Sport NZ Coaching for Impact Applications now Open

Wed, 10 May 2023 22:55:29 GMT

Applications are now open for the FREE Sport NZ Coaching for Impact Programme. Targeting Secondary School Coaches

Hear from last year’s coaches about what the programme offers.

Who can apply

Coaching for Impact is open to all experienced New Zealand coaches who;

Actively coaching secondary school age athletes in a school, club, regional or national sport organisation (or similar).
Three or more years coaching experience is recommended,
History of continuous learning and development
A committed learner and be willing to invest time in your own development

This opportunity is for up to 90 selected coaches from different sports, split across three national hubs in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The content and structure of the programme has been designed to take into account the particular needs of coaches working with secondary school age athletes, balanced against the time constraints you operate under.

It is recommended coaches reside within 2 hours travel distance of one of the national hubs.

Programme format

The full programme will run over 18 months from July 2023 to December 2024.

Three residential learning camps where you will learning from coaching and education experts and collaborate with coaches from other sports
Six online workshops with leading international/national coach development experts
Support via approved programme Coach Developers
Coach observation and feedback
Support to develop Personal Development Plans (PDP)

We understand that your time will be limited, so much of your learning and development will take place while you coach.

How to Apply

Coaching for Impact is a free programme, and applications will be open from Monday 1 May to Monday 12 June at 5pm and selections complete by the 30 June.

All applications must be endorsed by a school, club, regional or national sport organisation. Sport NZ will contact them for further details regarding your eligibility. You will also need to have completed a Criminal Record Check in the last two years, or acceptance into the programme will be subject to this.

If you have any questions please contact us at  coaching@sportnz.org.nz

Win a Workshop with Shane McLeod

nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz (Nicole Youman) — Tue, 02 May 2023 02:24:50 GMT

Don't miss out on the opportunity to attend an exclusive online workshop with world class coach Shane McLeod

Hockey New Zealand is excited to work with the Coach for Life Foundation to bring a unique opportunity for New Zealand based Coaches to attend an online workshop with Olympic and World Cup gold medal coach, Shane Mcleod.

Shane was the coach of the Belgium Mens National Hockey Team, the Red Lions, taking the team to win their first World Cup title in 2018. The firsts for the team continued under the leadership of Shane winning the Euro Hockey Championship in 2019 and the Olympic Gold at the Tokyo Games.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to engage with Shane to learn more about his story and to grow and develop your coaching knowledge and skills.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO - GET A SPORT AT A WORKSHOP WITH SHANE MCLEOD

Coaches must be currently living and coaching in New Zealand to be eligible for this opportunity.

Hockey New Zealand would like to thank The Coach for Life Foundation and Shane McLeod for this exciting opportunity.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Nicole Youman, Community Coaching Manager at Hockey NZ, nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz, 022 067 5511.

What is Happening in April!

nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz (Nicole Youman) — Sat, 18 Mar 2023 21:37:36 GMT

Find out what's happening in April and how to get involved

Below is an overview of key activities in April, make sure you check out the Coaching Calendar for more local and national opportunities.

National Coach Development Programmes LIVE

nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz (Nicole Youman) — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 03:59:41 GMT

National Coach Development Programmes are Live - Register NOW!

Coaches can now access one of two National Coach Development Programmes targeted at coaches working with youth and adult aged players.

The programmes are designed to allow Coaches to drive their own learning, providing a selection of opportunities Coaches can pick and choose from.

Registration is FREE and includes access to exclusive online resources that are updated annually, and discounted access to pay as you go workshops and other opportunities.

Each programme aligns with the FIH Academy Coaching Courses , to allow Coaches seeking accreditation to be assessed to earn international coaching qualifications.

COACHING PROGRAMMES

Coaches can also register for the first Coach Development workshops in Wellington alongside Hockey Pro League matches!

Be a Part of Hockey 'Playmaker' Research!

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 04:06:37 GMT

Unique opportunity for Coaches to get involved in international research and develop their coaching for FREE

Hockey NZ is excited to part of an international research project targeting coaches of hockey, basketball, ice hockey, and rugby union from around the world.

This opportunity is FREE for Coaches.

More infor mation about research project can be found by clicking on the tabs below.

New Year, New Coach Resources and Development Opportunities!

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 04:06:00 GMT

Find out what's new for 2023, including National Coach Development Programmes and much more!

2023 has started with a bang, find out what's new and make sure you don't miss out on some exciting and new learning opportunities.

Association Residential Pilot Workshop a Success

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 22:41:40 GMT

Association staff come together for Residential Workshop in Auckland

There is no secret that there have been some uncontrollable factors in trying to bring our hockey community together. After a few years of adjusting to an online environment, it was great to bring Associations staff together in person for a residential workshop.

The pilot residential workshop was hosted by Hockey NZ on the 6-8 December 2022, in Auckland. The workshop was designed to support the connection and collaboration of the hockey system and provide a critical overview of the national direction for hockey to support leadership of local systems. There was also an opportunity to break into specific focus areas of Inclusion (Disability focus) and Coach and Official Development.

The workshop captured 21 individuals from 12 associations from Northland to Southland. Invitations were targeted at Individuals who were new to their role, and/or working in areas of Inclusion or Coach and Official Development.

The feedback from the workshop has been valuable. It highlighted the importance of bringing Associations together to meet, connect, and share learning, as well as. exposure to the Levels of Perspectives to better understand how to lead long term system change.

What was Covered

The workshop provided all attendees with an opportunity to:

Connect with Association peers and HNZ leads to reinforce our network of support, understanding of roles and resources, and enable collaboration
Gain an understand of the New Zealand Hockey Strategy and its evolution
Explore bringing the strategy to life in local contexts
Development of System Leadership

The group then shifted into two smaller groups to provide targeted support in the areas of Inclusion and Coach and Official Development.

What is Next?

Feedback from Association staff and facilitators was captured, and will play a vital part in designing the future engagement opportunities with our Association staff.

There was unanimous support for reinstating face to face connection points for Associations and through the feedback, future opportunities will be designed and a long-term vision created.

Information from the workshop has been sent out to all Associations to ensure those who were not involved, have an opportunity to access relevant resources. Those that were involved have been encouraged to share with their local community and with other Associations.

Our Delivery Team
Hockey NZ was supported by a highly capable team of facilitators. These included Trainers Emma Phelps, Jolene Casey, Sophie Rider, and Sunjay Ganda, alongside external facilitators from Halberg Foundation, Golf NZ, and Oceania Hockey.

Hockey NZ would like to acknowledge and thank all the facilitators who have supported the design and delivery of the residential workshop.

Coaching Advisory Group Pilot Members Appointed

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 05:00:32 GMT

Members for the Coaching Advisory Group have been appointed, find out who will be involved

Hockey NZ is excited to announce the members of the Coaching Advisory Group Pilot for 2022-23. The 12-month pilot will enable an opportunity to explore how advisory functions may be provided to the Community Coaching Manager to support the implementation of the Community Coaching Plan . The pilot will also provide critical insights to support future steps.

Coaching Advisory Group Members

Following an overwhelming response of high quality applicants, the appointment panel have extended the membership to have six highly capable and diverse members.

Congratulations to the appointed members.

James Davidson, Hamilton, Regional Coaching Advisor Sport Waikato
Kiri Playle, Wairarapa, Deputy Principal Solway College
Steven Dillon, Auckland, Oceania Football Confederation Clubs and Leagues Manager
Lydia Woods, Auckland, PhD Student/Neuroscience Researcher
Sunjay Ganda, Christchurch, Canterbury Hockey Development Manager
Samuel Chatfield, Hastings, Deputy Principal Te Mata Primary School

Hockey NZ would like to acknowledge and thank everyone who applied, and the work of the appointments panel in carrying out a robust appointment process in alignment to the Terms of Reference.

Applications Open for Coaching Advisory Group Pilot

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 04:04:45 GMT

Exciting opportunity to get involved in the Coaching Advisory Group Pilot for 2022-23.

In 2022-23, Hockey NZ will be piloting a Coaching Advisory Group. The 12-month pilot will enable an opportunity to explore how advisory functions may be provided to the Community Coaching Manager to support the implementation of the Community Coaching Plan .

The Community Coaching Plan provides a national direction to coaching to grow the national system to have capable networks of people to lead local coach development, provide a positive experience for coaches, and better equip coaches to provide a quality experience for players.

The pilot will provide critical insights to support future steps.

What is Involved?

The Coaching Advisory Group Pilot will include up to 5 voluntary unpaid members. The group will meet 3 times over the 12-month period to provide recommendations and guidance to the Hockey NZ Community Coaching Manager for the annual priorities of the Community Coaching Plan.

The group will also assist in establishing a robust learning process to enable evidence-based decisions and application of continuous learning to remain agile in taking deliberate steps towards the vision of the Community Coaching Plan.

Coaching Advisory Group Pilot members are expected to:

Attend and actively participate in Coaching Advisory Group meetings
Share insights and experience to make recommendations to support the Hockey NZ Community Coaching Manager to lead the implementation of the Community Coaching Plan
Maintain a strategic view and ask questions to challenge thinking
Support and challenge Hockey NZ decisions & maintain a positive solution focused approach

Hockey NZ will cover costs incurred for attendance to meetings. The first meeting is intended to be scheduled for the 19th November, 2022 in Auckland pending the availability of selected members.

Who Should Apply?

It is expected that applicants will be passionate, committed, able to work in a team, and as a collective bring a broad range of skills and experience to fulfil the group’s purpose.

Members preferably, but are not required to, offer one or more of the following:

Knowledge of national sporting systems
Understanding of strategy implementation
Understanding of monitoring and evaluation processes
Project leadership and management skills
Experience in leading a coach development system
Community Coaching Experience

The selection panel will endeavour to appoint a diverse group to capture knowledge and experience from within and outside of sport that applies to coaching.

How to get Involved

Individuals will need to click here to complete an application form for the Coaching Advisory Group Pilot.

People wanting to apply for membership of the Coaching Advisory Group Pilot must click here to complete the online application form by Sunday 16th October, 2022.

Appointments will be made by a panel comprising Hockey NZ Community Coaching Manager, Hockey NZ Community Capability Manager, and an Independent. The term of appointment will be for one year only as part of the pilot. Please refer to the Terms of Reference for more information.

FIH Indoor World Cup and National Indoor Programme

Sun, 25 Sep 2022 17:48:49 GMT

Calling all Coaches, Managers, and Players to submit their EOI for the National Indoor Programme and Indoor World Cup

New Zealand is heading to the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup in Pretoria, at the Heartfelt Arena from 5 to 11 February 2023. This is an exciting opportunity to support the reintroduction of indoor hockey to New Zealand and be part of Indoor Hockey's pinnacle event.

Seeking interested Players, Coaches, and Managers for National Indoor Programmes

Hockey NZ is seeking Expressions of interest (EOI) from players, coaches, and managers to join the National Indoor Hockey Programmes (men & women) including the opportunity to participate at the FIH Indoor World Cup, South Africa February 2023 led by Lead Coach Reiner Vellinga.

The programmes provide a unique opportunity to support individual development and potential exposure to international level competition. These roles are self-funded. All efforts will be taken to subsidise costs where possible.

Coach and Manager EOI Process

All EOI’s for Coaches must be completed by Monday 12th September.

All EOI’s will be reviewed by a panel consisting of National Indoor Lead Coach, Indoor Advisory group Performance Lead, Hockey NZ Participation Manager, and an Independent. If required, individuals may be contacted to provide further information to assist the process.

Notification of appointments from the EOI process for those who have or have not been successful will be sent by the 16th September.

Player EOI Process

All EOI’s for Players must be completed by Monday 5th September.

Notification of appointments from the EOI process for those who have or have not been successful will be sent by the 16th September.

For more information about Indoor Hockey please click here to visit the Hockey NZ Website

Coach, Manage, Analyst Opportunities - JBS Programme

nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz (Nicole Youman) — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 03:53:47 GMT

Expressions of Interest now open for Coaches, Managers, and Analysts for the JBS Super Camp and Programme

Calling all Coaches, Managers, and Analysts

The upcoming Super Camp provides a great opportunity to bring a group of Coaches, Managers, and Analysts together to get to know one another, connect with the JBS Head Coaches, support individual development and talk hockey. The interaction at the camp will also provide valuable exposure to the JBS programmes and assist the appointment process of JBS Assistant Coaches, Managers, and Analyst roles.

Hockey NZ is looking to fill the roles of JBS Assistant Coach, Manager, and Analyst for each respective programme post the Super Camp.

Expression of Interest Process

Hockey NZ has opened up Expressions of Interests (EOIs) for Coaches, Managers, and Analysts to get involved in the Super Camp and be considered for Assistant Coach, Manager, and Analyst roles following the camp.

If an individual is unavailable to attend the Camp or can attend only part of the Camp, and wants to be considered for a role with the JBS Programme, they must complete an EOI. This is also the same process for any individual who is only available for the Super Camp, they must complete an EOI as well.

All EOI's must be completed by clicking on the below link by Sunday 28th August.

EOI's will be reviewed by a panel consisting of JBS Head Coaches, Hockey NZ Community Coaching Manager, and an Independent. Notification of appointments from the EOI process for those who have or have not been successful will be sent by the 6th September . If required, individuals may be contacted to provide further information to assist the process.

Any individual who is appointed as a Coach, Manager, or Analyst will be required to complete the police vetting process.

Calling all Auckland Hockey Stakeholders

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 22:14:23 GMT

Find out how to share your thoughts to support the development of female coaches in Hockey

Hockey Leaders Chris Arthur, Kim Archibald, and Robyn Neil are leading a project to better understand the barriers and issues holding women back from putting themselves forward for, and ultimately succeeding in coaching roles at all levels of hockey. This stems from the current lack of female coaches within hockey in New Zealand.

The trio of Chris, Kim, and Robyn, have a wealth of experience, including playing and managing the Vantage Black Sticks, coaching community and performance teams, involvement in national and regional leadership programmes, as well as leadership roles from employment outside of hockey.

The project will initially focus on the Auckland Region, capturing Auckland, Counties Manukau, and North Harbour Hockey Associations. The key learnings will be shared with Hockey New Zealand and all associations to facilitate insight and promote steps forward in this space.

All stakeholders within the Auckland region, regardless of whether you are currently coaching , are invited to share their feedback through the survey link below. The responses will be collated and used to plan a workshop for all interested woman to discuss and understand how we best support interested female coaches to thrive within the hockey community both regionally and nationally. The workshop is to be held at the end of the 2022 season (Saturday 24 September).

Head Coach – Vantage Black Sticks Women

Wed, 10 Aug 2022 00:04:33 GMT

Applications now open for the Vantage Black Sticks Women's Head Coach

Applications are open for the Vantage Black Sticks Women's Head Coach Role.

Please find information about the role including a Job Description and how to apply.

Role Summary

As a National level Coach, you will have overall responsibility for:

Leading the Black Sticks Women’s programme to optimise the performance of the national team at international events
Continuing the development of our high-performance culture, characterized by honesty, trust, transparency, open communication and high levels of care.
Producing a robust and well-planned selection process as convenor of selectors
Working closely with the General Manager of High Performance, CEO, Board of Directors and other key stakeholders in ensuring strategic alignment with the wider Hockey New Zealand high performance system.

Desired Skills and Experience

Track record of coaching elite Hockey teams to success at international level.
Outstanding knowledge of Hockey technique and tactics, plus insight into trends and developments at international level.
Demonstrated experience in implementing a comprehensive, holistic high performance programme for elite teams and players.
History of building and driving a high performance culture that reflects the country’s norms and values.
Successful management of internal and external stakeholder relationships toward the achievement of joint objectives and targets.
High performance coaching accreditation or equivalency.

For more information, to express your interest, or to apply, please contact Christina Tombs at christina.tombs@hockeynz.co.nz.

APPLICATIONS CLOSE – Thursday 1st September, a cover letter and C.V are required

Coaching Opportunity at JBS Super Camp!

nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz (Nicole Youman) — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 01:17:07 GMT

Expressions of Interest open to Coach, Manager, and Observe at the upcoming Junior Black Sticks Super Camp

Coach and Manager Development Opportunities

The Super Camp provides a great opportunity for Coaches and Managers to get involved to support the delivery of the camp and grow their experience, knowledge, and skills.

Hockey NZ is excited to open Expressions of Interests (EOIs) for Coaches, Managers and Coach Observations. Please find more information about each of these opportunities below.

Coaches: Opportunity to be hands on coaching at the Super Camp. Under the leadership of the JBS Head coaches, the opportunity would include supporting daily trainings, games, and off field activities. Coaches will be well supported, ideally be available to stay in for the duration of the camp, and will have their costs covered.

Manages: Working alongside the JBS Head Coaches and wider coaching and management group, Managers will get a first hand experience of supporting a Super Camp. This opportunity will involve managing accommodation, travel, player and coach support at the camp. Managers will be well supported, ideally be available to stay in for the duration of the camp, and will have their costs covered.

Coach Observation: This opportunity is designed for coaches who are aspiring to coach in the JBS programme in the future. Coaches will be able to observe trainings and games, and where possible off-field activities. Coaches will be able to learn from the JBS Head Coaches and their wider coaching team. The structure of this activity will be determined following the completion of the EOI process. All costs will be the responsibility of the coach.

Expression of Interest Process

Coaches and Managers who would like to be considered for any of the three opportunities will need to click on the link below and complete an online EOI, by Wednesday 17 August.

EOI's for Coaches and Managers will be reviewed by a panel consisting of JBS Head Coaches, Hockey NZ Community Coaching Manager, and an independent. Notification of appointments from the EOI process for those who have or have not been successful will be sent by Wednesday 24 August. If required, individuals may be contacted to provide further information to assist the process.

Coaches who submit an EOI for the Coach Observation opportunity, will receive an email by Friday 26 August with further information. Please note that the structure of this opportunity may be determined by the information received through the EOI process and shaped to best meet the needs of the coaches.

Any individual who is appointed as a Coach or Manager will be required to complete the police vetting process.

Masters Coaching Opportunities and More!

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 01:38:55 GMT

Express your interest NOW to Coach a New Zealand Masters Age Group team

The Trans-Tasman Challenge is back for 2023 and will be on home soil in New Zealand. The Challenge sees New Zealand and Australia go head to head across Mens and Women's Masters Age Groups. The dates of the Challenge will be confirmed shortly but is anticipated to be end of April, early May.

Hockey New Zealand is now calling for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for Players, Coaches, Managers, and Selectors.

Interested in Coaching a Masters Team?

Hockey NZ are seeking expressions of interest from experienced and qualified individuals to coach the National Masters teams leading up and during the Trans-Tasman Challenge. Ideally each appointment will be for a two year period covering both the Trans-Tasman Challenge in 2023 and the World Masters Hockey World Cup in 2024.

EOI's are being requested for coaching Men and Women's teams from Over 35s through to Over 70s, working in 5 year increments.

If you are interested - make sure you submit your EOI before the closing date the 30th August 2022.

What's Involved in Coaching a Masters team?

Coaching a New Zealand Age Group Masters team is an exciting and rewarding role. Coaches will work with the countries top age group players and be part of the wider Hockey NZ Masters community to prepare and play in international competition.

As part of the role, coaches will be expected to take a n active part in the two formal selection events:

Inaugural Masters North vs South Series: 17th and 20th of November 2022 (venue TBC)
National Masters Tournament 26th February to 4th March 2023 Tauranga

Final selections for the Trans-Tasman challenge will be named after the National Masters Tournament in Mar ch 2023.

Appointed coaches will receive a subsidy to assist with expenses, however the bulk of the cost will need to be covered by each respective coach.

Questions about Coaching NZ Masters Age Group Teams?

If anyone has any questions about the series or Trans-Tasman Challenge, please contact Peter Lowndes, National Masters Team Coordinator masters@hockeynz.co.nz

To access information about EOIs for players, managers, and selectors please click here

Reflection through Different Lenses

nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz (Nicole Youman) — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 03:48:23 GMT

Take an opportunity to look through different lenses to support critical reflection with Brookfield’s Four Lenses

In a time when things are a little unpredictable, we may find ourselves with more time off the pitch then on the pitch. I thought this may be an ideal opportunity to share some thoughts around Critical Reflection.

When we talk about learning you always hear about the importance of Reflection. But I rarely hear people talk about how you go about reflecting.

There is a Reflection Model I was recently introduced to, that I found captured a clear and effective process for supporting critical reflection.

The Brookfield Model of Reflection was developed initially to support teachers to critically reflect. It focuses on capturing information from different perspectives, or lenses, to support teachers to reflect. With a few minor tweaks, I found this model to be applicable to Coaches.

Here are my thoughts on understanding and applying the Brookfield Model of Reflection to Coaching.

The model works by capturing information across four different lenses to gain insights from different perspectives. The multiple lenses allow our assumptions to be challenged or confirmed, and to reach a deeper awareness of how our coaching is received and understood. It is then up to the coach to use this information to support their on-going learning.

The model identifies four different lenses: self, students (players), peers (coaches) and literature. Below are some thoughts on each Lens. Consider which Lens or Lenses you already have in place, and which ones you may be able to explore further, to support your critical reflection process.

Auto-Biographical Lens: Self

Take the time to understand yourself. Coaches need to look at the experiences throughout their lives and understand how this has shaped them. Many may refer to this as core beliefs, or mental models, the things that underpin who we are and how we act. This is where you may reveal assumptions or biases you have.

The Students Eyes: Player Feedback

Feedback doesn’t have to be a survey! Players can provide feedback in multiple ways, do they keep coming back every year to play, do they apply the learning from training to games, these are both types of feedback. Now this doesn’t mean you can’t use a survey, just make sure you aren’t missing out on capturing feedback that may be right in front of you. Discussions with players during or after training or games, as well as game or season debriefs, are more examples of capturing player feedback.

Our Colleagues Experience: Peer Assessment

Working with your peers is powerful. Fellow coaches can provide you with their observations, and share their experience and advice. Take the time to chat with other coaches, share observations and bounce ideas around. There is a common theme on our feedback forms after coaching workshops, that coaches valued the informal discussions with their fellow coaches – so why don’t we do more of this?

Engagement with Scholarly Literature: Education

What new knowledge have you explored? For coaching, I personally identified this lens to be a deliberate approach to growing knowledge. I use the word deliberate as there is a lot of information at our fingertips and it’s about knowing what you want to narrow in on. I also believe this extends beyond scholarly journals, capturing books, podcasts, webinars, and workshops, obviously checking they are delivered by reputable sources. I would encourage coaches to think outside the square, although its great to hear about team building from an International Hockey Coach, but don’t forget about the opportunity to learn about culture from another code or sector.

Reflection is no doubt an important part of the learning process. Many coaches can get caught going from game to game, season to season, and stumbling across some learning, and typically coaching as they have always coached.

If ever there was a silver bullet to learning, I think reflection would be it.

Information from this article was sourced from the summary document on Brookfield's Four Lenses: Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher (Brookfield, 1995), Prepared by Ben Miller for the Faculty of Arts Teaching and Learning Committee, The University of Sydney, March 2010. This document is available by clicking here https://valenciacollege.edu/faculty/development/courses-resources/documents/brookfield_summary.pdf

Watch.Hockey Digital Platform

nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz (Nicole Youman) — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 03:48:21 GMT

Keep up to date with all things hockey worldwide through the FIH digital platform, find all the links here to get you started!

The FIH Watch.Hockey digital platform has been up and running since 2020.

It is a great opportunity for players, coaches and anyone wanting access to international hockey and resources at their fingertips.

It is free for anyone to view the news articles and if you complete the free registration form you can access further content.

Information on the platform includes:

International hockey live events
On demand content
Highlights, Replays, Results, Scores, Fixtures
Profiles, Interviews, Podcasts and Articles

Please note there are some restrictions on some content for certain countries.

One of the many resources on the platform is the HockeyPod podcast . The 10 ^th episode of HockeyPod is available and features Olympic Coaches Alyson Annan and Mark Hager alongside Belgium Olympic Gold medal player Thomas Briels. The episode provides great insights into the Olympic experience and much more.

Use the links below to access Watch.Hockey on all your devices!

Website on your desktop - https://watch.hockey/

Download the App to your iOS device - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1502181056

Download the App to your Android device - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nagra.ion.fih

Women in Coaching Programme Wraps Up

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 05:37:15 GMT

Women in Coaching Programme wraps up with a final Residential Workshop in Auckland

The 2020-22 Women in Coaching Programme held its final residential during the Women's Trans Tasman Series, May 2022.

The programme commenced in 2020 alongside the Premier Hockey League, providing 13 selected female coaches with an opportunity to continue to grow their coaching capability by working with like minded coaches and experienced facilitators. The programme was led by coaching leader and recent Hockey NZ Pakistan Trophy recipient Pat Barwick.

Women in Coaching Programme participants 2020-2022 :

The final residential workshop in May 2022, targeted the understanding and application of player identification and selection. Coaches were tasked with selecting a Trans Tasman team of 12 from their observations across the series. This included working in small groups to be able to plan, understand and apply a selection criteria, and preparing and presenting their selections to a High Performance Director.

Since the programme in 2022, the programme has celebrated Verity Sharland's appointment to Assistant Coach and Kate Trolove as a National Selector, for the Vantage Black Sticks Women's programme. Danielle Cranston was selected to the prestigious High Performance Sport New Zealand Women's Coaching Programme and contracted to provide coaching support to the Auckland Performance Network and Vantage Black Sticks Programmes. Jolene Casey (2022) and Verity Sharland (2021) were recipients of the Hockey NZ Contribution to Coaching Award, and Jolene has moved into a full time role in coaching and coach development with Otago Hockey. Many of the coaches have also been involved in developing coaching resources such as articles for the Resource Hub, as well as supporting the review and finalisation of the Training Activities Library.

Looking ahead, the learning captured from the programme alongside the findings from the High Performance Review, Project Kahurangi, will help inform the direction and design of future development opportunities for coaches and support the growth of female coaches. The group have continued to support one another since the formal completion of the programme and will no doubt continue to develop their coaching and achieve their individual goals.

Hockey NZ would to acknowledge the commitment and engagement from coaches involved in the programme, thank the facilitators who have supported the various development opportunities, and make a special thank you to the programmme leader Pat Barwick.

New Rules in Play for 2022

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 03:22:16 GMT

Everything you need to know about the new rule changes for the 2022 season

The 2022 season will welcome some new rule changes for hockey. This aligns with the FIH outdoor rule changes effective 1 January 2022.

To help you get ready for these changes we wanted to share with you the recording of the Hockey NZ New Rules Webinar from March and some extra video, information, and links.

When looking at the new rules and the general application of hockey rules, it is important to understand our 2 key overarching pillars: keep the game fair and keep the game safe. As well as the technical appreciation of a rule, it is just as important to understand the intent/spirit of the rule to ensure the best practical implementation. Apply common sense, context, and a consistent application of the rules at all times.

If you would like to view the FIH Rules of Hockey App or download the FIH Rules of Hockey for 2022, click on the link below!

New Rules Webinar Recording

Below is the recording of the New Rules Webinar held in March. The webinar provides key insights from International umpire Bevan Nichol, and Hockey NZ Technical Manager Colin French.

Three Key Rules Changes

There are three major rule changes to understand. Below is a summary of these changes. There is also information available on the FIH website you can access by clicking here .

Change to Rule 4.2 – Removing of Penalty Corner Protective Equipment:

Rule 4.2 has been changed to allow for defending players using Penalty Corner protective equipment to continue to play the ball outside the circle after gaining possession during the taking of a penalty corner. Players can now continue to run with the ball while keeping their protective equipment on, but they must safely remove that same equipment at the first opportunity to do so, and always inside the defensive 23m area. No player using Penalty Corner protective equipment can play the ball outside the 23m area at any time.

The video below provides an example of a player correctly adhering to the new rule. The defending player continues playing with their protective gear but does not cross the 23 metre area, as allowed under the new rule change.

Umpiring Guidance/tips:

This rule has been changed to improve the flow and speed of the game, as well as improving player safety with defenders now being able to focus on the ball and play, and not on removing protective equipment during a pressurized defensive situation .
Ensure you read rule 4 in its entirety including the supporting notes
Safety of all players is still the key consideration
Field players must remove their penalty corner protective equipment as soon as they are able to do so after a penalty corner is completed.
If no suitable opportunity to remove protective equipment arises, players can continue to wear protective equipment whilst they are within the defensive 23m area without penalty
All field players must remove all protective equipment before they leave the defensive 23m area or when instructed to by an umpire
Should a free hit be awarded to the defending team during a penalty corner, defending players are permitted to immediately pass the ball wearing protective equipment, however they are not permitted to take an auto-pass.
A free hit is awarded against the defending team if:
A player takes an auto-pass wearing any protective equipment used to defend a penalty corner
Any defending player leaves the defensive 23m wearing any protective equipment used to defend a penalty corner. In this case the free hit is taken immediately outside the defensive 23m area where the defender crossed the line. Umpires may choose to play advantage if it is deemed safe and to be an advantage for the attacking team

Change to Rule 9.10 – Aerial Ball:

Rule 9.10 has been changed to allow for the playing of what is commonly referred to as Aerial Ball. Players must not approach within 5 metres of an opponent receiving a falling raised ball until it has been received, controlled, and is on the ground. An exception is that an aerial ball may be intercepted within 5 metres but outside of playing distance of the receiver, provided it is done safely. Playing distance is defined as the distance within which a player is capable of reaching the ball to play it.

The videos below provides different game contexts for the application of the new rule change.

In the video above the attacker (Australia) is the initial receiver, the defender (Argentina) is within 5 metres and tries to interfere with play. Therefore under the new rule a free hit or advantage to the attacker is the correct decision.

In the video above the ball is received safely by the attacker (India), and the defender (New Zealand) attempted to safely intercept the aerial ball within 5 metres but outside of playing distance. Since the defender is outside the playing distance and there is no danger there is no infringement.

The defender must then retreat to allow the receiver to bring the ball under control before then re-engaging in the contest.

The above video is an example of how the ball can be intercepted safely, within 5 metres of the intended receiver but outside of the playing distance. The interception has be made safely at speed, and the ball has been moved into space therefore not creating any danger. Play on is the correct decision.

Umpiring Guidance/tips:

This new rule has been changed to allow a fairer contest to compete for aerial ball in a safe manner
Ensure you read rule 9 in its entirety including supporting notes
The initial receiver of an aerial ball has the right to the ball. If it is not clear which player is the initial receiver, the player(s) of the team which raised the ball must allow the opponent to receive it.
Safety of all players is still the key consideration. The lower the level of player skill, the higher the level of player safety should be applied when umpiring aerial ball.
Apply early recognition of danger and/or advantage gained when considering a penalty
A player approaching from outside the 5 metres can legitimately intercept the ball in an uncontested situation in which players of opposing teams are not within playing distance of each other, and the interception is done safely and does not cause the playing distance between such players to be reduced

Removal of Rule 13.5g

Rule 13.5g has been removed. It stated that the awarding of a bully could be one of the conditions that would determine the completion of a penalty corner. This is no longer possible, as now any stoppage of play for injury or other applicable reasons during the taking of a penalty corner is a retake of the penalty corner as per Rule 6.5d

Umpiring guidance/tips:

Read rules 13 and Rule 6 in their entirety including the supporting notes.

Additional Rule Change

The following rule change is essentially clarifying and correcting the existing rule change in the FIH Rules of Hockey 2022.

Removal of Rule 2.2

The previous Rule 2.2, allowing teams to play with a field player with Goalkeeping privileges has been removed from the rule book.

For any questions or further support regarding the 2022 outdoor hockey rule changes; these can be directed to Hockey NZ Technical Manager Colin French colin.french@hockeynz.co.nz

Sport NZ Webinar Replay: Preparing for a Successful Season

Mon, 28 Mar 2022 18:43:56 GMT

What coaches should be doing before and at the start of every season to make them the best yet.

To help you start the season off on your best foot, take a look at the replay of the Sport NZ Webinar with Andy Rogers, National Sport Development Consultant at Sport New Zealand chatting with internationally acclaimed coaching consultant and sport scientist Dr Wade Gilbert.

The webinar will provide some great insights for coaches starting the season, covering off the following,

What does good coaching look like? Re-examine your role as a coach and what impact you create.
Winning with the 4 C’s. Learn about Wade’s four principles to be an effective coach.
Practical tips, strategies, and resources for coaches to take into planning and the start of their sport season.

A copy of the webinar is below as well as a link to the Sport NZ Article that includes a great summary and key take away information from the webinar. You can access this article and more articles by clicking the blue button!

Sport NZ Webinar Replay: Trials and Selection Processes in Youth Sport

Mon, 28 Mar 2022 18:32:47 GMT

What does good look like when it comes to trials and selections?

Selections and trials is always a hot topic. Take a look at the replay of the Sport NZ Webinar where Alex Chiet, National Sport Development Consultant at Sport New Zealand, along with special guests, Dave Wright from High Performance Sport New Zealand, Chris Campbell from Upper Hutt College, and hockey's very own Bjorn Dix from Wellington Hockey, discusses youth sport trials and selection processes.

The webinar covers off,

Key challenges and pitfalls to look out for when organising trials and selection processes.
What participant-centred trials and selection processes look like.
Three key factors to consider for the design, development and implementation of any trials and selection processes.
How age, stage of development and motivation of participants should be factored into trials and selection processes.

A copy of the webinar is below as well as a link to the Sport NZ Article that includes a great summary of the webinar. You can access this article and more Sport NZ articles by clicking the blue button!

Hockey Research and Upcoming Forum

Wed, 09 Feb 2022 22:40:12 GMT

Bobby Newport's Research on Hockey has been published, and there is an opportunity to hear from Bobby at an upcoming Forum

Bobby Newport is a tutor in the NorthTec Sport and Recreation department and has recently completed a

Masters thesis in the area of youth sport.

Bobby's study explored the early sport and play experiences of elite New Zealand hockey players from rural and regional communities. Focusing in on how smaller communities contribute to the development of New Zealand’s top athletes, the research has a particular focus on the athletes’ early sport and play experiences and the influence of people around them during their growth and development.

The study provided evidence for supporting the benefits of a developmental and delayed specialisation pathway to elite performance. Surrounded by a physical, social, and cultural environment that supported freedom and responsibility alongside unstructured, outdoor, risky play experiences, the participants of this study benefited from their early developmental experiences, which supported their pathways to elite level.

Please click on the following link to read the full study: "The Early Sport and Play Experiences of Elite New Zealand Hockey Player" by Robert J. Newport, Simon R. Walters et al. (nova.edu)

Athlete Centred Parents Forum

Bobby Newport will be sharing his research on the early sport and play experiences of elite athletes from rural and regional communities at an upcoming forum.

At the forum, Parents will hear about sampling verse specialisation and how they can support the youth sport experience.

Although targeted at parents, anyone interested in hearing more about Bobby's research and the experience of our youth in sport should register.

Online - via ZOOM
7pm Tuesday 22nd February
Click here to register
It is FREE

Sport NZ Developer Residential Workshop

Mon, 07 Feb 2022 20:18:20 GMT

Sport NZ will be holding North Island Developer Residential Workshop in April, find out more information including how to apply.

Sport NZ will be holding a North Island Developer Residential Workshop on the 7th ,8th, & 9th of April 2022. This residential course aligns to Sport New Zealand’s National Developer contexts and content and includes the close support of individuals within small groups and the practical application of content.

The Regional Sports Trusts from the Central region will be leading the three-day Coach Developer Training with support from Sport New Zealand’s Sport Development Consultant Kelly Curr.

The course will be delivered by people who have been through Sport New Zealand’s Trainer Programme. They are:

Jason Fletcher Sport Manawatu & Squash NZ
Guy Honnor Sport Taranaki Coaching Advisor
Liz McKinnon Golf New Zealand
David King Sport Manawatu
*Plus additional trainers to be confirmed

Workshop Objectives

Participants selected to attend the three-day residential course will be provided with learning opportunities around four key course objectives. By the end of the course the participants should be able to:

Demonstrate the coach developer role in practice
Demonstrate the delivery of effective learning environments
Identify a range of coach developer contexts
Demonstrate the coach developer skills of observation, questioning, listening, and giving feedback

Application Process

Applications are now open and close Wednesday 23 February 2022 . There are only 16 places available. Final selections will be made with an aim to have a diverse range of Coach Developer participants.

Associations will need to actively identify applicants, share the expression of interest form with them, and advise Hockey NZ prior to expression of interest form being submitted. This information is available on the TEAMs Community Hockey Leaders Team under coaching.

All applicants will need to be endorsed by their local association and Hockey NZ.

Course Dates and Details

Participants are expected to be able to commit to the following times.

7 April 2022 – Thursday 12pm - 8pm Note: this allows for dinner and one on one time with Trainers
8 April 2022 – Friday 9am- 7pm Note: this allows for dinner and one on one time with Trainers
9 April 2022 – Saturday 9am - 3pm

The course will be held at the Sports and Rugby Institute, Palmerston North. Participants will have accommodation arranged and paid for by Sport New Zealand. Accommodation will be on a twin share basis at the Sports and Rugby Institute. *Note: Local participants from the Manawatu region can opt to stay at home

For those who need to fly to the course, travel arrangements will be made and paid for by Sport New Zealand. Flights will have participants arriving for a course start at 12pm on Thursday 7 April and departing Saturday 9 April in the afternoon.

In line with Sport NZ policy, vaccine passes are required to be presented prior to attend the residential. Following confirmation of participants, we will require a copy of participants “My Vaccine Pass”.

Costs

There is a $250 course fee per Developer to contribute to the overall cost of the course. The local association of the applicant will be invoiced at the completion of the course.

Questions

If you have any questions regarding the Residential Workshop or accessing the expression of interest form on TEAMs, please contact Nicole Youman, nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz 0220675511

Hockey NZ Trainer Programme Underway

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 03:30:38 GMT

The Hockey NZ Trainers Programme has commenced. Find out whats been happening following the first online and residential workshops.

The Hockey NZ Trainers Programme held its first session online in December 2021 and has since followed up with a residential workshop last month in Rotorua.

Programme Overview

The Trainers Programme targets community leaders from across the country who support the growth of Developers and the wider hockey system. The programme is designed to enhance individuals’ capability to drive local coach development and capture their input to support Hockey NZ in building the national coaching system.

Click here for more information about the programme including the application process. For information about who is on the programme, please click here

Online and Residential Workshops

The online workshop allowed an opportunity for the group to meet virtually, get an understanding of the programme, and prepare for the residential. This created a great platform for the residential workshop allowing Trainers and Hockey NZ leads to meet in person to connect, share, and learn.

The three-day residential workshop focused on:

Growing leadership skills to support Trainers in their local environments
Understanding of systems and structures
Feedback opportunity for Hockey NZ on the wider coaching system

The Hockey NZ leads were supported by Coaching Leader Pat Barwick, and guest facilitator Dave Clarke from Limitless Sport Leadership and Coaching .

The design of the workshop provided a combination of information, application, and feedback. In addition to information from Hockey NZ leads, Dave Clarke provided valuable insights into the understanding of sporting systems and structures, and connecting this to hockey, both locally and nationally. Trainers were then able to take this information and start to understand how this applies to their local environment and their current work. Trainers were also able to provide valuable feedback to the Hockey NZ around the connection of the local and national coaching systems as well as the Community Coaching Plan.

A key benefit of the residential workshop was the opportunity to have community leaders across the country connect. The diversity of the group was evident as the depth of knowledge, experience, and skills were utilised to support one another and grow individual and collective capability.

Coming up Next

Looking forward, the group will engage in online meetings and a second residential workshop later in the year. Between these structured sessions, Trainers will have the opportunity to work with a mentor to support their on-going development and application of their learning to their current work environment.

Hockey NZ would like to acknowledge the Trainers for their strong engagement in the programme, Pat Barwick for her on-going support, guest facilitator Dave Clarke, and the support of our associations and wider sporting community to be able to bring this group together.

Calling all Upper South Island Developers!

Thu, 28 Oct 2021 23:45:14 GMT

Applications are now open for the Upper South Island Residential Developer Workshop

Hockey NZ, in partnership with the Upper South Island Collective, will be holding a Residential Developer Workshop from the 3-5 December in Christchurch.

This workshop is designed for individuals who are currently, or have the potential to, support the development of coaches. This is NOT a workshop for Community Coaches working with players and officials.

About the Workshop

The Residential Workshop is a great opportunity for individuals wanting to get involved in leading coach development. Facilitated by experienced Trainers, individuals will engage in a combination of theory and practical activities to grow their knowledge and skills of the Developer role.

The workshop will commence on the evening of the 3rd of December including an initial session and dinner. The 4th of December will include a full day programme. The final day will wrap up in the afternoon on the 5th of December and allow everyone to travel home safely.

When: Commence evening of the 3rd of December, finish in the afternoon on the 5th December

Where: Christchurch

Cost: No Cost (travel, accommodation and food will be covered)

How to Apply: Click here to apply

The Hockey NZ Developer Workshop has been designed in alignment to the Sport NZ Developer Programme, FIH Developer Programme and the learning captured through the Hockey NZ Developer Pilot.

The following associations are part of the Upper South Island Collective: Buller, Nelson, Marlborough, South Canterbury, Mid Canterbury, Canterbury, West Coast

Who should Apply?

A Developer is someone who supports the development of coaches. This may include working with coaches of players or coaches of officials in a school, club or association environment.

How a Developer supports a coaches learning can look many ways. This may include chatting one on one with a coach, observing a coach while they are working with their team, leading the delivery of a workshop in a classroom, or working with a group of coaches in a practical session out on the turf.

If you are someone who:

is interested in supporting coaches to learn and open to learning
Is interested in supporting your local association to lead on-going coach development opportunities
may have experience in facilitating learning through hockey, your workplace or a volunteer role
may already be providing support to coaches in your school, club or association

Then you should click here and apply.

Application Process

Anyone who wishes to attend the workshop will need to complete the online application form by the midnight on the 7th of November. The form will include a couple of open ended questions and an opportunity to share any additional information or questions.

Once the applications have closed, Hockey NZ will be in touch with each of the applicants to advise if they will be included in the workshop. Selections for the workshop will primarily be focused on identifying individuals who demonstrate an interest and potential to be a Developer. It is intended to have the majority, if not all, of the Upper South Island Associations represented at the workshop.

Unsure or have Questions?

If you are interested in attending the workshop and have more questions or are unsure, please contact Nicole Youman at Hockey NZ, 022 067 5511, nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz . Nicole will be happy to share more information about the workshop and work with you to understand if this is a good opportunity for you to get involved in.

Hockey NZ Trainer Programme

Tue, 05 Oct 2021 18:26:29 GMT

An experienced and diverse team of ten have been selected for the 2021-22 Hockey NZ Trainer Programme

Hockey NZ received a strong response to the Trainer Programme.

The Trainer Programme is a 12 month programme bringing together individuals to work together in supporting Hockey NZ to grow the coaching system and to support the coaching of coaches, the Developer Programme. The Trainer Programme provides a key layer in building support networks to grow coaching.

The programme will utilize a combination of residential workshops and online meetings to enable peer to peer learning as well as providing valuable support to the Hockey NZ Coaching team. The first residential will be held this year.

The Trainer team offers an exciting diversity of knowledge, experience and skills. This includes experience from tertiary and school environments, Association and FIH experience as well as Officiating, Masters and Indoor knowledge.

Hockey NZ congratulates the following individuals on the selection to the Trainer Programme and looks forward to working with them across the next 12 months to enhance the coaching system.

Ben Owers - Canterbury Hockey

David Tomlinson - Hockey Manawatu

Emma Phelps - Tauranga Hockey

Jack Clayton - Waikato Hockey

Jamie Carroll - Bay of Plenty Hockey

Jolene Casey - Otago Hockey

Kelly Hudson - Tauranga Hockey

Reiner Vellinga - Waikato Hockey

Sophie Rider - North Harbour Hockey

Sunjay Ganda - Canterbury Hockey

Tania Dalton Scholarship

Sun, 26 Sep 2021 21:14:38 GMT

Scholarship opportunity for young females through the Tania Dalton Foundation (TDF)

The Tania Dalton Foundation, created in honour of the sporting legend whose presence would fill the room, has been established to make a meaningful impact on the lives of budding young kiwis, guiding them to lead their biggest life – as Tania did.

The scholarships aim to provide support to young women from all kinds of circumstances and at different stages of their development, to unlock their talent and enable them to live their biggest life with sport as their guide.

Hockey has yet to have a young female granted a TDF Scholarship so it would be great to see this change!

Duration

A maximum of three years.

Financial assistance

Up to $5,000 per annum. Funds will be held by TDF and distributed on an ‘as required’ basis.

Support

Coordinated by TDF, but to include the young person’s eco-system – Whanau, School or Tertiary, Sporting Code, Mentor.

Personal development

One on one mentor. Workshops throughout the duration of the scholarship, topics include personality profiling, goalsetting, leadership.

Eligibility Criteria for Scholarship

New Zealand citizen or permanently residing in New Zealand
Female
Current Y11 (Y12 or Y13 at start of scholarship) **
Sporting talent – representation at regional or national level
Be able to demonstrate a significant level of financial and/or circumstantial hardship to meet the purposes of the award

** The age range has been amended – there is flexibility (Y13 at start of scholarship) should a candidate meet all other criteria

The panel will also be looking for the following:

Leadership and role model qualities
A desire to better themselves in life and their sport
Hardworking and committed to excellence
And most importantly, a willingness to ‘pay it forward’

If you know of someone in your hockey community that would value this opportunity and meets the criteria please pass on this information and encourage an application.

For further information on the TDF Scholarship, click here

To download the application form, click here

Applications should be sent to Bryce Collins, Athlete Pathway Manager at Hockey NZ at bryce.collins@hockeynz.co.nz by Friday 8th October at 5pm.

Sport NZ Webinar Series

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 07:25:44 GMT

Sport NZ are continuing their webinar series, it's free and there is something for everyone!

Don’t miss out on the September webinar series where industry experts will share tips for coaches, administrators and parents on how they can make a real difference for all young people in sport across Aotearoa.

Scroll down for details on each webinar, including how to register.

Webinar 1: Getting Child Safeguarding Right

Sat 11 Sep

How can you create a safe, fair and inclusive environment for young people in sport?

With everyone doing their part during COVID-19 to keep Aotearoa safe, it’s a good time to think about how this can be extended to youth sport to create positive experiences for tamariki to keep them engaged in sport and activity as they grow.

To close out NZ Child Protection Week, we’ll be joined by special guests Ruth Browning from Safeguarding Children and Badminton NZ CEO, Joe Hitchcock, to look at how you and your club can focus on child protection and create a safe environment. If you’re a coach, administrator or parent who will be interacting with tamariki, this is not one to miss!

Click here to register

Webinar 2: Trials and Selections – What does good look like?

Tue 14 Sep

Are you a coach or administrator and starting to think about those pre-season trials and selections? Wondering what makes a good process?

While COVID-19 has put the brakes on sport for a little while, why not use some of that extra time to join us tomorrow for the second edition of our webinar series. Hear from Sport NZ Development Consultant, Alex Chiet, and special guests on how to run trials and selections in a way that promotes balance and keeps kids engaged in sport for longer.

Click here to register

Webinar 3: The art and science of coaching young women

Tue 21 Sep

Are you coaching a young women’s team this season? It’s widely known that a ‘one size fits all’ coaching approach isn’t the best for player development. What do you need to know as a coach to make sure you create a great environment for young women to grow in their sport once we’re back in action?

Join Sport NZ and special guests, Sharon Kearney from Netball NZ and physiotherapist Kylie Cox, for this special webinar focused on what coaches need to know from a bio-physical standpoint to support the development of adolescent females this season.

Click here to register

Webinar 4: Preparing for a successful season – What coaches need to know

Sun 26 Sep

I’m sure we’re all ready to return to the playing fields for the season after a slightly longer break than expected thanks to COVID-19 lockdown, but what should you be thinking about as a coach to make the best use of this extra time?

Tune in tomorrow evening to hear from our Community Coaching expert Andy Rogers and internationally-acclaimed coaching consultant Dr Wade Gilbert on what coaches should be thinking about before the upcoming season to make this one of the best seasons yet.

Click here to register

Webinar 5: Setting our children up for a great season and what it takes to be a Goodsports parent

Tue 5 Oct

Parents are often faced with difficult decisions when it comes to how they can best support their children in sport.

Join our Sport NZ Development Consultant and parenting expert, Kelly Curr, and special guest Simone Spencer, GoodSports lead from Aktive, for a discussion on how to best set children up for success this season through applying the GoodSports approach.

Click here to register

Vellinga Named Lead Coach of NZ Indoor Programme

Wed, 08 Sep 2021 07:32:30 GMT

Hockey New Zealand is pleased to announce the appointment of Reiner Vellinga to our coaching team as our Lead Coach for the National Indoor Hockey programme.

Steve Symonds, Indoor Advisory Group (Performance Lead) is thrilled to have Reiner appointed as Lead Coach for the programme, “he brings a wealth of experience and already through the selection process he has added great insight and thinking for us to take on board.

“To have someone of Reiner’s ability leading, guiding, and supporting the coaches and national teams gives us real confidence that a national and international programme can develop quickly and become a viable part of the Hockey NZ set up.”

After almost twenty years of absence in New Zealand, Vellinga said “I am excited and feel humbled to be part of the resurrection of indoor hockey NZ. It would be great for indoor hockey to take back a prominent place within our hockey community.

“Indoor hockey provides huge opportunities to players of all abilities to develop their hockey skills, and the game itself is fast and spectacular. I am excited to become a contributor to the growth of the game, and I look forward to working with the many athletes and coaches who will fall in love with this format. I’m looking forward to the years to come, in which we will work to get both domestic competitions and a national program up and running.”

Reiner’s history of coaching indoor links back to the Netherlands, where he coached in the National Indoor Competition, winning several bronze, silver and gold medals at the U18 and U16 National Championships.

In more recent years Reiner has coached successful Midlands NHL and U21 campaigns (2016-2019) and has been involved in the NZ U18 and NZ U21 programs since 2017.

Hockey NZ would also like to acknowledge support from the Indoor Advisory Group for their involvement in this process.

Hockey NZ Webinar: Understanding and Managing Concussions

Wed, 25 Aug 2021 03:04:14 GMT

Don't miss out on this FREE webinar with guest speakers Rachel McCann and Jason Butcher, sharing their experience and knowledge on managing concussions for Rangatahi.

Hockey NZ is excited to welcome guest speakers Rachel McCann and Jason Butcher to share their knowledge and experience on understanding and managing concussions for Hockey.

Rachel played 68 times for the Vantage Black Sticks and is currently the NZ Football Player Welfare Officer.

Jason is an internationally experienced coach and current Sports Manager and Coach of hockey at Diocesan School for Girls, Auckland.

The webinar will be facilitated by Hockey NZ and FIH Developer Jamie Carroll and supported by Hockey NZ Competitions Manager Regan Bain and Technical Manager Colin French.

The webinar will provide attendees with information about how to recognise and manage a concussion or a suspected concussive event. It will target those individuals working in the Rangatahi (Youth) space but is open to anyone interested in growing their knowledge. There is no cost to register and attend.

Anyone who is interested in the webinar but unavailable to attend is asked to complete the registration process. There will be an option to advise of your availability and receive a copy of the webinar and any supporting resources. Please find all the details including the registration link below.

When: Thursday 2 ^nd September 2021, 7:00pm – 8:30pm (NZST UTC+12) via ZOOM

Cost: It's free!

Registration: Click here to register and you receive an email with the ZOOM link to join the webinar

Targeted Audience:

Individuals involved in supporting the Rangatahi space, with a focus on secondary school coaches
Players, Coaches, Officials, Managers, Administrators, Parents, and anyone else wanting to grow their knowledge and understanding

Information covered:

The importance of concussion and the impacts that a concussion can have on a young person’s life
How to recognise a concussion and what to do if you suspect someone has suffered a concussion
What support is available for someone with a concussion and how do they return to play?
What is the role of a Coach in understanding and managing a concussion?
What is the Hockey NZ Concussion Policy and what does it look like in action?

Applications Open for Hockey NZ Trainer Programme

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 05:54:14 GMT

Apply now to be a Trainer and become part of a team supporting Hockey NZ to lead the national direction for coaching and support the Developer network.

Programme Overview

Hockey NZ is developing capability across our coaching community by building a network of people, Trainers, to support the development of our coaching system. Trainers will work with Hockey NZ in supporting the leadership of the coaching system and the capability build of the Developer Network. The Developer network lead the support of Coaches working with our players and umpires.

To build the Trainer Network, Hockey NZ have designed a 12 month programme in alignment to the Sport NZ Trainer Programme and the learning captured from the Hockey NZ Trainer Pilot Programme.

The programme is led by Hockey NZ and experienced mentors. The programme enables Trainers to access on-going development to grow their capability and that of the coaching system, and ultimately enhance the support of community coaches.

What is Involved?

Trainers will be part of a 12 month programme, accessing residential workshops to provide on-going professional development and support Hockey NZ in growing the coaching system. Online Meetings will be held across the year to provide regular check in points.

As a network, Trainers will work together to deliver the National Developer programme which includes residential workshops, online workshops, observation and mentoring.

All expenses incurred from the programme will be covered by Hockey NZ and remuneration available for delivery of the Hockey NZ Developer Programme.

The key roles include;

Engaging in on-going professional development of self and others
Supporting Hockey NZ to Implement the National Community Coaching Plan
Supporting Hockey NZ to Deliver the Hockey NZ Developer Programme
Supporting local opportunities for coach development

Over 12 months Trainers will engage in the following activities;

October 2021: Trainer Residential Workshop
December 2021: Trainer Online Meeting 1.5 hours
January 2022: Trainer Online Meeting 1.5 hours
May 2022: Trainer Online Meeting 1.5 hours
June 2022: Trainer Residential Workshop 2.5 days

*Trainers will also support the delivery of the Hockey NZ Developer Programme delivery held across November and February

Who Should Apply?

The Trainer Programme is designed to support a network of individuals to work together to grow their skills in the Trainer space and support the Hockey NZ Developer Programme.

Anyone applying will be passionate about growing people and growing the wider coaching system. They will be a continuous learner, supporting the development of themselves and others. It would be expected individuals would have experience across some of the following areas:

Understanding of the Developer model
Creating positive learning environments for Adults
Building meaningful relationships
Thinking critically
Applying the skills of Observation, Questioning, and Feedback
Development of Coaches of Players/Umpires

Individuals may be in full time or volunteer roles within or outside of our hockey system.

How to Apply

Applications for the National Trainer Programme are open now and will close on September 5 2021 (extended deadline!). There will be up to 12 trainers accepted onto the 12-month programme, starting in October 2021. All applicants will be contacted the by 10th September 2021.

Please click here to apply

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Nicole Youman, Community Coaching Manager, 022 067 5511, Nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz

Please note the following

All expenses incurred as part of the Trainer Programme will be covered by Hockey NZ
It is anticipated that Trainers will need to commit 7 days a year to engage in on-going development and a be available for a minimum of one Developer Residential and/or refresher workshop where remuneration is available.
Remuneration will be available for Trainers delivering the Hockey NZ Developer Programme, where required formalised agreements will be available for individuals and/or employers
The majority of delivery for the Hockey NZ Developer Programme is anticipated to be held on weekends and after hours to best capture our Developer network.
The selection panel for the Trainers Programme will compose of Hockey NZ Technical Manager, Hockey NZ Community Coaching Manager and two independents

Sport NZ Webinar Series: Insights into clean sport parenting

Tue, 17 Aug 2021 04:37:57 GMT

Sport NZ will be continuing their webinar series, this time focusing on how we support young athletes to avoid some of the pitfalls associated with doping.

The webinar will be hosted by Sport New Zealand Development team member Kelly Curr and welcomes special guest, Dr. Sian Clancy, for this wide-ranging discussion on clean sport parenting. Dr. Sian Clancy is the General Manager of Athlete Services at Drug Free Sport NZ, where she leads the organisation’s education and testing teams. In 2020, Sian completed her PhD, investigating factors influencing supplement use and doping among adolescent athletes in New Zealand.

This will be a great opportunity for parents as well as coaches and anyone working with young people interested in understanding more about clean sport.

Check out the details below including how to register!

When: Tuesday 31 August 2021, 7.00-8.00pm (NZST)

Cost: It's free!

Registration: Head to the Sport NZ Balance is Better website by clicking here, and look for the red Register For Free button

Information covered:

 Succeeding in the long run – what key behaviours and principles do parents need to display to support young people to develop (and succeed) in sport over the long term?
Ethical dilemmas – what can parents do to support young people to make good decisions in the face of difficult situations?
Media mindfulness – how should parents be thinking about the impact of social media and advertising on the young athletes?
Modelling clean behaviour – what (surprising) behaviours do parents and whānau need to consider to support clean sport?
Assessing the threat – are there any common indicators parents should look out for that might suggest a threat to clean athletes?

Targeted Audience:

Parents – this webinar will benefit parents of aspirational young athletes.
Coaches and administrators – while predominantly aimed at parents, this webinar will also benefit coaches and administrators supporting athletes in the development and performance space. In particular, learn some of the key messages that you can relay to your parents to help support clean sport.

Click here for more information from Sport NZ on the webinar

Make sure you check out the Sport NZ Balance is Better website for great resources for coaches, parents and administrators of sport. Click here to see one of their articles for parents

Calling all Youth Leaders!

Tue, 29 Jun 2021 23:47:12 GMT

FIH have a great opportunity for our young hockey leaders

Hockey New Zealand is excited to share an opportunity for our young hockey leaders, in alignment to the Year of the Youth.

Following Olympic Day on the 23 ^rd of June, Hockey NZ, together with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and Oceania Hockey Federation are calling for nominations for the FIH Youth Leader Certificate.

The FIH Youth Leader Certificate acknowledges and recognises young hockey leaders under the Year of the Youth theme.

Nominees must be 14-19 years old and have taken on one or more leadership positions over the last 2 years. Clubs, schools, and associations can nominate for the certificate, and more information regarding the criteria and nomination form are below.

Entries close 5:00pm on 9 July.

If you are a young leader or know of a young leader who would value the opportunity to be part of the Youth Leader Certificate, make sure you check out the links below and nominate.

Click here to read the criteria https://bit.ly/3xtBmMs

Most importantly, click here to nominate https://bit.ly/3gDe3J5

Hockey part of Sport NZ Skill Acquisition Pilot

nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz (Nicole Youman) — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 03:52:09 GMT

The Sport NZ Skill Acquisition Pilot commenced in Palmerston North on the May 31st

Hockey NZ is one of three sports to be part of the Sport NZ Skill Acquisition Pilot. The other sports involved in the pilot are Basketball and Cricket.

The pilot has been created following the completion of the National Skill Acquisition framework. The aim of the pilot is to support National Sporting Organisations to implement the framework into their community coaching space.

The pilot has three priority outcomes:

Upskilling the Developer network
Integrating the Skill Acquisition Framework into the Hockey NZ National Coaching Framework
Supporting the development of resources for the wider sporting community

The pilot kicked off with a one day workshop for Hockey, led by Sport NZ Consultant Graeme Robson and Sport NZ Sport Development Consultant Andy Rogers. This was held alongside the Trans-Tasman Series in Palmerston north.

Capturing a representation of our hockey community, 25 attendees from schools, clubs, associations, and Hockey NZ were involved in the day. Focusing on the history of Skills Acquisition, understanding of the current research and the National Skill Acquisition Framework, followed by a practical application of the framework.

The next stage in the pilot is a one day workshop in Auckland on the 25 ^th of June, including Developers from all three sports.

Hockey NZ would like to thank everyone who was involved in the day and is working on sharing feedback and resources from the day shortly.

Women in Coaching Programme

nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz (Nicole Youman) — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 03:36:11 GMT

Development opportunities continue for the Women in Coaching Programme alongside the Trans-Tasman series in Palmerston North

The Hockey NZ Women in Coaching Programme has continued its on-going support alongside the recent Trans-Tasman series.

The Programme led by Pat Barwick welcomed the knowledge and experience of Jason Butcher and Chris Leslie to facilitate a Coach Led development focus. Pat, Jason and Chris come with a wealth of international coaching experience and are actively involved in coaching through schools, clubs and associations.

The coaches attended a four day packed schedule, including the following development opportunities:

Observation of international Mens and Women's games
Engagement in post game debrief to discuss game observations led by Jason Butcher and Chris Leslie
Attendance to the Sport NZ Skill Acquisition Pilot workshop
Identification of an area of interest to further explore through the support of Pat, Jason and Chris
Completion of a practical activity to apply knowledge and grow experience in performance coaching

The group also enjoyed the opportunity to speak with Hockey NZ High Performance Director Tony Hanks and Hockey NZ CEO Anthony Crummy.

The programme will continue to provide on-going opportunities to the coaching cohort to support their growth and development. The programme is designed to prepare coaches for the performance coaching environment.

Hockey NZ would like to acknowledge the support from Programme Lead Pat Barwick, Facilitators Jason Butcher and Chris Leslie, support from guest master coach Niall Denham, and to all the coaches attending from the Women in Coaching Programme, for a valuable four days in sharing, connecting and continuing to grow our knowledge and experience.

Sport NZ Coaching For Impact Programme

nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz (Nicole Youman) — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 03:35:18 GMT

Hockey well represented in the Sport New Zealand Coaching for Impact Programme

Sport NZ Coaching for Impact Programme has commenced. This new initiative is aimed at coaches working with secondary school age players.

Coaching for Impact is closely aligned to Sport NZ’s 2020-24 strategy and the Balance is Better philosophy, supporting rangatahi to have quality experiences in sport and stay involved for life. This is a free two-year programme that will be nationally led by Sport NZ and locally supported by experienced mentors - enabling coaches to learn and grow in their own environment.

Applications opened in 2020 for the programme, and Sport NZ received an incredible 360 applications for the 60 positions available in the two year programme.

Hockey has had a strong representation with the following coaches selected for the programme.

Shea McAleese - Hawke's Bay

Richard Storey - Northland

Sandra Field - Northland

Grant Porter - Otago

James Nation - Otago

Joe Piggott - Canterbury

Jack Clayton - Waikato

The programme started in March with an online induction workshop, followed by online presentations from Dr Ralph Pim (Character Development) and Dr Wade Gilbert (Coaching Principles). This was followed by the first face to face opportunity held in April and May, holding residential camps in Papamoa and Silverstream. The main themes of the camps included, building a community of learning, the sharing of learning, self-reflection and coach action planning.

The next steps in the programme include the coaches meeting their mentors and sharing their action plans. Three additional online workshops followed by the second camps in November where the focus is likely to be on increasing our understanding of the teenage brain and modern methods of skill learning and teaching.

The Impact of Players Experiencing Different Playing Positions

Thu, 13 May 2021 01:38:07 GMT

Research has been shared about the impact of early specialisation on the long-term development of an individual and the concerning connection to burn out and drop out.

But what about the early specialisation of playing positions and the impact it can have on an individual’s development and engagement in a sport?

If you listen to team trainings and games around the country, you will constantly hear players say, I am a defender, or I am a striker, and even parents commenting on how their child is a goal scorer or a born defender. Why is this, and how do they already know this?

Take this simple, yet common, scenario below.

A player, let’s call them Suzie, may be an early developer. She is taller and stronger than her peers and can naturally hit the ball harder. Suzie is placed as a defender so she can hit the ball out of defence to help her team. Suzie has great success doing this and is praised for her efforts. A year or two later, Suzie’s peers have grown, they are now taller, stronger, and able to hit the ball hard, and furthermore have managed to learn how to trap Suzie’s hit after facing it for the last two years. Suzie the defender no longer has the same success through her hitting, is no longer receiving the praise of her hitting, and Suzie starts to question her ability to play hockey and does not find it as fun anymore.

So how could we try and change this scenario? What role does a coach have in supporting the experience and development of our players?

The opportunity for individuals to play different positions is critical to their long-term development and enjoyment of the game. As a coach, we have the ability and responsibility to create an environment to enable our people to learn and grow and have the enjoyment that can foster a lifelong love of our game.

What are the benefits of people playing different positions?
Different positions take on different roles and responsibilities.

Players will be able to gain a better understanding, appreciation, and perspective through experiencing different positions. It is hard to get a real understanding of the challenges a left defender faces until you are the person on the left side line in your defensive 25 about to receive a bouncy ball and have an opposition player running at you.

Getting out of your Comfort Zone

Its hard to grow and develop if you do not get out of your comfort zone. With the appropriate support and challenge, players can positively experience getting out of their comfort zone and into the learning zone. Remember individuals with a growth mindset improve their ability, not prove their ability.

Developing People not Defenders

Our players are first and foremost people. Their identity is not determined by the position they play. Suzie is not a defender who is valued for her ability to hit a ball, she is a young person with her own personality playing our sport with her friends.

Greater Involvement, Greater Engagement, Greater Fun!

No one enjoys being stuck at the back of the field while your team spends 80% of the game in the attacking 25, we want to be involved. There are positions that tend to have greater touches on the ball and may therefore be deemed to have greater involvement in the game. Baseball is a great example, the pitcher and catcher are highly engaged positions, while the left fielder may spend a whole innings and never see or touch the ball.

We know more touches on the ball creates more opportunities to explore and speeds up the learning process. And let’s be honest, more touches on the ball is more fun, you want to be the pitcher or the catcher.

We believe learning happens from doing

By playing different positions, players will experience different challenges and can explore how they navigate these challenges. For example, a player who may need to work on receiving across their body left to right, may enjoy playing a right defender who tends to have the opportunity to execute this skill more than a striker.

A variety of experience will support players to develop a stronger foundation of essential skills. The ability to execute the essential skills supports confidence and enjoyment of the game. Regardless if you are wanting to play club hockey or international hockey, executing the essential skills are key.

We do not know what we do not know

If a player has never had an opportunity to experience a different position, how will they know if they enjoy being a striker instead of a midfielder and grow an understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the different positions. If a player is boxed into a single position, they may never have the belief to explore other positions and be exposed to experiences to support their overall development.

The game of hockey has seen significant change over the past decade, moving to a faster game and requiring players to have the ability to play across different lines, for example being able to play both a defender and midfielder.

Is there an age when players should specialise in one position and what about Goal Keepers?
When looking at the benefits of playing different positions it is hard to identify if there is ever a time where a player “needs” to specialise.

Consider international hockey where the game has changed, it is faster, and players are finding themselves moving between different roles or positions constantly during a game. No longer is it just the defenders who can overhead, or midfielders who can overlap, all players need to be able to fill all roles at any given time.

Cross code, we are now seeing players challenge the norm, LeBron James a pro basketball forward can play any position on the court, he can make three-point shots, his skill set is diverse, and he is arguably one of the greatest basketballers of our time.

In short, there really is no specific age or time a player needs to specialise. Consider the needs of your players and team and what best meets their needs.

For goal keepers, this may be up for greater debate. There are huge benefits in goal keepers and field players to be involved in multi sports. Take a look at some of New Zealand’s capped keepers Georgie Barnett, Grace O’Hanlon, and Sally Rutherford are all examples of individuals who have played multiple sports from Aussie Rules to Football to Lacrosse and I am sure more!

So, there are definitely benefits in goal keepers playing different positions to gain an understanding, appreciation, and perspective of a field players role, but when exactly should they be thinking about focusing in on being a GK? We will leave this question for another article and call on the experts.

What does playing different positions look like when coaching your team?

There are several benefits to players experiencing different positions. The trick for coaches is creating opportunities for players to explore this in a positive environment. Here are a few thoughts below when allowing your players to experience different positions.

Establish a positive learning environment

This should be a non-negotiable for all teams. Creating a positive learning environment is important to support players in getting out of their comfort zone and into the learning space. Ensure players have appropriate support and are confident to make mistakes as they try something new. Coaches need to be aware of their actions and behaviours to promote and create this environment.

Get the team onboard

Take the time to work with your players and if appropriate your supporters or parents. Create a shared understanding of the benefits of playing different positions on a player’s long-term development. Remember this does not just apply to games, trainings also provide an opportunity to create a diverse experience for players.

Create some steadiness

Think about how you can allow players to have different experiences whilst also allowing them time to learn and explore each one. If players are changing positions every week they may not have the appropriate amount of time for exploration to gain experience and apply their learning.

Take the time to understand the different roles

For some players, regardless of their playing experience, playing a different position may be new to them and create a little bit of anxiety. This is a great opportunity to work with the whole team in getting a shared understanding of the different roles, and shared terminology using the language of your players.

What are some potential challenges?
Making change is never easy. Taking a long-term approach over short term success is easy on paper, but not so easy in practice. Here are some potential challenges and a few ideas on how to overcome them.

The Doubters: Bring everyone on your journey

Communication is key. Allow time to share information about the benefits of playing different positions with the key people. Your key people may include players, parents, supporters, club, or school leaders.

Short Term loss: We are in it for the long run

Focusing on short term success can have a negative impact in the long term. It is easy to put the strong players in the key positions to allow them to get better and the weaker players hidden around them and win a few games. But what is this doing for the long-term development of the strong and weak players and their enjoyment of the game. Be clear on your long-term approach and stay strong, focus on player development not the game result.

We want players to stay in our game, we want players to have the opportunity to develop a diverse set of skills, and we want to develop great people.

Let's look back now at our earlier scenario and see how providing players with a diverse experience may be able to change the outcome.

Suzie is an early developer. She is taller and stronger than her peers and can naturally hit the ball harder. Suzie’s coach has been working hard with the players and parents to explain the benefits of playing different positions. For the first half of the season, Suzie plays as a defender, using her strong hit to help her team get out of defence. For the second half of the season Suzie is moved to a Striker. She struggles with the change to begin with, but her parents and coach have explained that it will be challenging, and it is important for other players practice being a defender. Suzie can now adapt her hitting skills to try and score goals and learn how to lead for the ball her defenders are hitting through. Suzie is praised for taking on the challenge and learning new skills.

A year or two later, and Suzie’s peers are now taller and stronger and able to hit the ball hard just like Suzie. While Suzie is still hitting the ball hard, she has developed her leading and ball carrying skills and is confident to play anywhere on the field. More importantly, Suzie knows that learning new skills can be challenging but fun.

Now this is a very simple view but can highlight the long-term impact of our short-term decisions.

Sport can be a great opportunity for people to connect, develop, learn life skills, and stay fit and healthy. Let’s work together and make sure we create a positive environment to maximise everything sport has to offer.

Below are some opportunities to dive deeper into creating a positive learning environment for players.

Good Sports Climate of Development: Sign up for free to the online learning portal and check out the Good Sports Lessons, including information about what is a climate of development and how you can create a climate of development for your players. Click here to access the Online Learning Portal

Balance is Better: Sport NZ have great resources to support adults involved in sports, focusing in on the youth and young people. You can sign up for free to access resources for coaches, parents, and administrators.

Click here to access the Balance is Better website

Coaches Celebrated at Hockey New Zealand Annual Awards

Tue, 11 May 2021 23:13:28 GMT

Three outstanding coaches recognized at the recent awards evening.

The Hockey New Zealand Annual Awards were held on Friday, April 30 ^th in Auckland. The evening celebrated individuals from our hockey community who have made a significant contribution to our sport in 2020.

As part of the Awards evening, Hockey New Zealand selects and recognises one or more individuals for the Contribution to Coaching Award.

Hockey New Zealand defines coaching as the development of people, and the Contribution to Coaching award recognises and celebrates individuals who demonstrate this at the highest level. Hockey New Zealand would like to congratulate all individuals who were nominated, and thank them for their support of coaching in their local community.

This year three individuals were selected from the outstanding nominees as recipients for the award. All recipients are passionate learners and welcome the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience to develop others. They are leaders in their community and have had a significant impact on individuals and teams in our game.

Congratulations to our 2020 Contribution to Coaching recipients.

Association Coaching Update

Tue, 04 May 2021 00:48:43 GMT

Hockey New Zealand would like to share an update of the recent, current and future activity of the coaching space for Associations.

The key updates are regarding the launch of the online portal, the implementation of the National Coach Development Programme, and reminder about the Resource Hub and Coaching Newsletter.

If you have any questions regarding the coaching space or feedback to share, please do not hesitate in contacting Community Coaching Manager Nicole Youman.

ONLINE LEARNING PORTAL

The Portal went live last month. Over 250 coaches have registered, Canterbury are leading the way with 54 coaches registered followed by Auckland, Tauranga and Bay of Plenty.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the promotion of the portal. We will be working hard to ensure the portal is providing valuable support to the wider hockey community and hope to reach over 2000 individuals actively engaging in the portal by 2022.

The portal is designed to be OUR platform for sharing resources online. We welcome you to share existing resources, partner with your fellow associations or HNZ to support the creation of new resources, and provide feedback on how we can grow and further develop the portal.

Please find a few reminders regarding the portal below

Association Leads: There is an Association Lead private group providing resources specific to the Association lead roles. If you would like to access this group please email Nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz
Promotional Assets: Associations can access images, blurbs, links, posters to support the promotion of the portal. These are all located on TEAMS. Please contact Nicole Youman at HNZ if you need any assistance accessing these
What’s Available: A summary of learning outcomes of the current online lessons will be shared with associations soon and an infographic to be able to share with the community so they know what to expect. Although there is no better way to know what's on the portal than doing the lessons yourself!
More than Coaching: The portal aims to support the development of our people, this includes parents, administrators, officials and managers.

NATIONAL COACHING PROGRAMME

The first of five targeted delivery opportunities of the Introduction to Coaching Programme will commence this month in Canterbury.

The five targeted associations are Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Nelson, Manawatu, Otago (TBC – lower south island)

HNZ identified Developers will facilitate the programme and capture critical insights for the nationwide roll out in 2022. Please click here for more information.

RESOURCE HUB – COACHING NEWSLETTER

The Resource Hub will be turning 1 year old in June. The Hub has become the central place for all things coaching and provides flexibility in how we can share and connect coaches with a variety of resources.

The hub is a collaborative platform for our coaching community. Please ensure you share any existing resources you believe would be valuable to our wider coaching community.

This month the Coaching Newsletter will be sent out to all subscribed coaches. The link to subscribe is on the Resource Hub. A reminder on Facebook has been posted, please share this with your community to capture any new coaches!

The Online Learning Portal is Live

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 20:06:37 GMT

The countdown is finally over, the hockey community can now register and access the new online learning portal.

Hockey NZ is pleased to announce the official launch of the Online Learning Portal.

Individuals can now register to access a range of resource. Once registered, individuals can login at any time to start, continue or complete courses and lessons, as well as revisit anything that may need a second look. The portal will be updated with new resources throughout the year.

In addition to the public resources, the new portal will also support our National Coaching and Officiating Programmes. Individuals involved in these programmes will receive personal invitations to access the respective lessons for their programme. Click here for more information about the National Coach Development Programme.

To help navigate the new portal we have provided a Getting Started Guide . The guide will provide you with all you need to know to utilise the portal.

You can find the guide, background information about the portal, and the registration and login button by either clicking here or opening up the menu tab on this website and clicking on – Online Learning.

There is an opportunity for anyone completing Hockey NZ lessons to share their feedback at the end of each lesson. We would greatly appreciate your thoughts, to assist us with the future developments of the portal to meet your needs.

The new portal does replace the old portal. If you are still wanting to access any information from the old portal you will need to contact Hockey NZ.

We hope everyone enjoys the new online learning portal, and Hockey NZ looks forward to working with Associations and Coaching leaders to grow and develop further resources to provide on-going support to our hockey community.

The National Coach Development Programme

Sun, 18 Apr 2021 22:54:41 GMT

Hockey NZ are excited to announce the commencement of the newly designed National Coach Development Programme.

The National Coach Development Programme is the primary mechanism for developing our people. It identifies the support and development of Coaches of Players, Coaches of Officials, Developers (Coaches of Coaches), and Trainers (Coaches of Developers).The National Programme will be rolled out in a staged approach, the initial focus will be on the development of Coaches of Players.

In addition to the National Programme, coaches are able to continue to access development opportunities through their local Association, the Hockey NZ Resource Hub , Hockey NZ Online Learning Portal ( launching on the 22 ^nd of April), and through external providers such as Regional Sports Trusts.

When learning anything it takes time. Everyone learns at different rates, have different time commitments and interests, and bring with them their own individual personal knowledge and experience. Learning is not a simple linear process where one approach fits all. Becoming a great coach, requires an individual to engage in the continuous learning cycle.

The National Programme is designed to support coaches to grow their knowledge and experience and enhance their ability to support their players. The programme employs a blended approach of online and face to face learning opportunities and allows time for coaches to apply this learning through doing, coaching out on the pitch.

There are three key learning stages designed to best meet the needs of the coach and the players they are working with. Coaches may move between these stages or remain in the same stage to grow their skills and become a great coach of players with specific needs. For example, becoming a great coach of youth and adult players starting the game.

More information about the programmes will be released through each stage of implementation.

National Coach Development Programme

The three key learning stages are supported through three programmes:

Introduction Stage: Coaching of Introductory Players Programme

This one year programme is designed for coaches who:

Are working with players who are considered to be novice to beginner level players
May be new to hockey or have some experience in coaching youth and adult players
Typically coaches are working with or supporting development school and club teams

Foundation Stage: Coaching of Foundation Players Programme

This three year programme is designed for coaches who:

Are working with players who are considered to be beginner to competent level players
Have been coaching for a minimum of 2 years and are active coaches in the community
Typically coaches are working with Association U18 and National Hockey Competition (NHC) teams, and premier and development club and school teams

Advanced Stage: Coaching of Advanced Players Programme

This on-going programme is designed for coaches who:

Are working with players who are considered to be competent to proficient level
Are currently or have aspirations to, coach in the Performance environment
Have been coaching for a minimum of 5 years
Typically coaches in this space are working with junior national programmes, U18 and NHC Association teams, and premier club and school teams

Staged Approach

The National Coach Development Programme will be implemented through a staged approach.

Stage One - 2021

The Introduction Programme will be delivered in 5 Associations and provide key insights prior to the national roll out in 2022.

Stage Two – 2022

The Introduction Programme will be rolled out nationally.
The Foundation Programme will be delivered in targeted associations to provide key insights prior to the national roll out in 2023
The Advanced Programme will commence delivery

Stage Three – 2023

The Foundation Programme will be rolled out Nationally
The Introduction and Advanced programme will be running nationally

Every three years the programmes will be reviewed, refreshed and enhanced. Coaches will receive accreditation for their engagement in the National Coach Development Programme and ability to demonstrate the critical learning outcomes. Accreditations will need to be refreshed every three years.

Hockey NZ would like to acknowledge and thank everyone involved in the design and creation of the National Coach Development Programme, with particular recognition to the Hockey NZ trainer network and Association coaching leads.

The National Coach Development Programme will provide an aligned national approach to better support our coaches to be confident and equipped to lead a positive experience for our players.

Free Webinar: Mastering the Art of Sports Parenting

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 03:07:14 GMT

Check out the details below including how to register!

When: Wednesday 21 April from 7.30-8.30pm

Cost: It's free!

Registration: Head to the Sport NZ Balance is Better website by clicking here , and look for the red Register For Free button

Information covered:

The webinar will discuss how to help children,

Grow and develop through sport, and attain the maximum holistic benefits
Reach their sporting potential hat are some of the ways coaches can create amazing youth sport environments
Enjoy sport, fall in love with sport and stay involved in sport for life
AND six key skills that can help parents and caregivers be involved in their child’s sport in the best possible way

Targeted Audience: P arents of children who are primary to secondary school age, coaches and volunteers.

Click here for more information from Sport NZ on the webinar

Make sure you check out the Sport NZ Balance is Better website for great resources for coaches, parents and administrators of sport. Click here to see one of their articles for parents

New Online Portal Coming Soon!!

Wed, 14 Apr 2021 00:40:00 GMT

On the 22nd of April Hockey NZ is excited to announce the launch of the new Online Learning Portal.

Anyone wanting to access the new portal will be able to register for free on or after the 22 ^nd of April.

All details will be provided here on the Resource Hub and shared via social media.

The new portal is designed to complement the Resource Hub to provide current and accessible resources to our wider hockey community.

It will provide our hockey community with:

Free access to public learning courses and resource library
Closed courses for individuals involved in National Coaching & Officiating Programmes
Inclusion in a National database to support future initiatives
Ability for Hockey NZ and Associations to see Progress Reports of their engagement in courses

The initial focus of the portal is providing public resources for coaches and closed courses for both coaches and officials. Moving forward, the portal will expand to provide support for parents and administrators and continue to grow resources for coaches and officials.

The new portal will replace the existing portal and offer an enhanced experience our hockey community. Any coach currently on the existing portal will need to register for the new portal.

Access will be available to the existing portal until the 21 ^st of April. Any active users are welcome to review their profile. If coaches would like to print out certificates for completed courses, they can do so by logging in, opening the completed course and clicking on the final module. The final module will walk you through the steps to print out your certificate.

Let the countdown begin.

Are you Season Ready?

Tue, 30 Mar 2021 01:52:22 GMT

Check out Sport New Zealand's article about being #seasonready here

Sport New Zealand have launched an exciting campaign to support the return to winter sports.

The heart and soul of community sport is our people, the volunteers who give their time to make our sport run and create positive environments for people to engage in sport.

To support our volunteers, Sport New Zealand has created a wide range of resources, through a 6 week campaign #seasonready . Volunteers including coaches, will have access to support to assist in their role in providing a great experience for our players.

Sport NZ #seasonready connects volunteers with:

Information about the Balance is Better philosophy and how to create positive experiences for all young people in sport
General help and advice to support your coaching journey
Tips on preventing conflict and creating a positive culture across sport, plus the knowledge to know what to do if complaints arise
Learning modules on safeguarding and protecting children and young people, including identifying the signs of potential neglect and knowing what to do about it
Resources to create a system without prejudice, so that young people can play in a welcoming and inclusive environment

Make sure you follow Sport NZ on Facebook and Instagram , and if you're yet to do so, register for free to the Balance is Better website for current articles and their newsletter.

Developer Workshop on Saturday

laura.nagel@hockeynz.co.nz (Laura Nagel) — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 20:02:46 GMT

Hockey NZ will commence its Developer Programme on the 20 ^th of March to support Stage One implementation of the National Coach Development Programme.

On the 20 ^th of March Hockey New Zealand will be hosting a Developer Workshop in Christchurch. The workshop will involve Developers from across New Zealand who will support the implementation of the first stage of the National Coach Development Programme.

Identified Developers were invited by Hockey NZ following their engagement in the Hockey NZ Developer Pilot, Sport NZ Developer Workshops, and leadership of Coach Development in their local community.

The focus of the workshop is to connect the group of identified Developers to work together in delivering the first of the National Programmes, Coaching of Introductory Players Programme. The programme is targeted at coaches working with adult and youth aged players who are new to hockey or are novice or advanced beginner players.

Following the Developer workshop, Hockey NZ will connect with targeted associations to deliver the coaching programme and collect valuable insights to support the national roll out of the programme in 2022.

Hockey NZ would like to acknowledge its Trainer team who lead the support for Developers and have played a critical role in designing and creating the National Coach Development Programme.

Looking ahead, Hockey NZ will be working with Collectives and their Associations to support the growth of local Developer networks to support the roll out of the 2022 National Programme and enhance local coach development opportunities.

The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

Free Webinar: Raising the bar in Coaching Youth Sport

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 19:01:58 GMT

Check out the details below including how to register!

When: Wednesday 17 March from 7-8pm

Cost: It's free!

Registration: Head to the Sport NZ Balance is Better website by clicking here , and look for the red Register For Free button

Information covered:

What are some of the ways coaches can create amazing youth sport environments
Practical tips and examples, that coaches can apply to their own coaching using a Balance is Better mindset
What has worked in other country’s that we can take on board in New Zealand
About new resources available to kiwi coaches as part of an exciting new partnership between Sport NZ and iCoachKids.

Targeted Audience: All coaches working with young people and parents of youth participants

Click here for more information from Sport NZ on the webinar

A tale of two questions

Tue, 02 Mar 2021 01:40:34 GMT

This article was originally published by Sport New Zealand on their Balance is Better website .

Dave Keelty is a Coach, Developer and Mentor. He has a significant amount of experience working with coaches and developers across a range of sports, both in New Zealand and from his time working in sport in Ireland. He is currently the National Development Manager with Volleyball NZ, and also runs a few coach development projects through his business.

As a coach moves from being a novice to becoming more of an expert, they transition from focusing on the ‘right’ way to do things to understanding that there is no one ‘right’ way. In this article, Dave explores this concept in more detail and asks can coaches ‘hack’ their own development by pushing themselves to understand that there is no one ‘right’ way.

In January of 2019 I helped facilitate a two-day Hockey coaching workshop with a colleague (Mick). Mick was the Hockey expert, and I was there to help with a ‘how to coach’ lens. Towards the end of the first day, one of the coaches in the group asked the following question:

“What type of press do you recommend I use with my team?” (this will be referred to as ‘question one’ for the remainder of this article).

Mick, being the Hockey expert, did a good job at answering the question, yet that later night, the question kept going around my head. I mentioned to Mick on the Sunday morning there was something about that question that kept me up the night before. You see, the way Mick answered the question started with ‘It depends’. What I realized, in speaking with Mick that morning, was that we hadn’t done as good a job as we could have in helping the coaches understand what they need to consider within their own context to answer that question. We hadn’t helped them understand what ‘it depends’ depends on. We needed to do a better job at helping shift the groups thinking from asking questions like “What type of press do you recommend I use with my team?” to asking questions like:

“What should I prioritise when it comes to deciding what type of press I use with my team?” (‘question two’ for the remainder of this article).

Or, in a general sporting version:

“What do different tactics depend on?”

Question one is a very rule-based question. It is seeking absolutes. It is essentially asking ‘can you please tell me how I should coach this part of the game?’ However, I believe the question coaches should be challenging themselves to ask, at every opportunity, are question two type questions. To quote Craig Lewis , “knowing why beats knowing how”. Coaches need to be developing an understanding of knowing why as well as knowing how, and questions twos are the way to do that.

Mick wrote a great blog last year that was focused on the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition. The Dreyfus Model charts how people move from novice to expert in whatever skill they are trying to master.

A key difference between novices and experts, according to the model, is that novices are very rule-focused, whereas experts rely on intuition that comes from significant amounts of experience. They’ve long since forgotten the ‘rules’ that helped them initially, and at times, probably go against those rules because they have a wider understanding of the overall context.

Question ones are questions from coaches who are towards the novice end of Dreyfus’ skill acquisition continuum. There is nothing wrong what those questions. That’s not what I’m trying to say. Those questions are to be expected as people transition through the stages. However, what I have started to wonder is, can coaches ‘hack’ their transition through from novice to expert by asking more question two questions? To be honest, I’m not sure. But, if it were to happen, the default mindset of coaches needs to shift from ‘what’ to ‘why’. It would look like:

When a coach is googling “activities to develop passing for my Rugby/ Netball/ Football team”, they are asking questions like:
‘How is this activity actually developing passing?’
‘Could I improve it to develop passing even better?’
When a coach is watching the All Blacks, Silver Ferns or All Whites, they are asking questions like:
‘Why is that tactic working for them?’
When they have been sent a YouTube clip of another coach taking a training, they are asking questions like:
‘How does she know if that activity is too easy for her team, and how could she progress the activity to make it harder?’
‘How does she know if that activity is too hard for her team, and how could she regress the activity to make it easier?’

As any coach worth their salt will tell you, not all tactics (or formations, or counter attack policies, or set piece ideas) are created equal, and they will be more or less effective in different situations and with different ages, genders and skill levels. We know the folly of ‘trying to fit a round peg into a square hole’ in general life but we, as coaches, can do better at seeing this ‘round peg, square hole’ situation when we coach. What coaches need to understand is “Why is ‘tactic A’ more likely to work here than ‘tactic B’, or “why is ‘skill A’ better for my athlete than ‘skill B?”. Thinking like this is shifting from novice to expert. The more coaches are encouraged and allowed to think like this, the faster they will move from novice to expert.

I don’t think this is all on coaches to shift their thinking though – coach development has a role to play too. In my story above, Mick did a great job at answering the question at the workshop. But what if he had gone a step further, and turned the question back on the coaches even more explicitly?

What if his response looked like this:

“Ok I’m not going to answer that question directly. What this course is here to help you do is to answer that question yourself. So, I want you to take five minutes and start to jot down in your notebook what things influence the decision you make when you decide what type of press you want to use. We will compare these answers as a group in five minutes.”

Rather than tell the group what selecting a press depends on, they have been asked to think about the answer themselves. They are starting to think about ‘why’ as well as ‘how’, e.g. why am I thinking about using that press?

So, the next time you’re thinking about designing your training, and you go to YouTube, or Twitter, for help, remember to keep asking yourself ‘question two questions’. Why is that working for them? How is that developing that tactic or skill? How could I adapt that to fit my team?

The next time you’re thinking of sending a clip or an idea to another coach, preface it with question twos.

‘How do you think this would work with our team?’
‘What would we need to adapt?’
‘How would this help them solve that issue with their performance?’

In this way, coaches are being nudged, slowly but surely, from novice to expert. They are starting to understand what ‘it depends’ depends on.

Gill Gemming: It's not just about hockey

laura.nagel@hockeynz.co.nz (Laura Nagel) — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 20:47:01 GMT

From establishing a life-changing disability programme in Tauranga to removing unexpected barriers across the Pacific, Gill Gemming has dedicated her life to giving everyone an opportunity through hockey. As she prepares to coach at the National Masters, she shares some moving stories of those she has helped.

“It’s about giving everyone an opportunity.”

“When people ask what I do – I say it’s about hockey but it’s actually more about providing opportunities for individuals to grow and develop on top of the benefits of being physically active.”

One of her favourite tales is of Jack, a young guy who would only come to the turf to watch his brother play. He never spoke, never interacted with anyone – he just stood at the top of steps watching.

Fast forward several years and Jack is now fully engaged and chomping at the bit to get a stick in his hand.

“He shakes your hand, has a big smile on his face, he talks to everyone and he can’t wait to get through the gates and onto the turf.”

“That sort of impact is pretty hard to put a number on, but they gain a huge boost in confidence from being involved.”

So why the turnaround? A brainchild of Gemming’s called Hockey without Limits.

What is Hockey without Limits?

Gemming, together with Tauranga Hockey Development Officer Emma Phelps, came up with the idea for the life-changing programme in 2017 when one day a parent asked if she could find a way for her daughter with a disability to be involved in hockey.

After a bit of head scratching – with no resources or guidelines to help them out – and a few helpful conversations with Sport Bay of Plenty and special needs teachers, Hockey without Limits was born. They had 22 registrations to start, within a couple of months that had nearly tripled and by the following year they were almost hitting the 100 mark. Participants ranged in age from eight to 22.

Hockey without Limits is essentially a skills programme designed for youngsters with a disability – intellectual or physical. They run two-hour sessions at the Mount Maunganui turf with different activity zones that accommodate the challenges these youngsters face.

Gemming says they firstly had to create hockey balls and sticks suitable for disabled players.

“A hockey ball is simply too heavy and it would get caught under the wheelchairs. The sticks were also too heavy to carry around. We got the ball modified so it’s lighter and easier to move. It’s been a great innovation and it’s now widely used in our junior programmes.”

Gemming is always thinking of new developments for the programme such as how they could take part in a more formal competition.

“And what’s exciting is the Special Olympics has just accepted hockey on their calendar for the World Games in 2023.”

In the fifth year of the programme, Gemming is pleased to hear other Associations such as Counties Manukau are running similar initiatives.

“If you saw the immediate impact it has – the smiles on their faces and the fact that they can’t wait to get on the pitch and get going. Their level of confidence and their ability to communicate and open up with our volunteers is just amazing to witness.”

here.

Removing the barriers to play in the Pacific

The driver for Gemming’s work in her role as Continental Development Officer at Oceania Hockey is no different – it’s about giving everyone an opportunity to pick up a stick.

With no sports shops in the islands, having enough sticks and even sports shoes for the largely jandal-wearing islanders was an ever-present challenge.

After she witnessed teams in Samoa having to swap sticks with the team following them onto the field, the Champions Give Back programme rolled into action. It started at a Champions Trophy in Sydney where the teams were asked to leave something behind and the result was overwhelming.

“And since then our New Zealand Associations have been outstanding, particularly the Masters group.”

She recalls Tonga playing at an Oceania Cup in a recycled red and black Canterbury strip, made even more special by the fact Canterbury coaching guru Pat Barwick acted as the team’s mentor.

While the donated sticks and kit make the playing of hockey possible, it’s the wider benefits of her work in the Pacific that delights Gemming. It’s the free health checks offered at training camps, and the employment opportunities that follow the publicity of players being selected in Oceania teams.

One of her most special memories is of a young woman in the Solomon Islands who didn’t think she could play because she had her period. The talented 15–year-old was absent from training because she was said to be unwell.

“When I next saw her she told me ‘I wasn’t ill in that sense Gill, I had my period. We have an area in the village that we go to when that happens.’ Which got me thinking.”

Working with health agencies and two Australian Olympians who were health professionals, Gemming ran sessions with these young girls about how they can continue to play.

“But we had to very mindful of the cultural traditions so we didn’t over-step the mark.”

The youngster went on to play in three Oceania championships, proudly claiming that it was “no barrier for me to play.”

Giving is what drives her

Being a trained teacher, Gemming has always seen coaching hockey as an opportunity to provide a pathway for growth.

“It’s not just about hockey, but using hockey for development of the individual – to provide education, health benefits and opportunities for women and girls and those with disabilities.”

Gemming often arrives home from her Pacific Island visits without her trainers. Amusingly she tells us her own shoes are often mistakenly picked up off the side of the field by the locals along with the pile of donated shoes she brings over.

But anyone who knows Gemming would suggest otherwise. She just wants those shoes to ensure no one misses out – and that hockey gives everyone an opportunity.

Gill Gemming

Oceania Hockey Continental Development Officer
Tauranga Hockey Association President
Tauranga Boys’ College Director of Hockey
ONZM for Services to Hockey and Education in 2018
FIH Education and Development Committee Member
Former Hockey NZ National Coaching and Development Manager

Coaching at National Masters Tournament

Tue, 16 Feb 2021 19:17:02 GMT

Leah Murphy shares her coaching journey alongside some great tips for coaches heading to National Masters Tournament this year.

Alongside coaching club hockey, Leah has been involved in Coaching Masters Hockey domestically. She has led the Wellington 35 Women’s team to two national titles and coached a New Zealand National Masters Age Group Team. In addition to her coaching roles, Leah is also a member of her local Wellington Masters Council, and on the National Master’s Advisory Group , who support the growth and development of Masters Hockey.

In 2020, Leah was selected for the Hockey NZ Women in Coaching Programme, attending the Sentinel Homes Premier Hockey League to be immersed in a performance coaching environment to grow and develop her coaching. Leah has a strong interest in personal and professional development and future aspirations to coach in high performance.

Recently Hockey NZ caught up with Leah to learn from her experiences of coaching master’s hockey and to get some tips for coaches getting involved in this year’s National Masters Hockey Tournament.

Tips for Coaches involved in the National Masters Hockey Tournament

Arrive fit – Summer masters tournaments can be tough, so it helps to work on fitness in the lead up. You are working with adults, so get them involved in how this can be fun and effective

Get some game time – Arrange some practice games before tournament, this is ideal to work through your structures and set plays. Also, handy to build some match fitness

Get good people around you – Having a strong leadership team and management team to brainstorm ideas and share the load. Your team will be filled with great capable people who want to help, so let them help

Have a plan – plan, plan, plan and then have a contingency plan. A plan will give you guidance and clarity, and then the exciting part comes in your ability and the team’s ability to adapt as the variables get thrown your way

Allow some down time – it can be a mentally and physically challenging week. Allow your players, team management, and you (coach) some time to switch off and enjoy being in the beautiful Bay of Plenty

Soak it all in - Enjoy the time to get to know your team, chat to other coaches, watch other games, and enjoy the festivities. Masters can be an exciting experience leading to some great friendships and memories

And if you’re coaching at your first Masters Tournament, believe in yourself – you know more than you think you do, and make sure you build the right team management, leadership team and culture

Hockey NZ would like to acknowledge and thank all of our Coaches and their management teams getting involved in the National Masters Hockey Tournament and wish them all the best for what will be a great week of hockey!

Overcoming obstacles to encourage more female coaches

Fri, 18 Dec 2020 00:28:02 GMT

World Cup-winning All Black coaches Sir Steve Hansen and Sir Graham Henry both dispelled the myth that you have to have played at the top to coach at the top.

That’s one of the encouraging messages coming out of Hockey New Zealand’s first intake of the Women in Coaching Programme.

There’s a long list of reasons why women are under-represented in hockey coaching numbers including the myth that you can’t coach at national level if you didn’t play for the Black Sticks. Other obstacles include a lack of confidence and the struggle finding time to fit coaching into already busy family lives.

Canterbury’s Sally Moorfield has just completed this year’s programme and she’s a true believer you don’t have to have played at the level you wish to coach.

“If you are passionate about helping athletes improve, you’re open and innovative to new ideas, and you gain the necessary experience then you should be considered for coaching at higher levels.

“Steve Hansen and Graham Henry never played for the All Blacks. Patrick Mouratoglou has been Serena Williams' coach for years and he never played professional tennis.

“If you have a goal to coach at that level build a pathway, seek advice and gain the skills. It will be an awesome journey.”

Moorfield played representative hockey through high school before choosing her other love - tennis. She played professionally overseas for four years including an appearance at Wimbledon.

Like many women she started coaching hockey by helping out with her children’s teams and she’s still going 25 years later. One of her learnings from the Women in Coaching Programme was that all coaches have gaps.

“You don’t have to be the font of all knowledge. You can empower players and others to assist the team, search websites, or ask for help - the hockey community is amazing at helping each other.”

Hamilton’s Nicky Smith also attended this year’s programme. Smith is a busy mother who never imagined she could get back into coaching with two children under two.

“It’s great to stay involved in hockey even if it’s a smaller part these days while my family takes priority. It’s certainly hard work trying to juggle everything. You need to be well organised and have good support around you to enable you to do it.”

Smith, who had an assistant coaching role with the Vantage Black Sticks Women in 2016-17, says the programme has inspired her to continue learning.

“It reminded me that you never stop learning, and that coaching methods evolve all the time. A lot of coaching is about communicating with players. I learnt ways to connect and to understand your players.”

Former Black Sticks player and coach Pat Barwick was the main facilitator of this year’s programme. She is now a FIH accredited trainer with a wealth of experience developing coaches in the Canterbury and Sport New Zealand environments.

Barwick, who worked one-on-one with the coaches to help them create their own development plans, says it was encouraging building a network of female coaches to support one another.

“While I think there was an awareness of the lack of female coaching role models it was an awakening for the group that it is up to the women themselves to make a difference by actively seeking coaching roles.”

Barwick says that while there are more recognised barriers such as childcare, confidence is still the number one obstacle.

“We need to overcome that lack of confidence that still prevents women from actually applying for positions even in this modern day. It is not easy being one woman stepping up into an all-male domain.”

“The programme was a great opportunity for promising female coaches to meet other capable women who were also uncertain about putting their hand up. Collectively they learnt they had the ability and knowledge to take on higher roles.”

What is the Women in Coaching Programme?

Hockey NZ identified that women are under-represented in high performance coaching. Coaches need to reflect hockey’s diverse community.
The Women in Coaching Programme provides the starting blocks for identifying and developing female coaches. It focuses on preparing women for coaching roles and helping them reach their desired potential.
This year’s programme ran alongside the inaugural Sentinel Homes Premier Hockey League (PHL), providing an opportunity to be involved in a high performance environment with some of our top players and coaches.
12 female coaches were selected from 50 applicants nationwide - five were appointed as assistant coaches in the PHL and seven were immersed in the team environments.
Facilitators this year included former Black Sticks Coach Pat Barwick who worked one-on-one with the coaches, and High Performance Sport NZ’s Lyn Gunson who challenged the group’s understanding of high performance coaching.

For more information, sign up to Hockey NZ’s coaching newsletter

USA Field Hockey 2020 National Coaches Forum

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 02:23:08 GMT

USA Field Hockey 2020 National Coaches Forum

USA Field Hockey are taking their 2020 National Coaching Forum online. The forum will allow coaches from around the world the opportunity to meet, listen and engage in the comfort of their own home.

Each session will include discussions, as well as question and answer opportunities. Several sessions will also include breakout rooms for small group discussion. Brief reflection breaks will be available between sessions.

The forum will run from Tuesday 8th to Saturday 12th December. Please remember this is Eastern Standard time, so make sure you check the dates and times and adjust for your time zone. Early bird pricing expires on Sunday, November 29.

Presenters include

John Crawley, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee's High-Performance Director of Team Sports
Stuart Lancaster, Former England Rugby Coach
Steve Bayer, Belgium Goalkeeper Coach
Anthony Farry & Greg Drake, U.S. Women's and Men’s National Team Head Coaches
Max Caldas, Netherland's Men's National Team Head Coach, two-time Olympian Athlete & three-time Olympic Coach

Pricing

Please note all prices are in US Dollars, and all times and dates are Eastern Standard. You will need to check the timing for your time zone.

Early Bird Special through Monday, November 29, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. ET:

USA Field Hockey Members: $20.00 per day | $70.00 for full package of all four sessions
Non-USA Field Hockey Members: $30.00 per day | $95.00 for full package of all four sessions

After Monday, November 30, 2020:

USA Field Hockey Members: $25.00 per day | $80.00 for full package of all four sessions
Non-USA Field Hockey Members: $35.00 per day | $105.00 for full package of all four sessions

Click here to register

Click here for more information

iCoachKids International Conference

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 03:02:29 GMT

Don’t miss out on a star studded line up of speakers from around the globe, and its FREE from the comfort of your own home!

iCoachKids has announced the 4th Annual International Conference.

This will be a FREE online event which can be booked below:

2nd December 2020 - 17:00-19:00 (UK Time) – Key Theme: Preventing Dropout Book here
3rd December 2020 - 17:00-19:00 (UK Time) - Key Theme: Talent Development Book here

Click here to view the Full Programme which includes Sport New Zealand’s National Sport Development Consultant Andy Rogers alongside sports leaders from across the world.

For more information about iCoach4Kids, check out the links below.

@iCoachKidsWorld

https://www.facebook.com/iCoachKidsWorld/

https://linkedin.com/company/icoachkids

Registrations Now Open: Connecting Coaches Conference

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 23:01:39 GMT

Book your place now to be able to learn from an exceptional list of guest speakers

Registrations are now open for the online Connecting Coaches Conference on the 27th and 28th of November 2020.

Otago Academy of Sport will be leading the two-day online conference with a focus on supporting coaches to build their capacity to be adaptable. All presentations will be recorded and made available to those who register for the conference for an entire year.

The conference is open to anyone, from anywhere, at a cost of NZD$99.

Please click here to be able to find out more information including overview of guest speakers and registrations.

There will be 20 speakers who will make links to the theme of adapting, connecting, creating and communicating as they cover topics ranging from athlete wellbeing, the elite coaching space, athlete voice, youth sport, and Māori and Pacific sporting experiences. The breadth of topics discussed will appeal to those who recognise coaching to be a complex enterprise that requires more than just technical and tactical knowledge.

The exciting line up of speakers include:

Geoff Barry - Sport New Zealand
Raylene Bates - Athletics New Zealand
Blake Bennett - University of Auckland
Garry Carnachan - School Sport New Zealand
Kiran Dixon - Halberg Foundation
Gwen Harrop - Dunedin Gymnastics Academy and NetballSmart
Amy Hoosen - Dunedin Gymnastic Centre / Roslyn Physio
Emma Humphries - Liverpool Football Club
Anne-Marie Jackson - University of Otago
Jamie Joseph - Japan Rugby
Gianna Leoni - South Pacific Rugby League & Sports Club
Carmel Leslie - Dunedin Gymnastic Academy and the Otago Academy of Sport
Heath Mills - New Zealand Cricket Players' Association
Nico Porteous - National Athlete (Snow Sports NZ)
Holly Robinson - National athlete (Athletics NZ)
Daragh Sheridan - High Performance Sport New Zealand
Simone Spencer - Aktive
Dame Noeline Taurua - Netball New Zealand
Simon Walters - AUT
Tania Cassidy - University of Otago

Coach Opportunity: Coaching for Impact

nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz (Nicole Youman) — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 00:27:42 GMT

Applications are now open for Coaches in the Secondary School space to apply for Coaching for Impact

Sport NZ have launched a brand new initiative, Coaching For Impact. This initiative is aimed at coaches working with secondary school age players .

Alex McKenzie will be the lead learning consultant, bringing with him a wealth of experience and knowledge. Alex has an extensive background in coach development, having previously led the Coach Accelerator Programme for High Performance Sport New Zealand, working with some of New Zealand’s top coaches including Mike Hesson, Steve Hanson, and our very own Darren Smith.

Applications for the programme are now open and close on Monday 30th November at 5pm. Please find further information below.

What is Coaching for Impact?

The format will include:

Two (2 day) residential learning camps per year held in April and November
Mentoring support via approved programme mentors
Coach observation and feedback
Support to develop Personal Development Plans (PDP)

All applications are asked to be endorsed by a school, club, regional or national sport organisation.

Who can apply?

Coaching for Impact is open to all experienced New Zealand coaches who are actively coaching secondary school age players in a school, club, regional or national sport organisation.

Three or more years coaching experience is recommended, along with a history of continuous learning and development. Coaches will need to be committed learners and willing to invest time in their own development.

How to apply?

Find out more and apply at www.sportnz.org.nz/coachingforimpact

Connecting Coaches Conference Coming Soon

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 23:59:18 GMT

Check out an opportunity to learn from experienced leaders in our sector.

Otago Academy of Sport will be delivering the Connecting Coaches Conference online on the 27th and 28th of November 2020.

The conference will focus in on Adapting our coaching in a changing world: Connect, create and communicate.

The exciting line up of speakers include:

Geoff Barry - Sport New Zealand
Raylene Bates - Athletics New Zealand
Blake Bennett - University of Auckland
Garry Carnachan - School Sport New Zealand
Kiran Dixon - Halberg Foundation
Gwen Harrop - Dunedin Gymnastics Academy and NetballSmart
Amy Hoosen - Dunedin Gymnastic Centre / Roslyn Physio
Emma Humphries - Liverpool Football Club
Anne-Marie Jackson - University of Otago
Jamie Joseph - Japan Rugby
Gianna Leoni - South Pacific Rugby League & Sports Club
Carmel Leslie - Dunedin Gymnastic Academy and the Otago Academy of Sport
Heath Mills - New Zealand Cricket Players' Association
Nico Porteous - National Athlete (Snow Sports NZ)
Holly Robinson - National athlete (Athletics NZ)
Daragh Sheridan - High Performance Sport New Zealand
Simone Spencer - Aktive
Dame Noeline Taurua - Netball New Zealand
Simon Walters - AUT

The cost for the two days is $99.00.

Click here to register your interest and be alerted when registrations open!

2019 Contribution to Coaching Awards announced

nicole.youman@hockeynz.co.nz (Nicole Youman) — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 22:18:38 GMT

Congratulations to our 2019 Contribution to Coaching Award recipients, Angeline Waetford, Dave Ross, Geoff McNaughton and Sunjay Ganda!

The Hockey New Zealand Annual Awards event for the 2019 hockey season was scheduled for April this year. The Annual Awards celebrates the achievements of the 2019 calendar year and recognizes the valuable contribution of individuals and organisations to hockey.

In the case of many events this year, the Awards evening was unable to go ahead in person. This has provided a great opportunity to be innovative and welcome the first virtual awards celebration for Hockey NZ.

The Contribution to Coaching Award is the primary coaching award. This award acknowledges the contribution coaches have made across the community, performance and high performance space. It takes into consideration a coach's demonstration of leadership, continuous learning, understanding of the game, ability to build meaningful relationships and be an effect communicator. Coaches are nominated by their association.

This year Hockey NZ is excited to announce four recipients of the Contribution to Coaching Award.

Angeline Waetford – Northland Hockey
Dave Ross - Otago Hockey
Geoff McNaughton - North Harbour Hockey
Sunjay Ganda - Canterbury Hockey

Hockey New Zealand would like to congratulate the recipients of the award and acknowledge all the nominees and the great work our coaching community do nationwide to support the growth and development of our people and our game.

Please enjoy hearing more about the 2019 Contribution to Coaching recipients.

Angeline Waetford coached 3 teams within the Northland Hockey Association across a variety of levels and provided support at New Zealand U18 Hockey Camps in 2019.

Angeline was the Head Coach of the Northland National Hockey League team that silver for a third time and the Head Coach of Springfield Premier Women who won the Round Robin and Grand Final Trophy.

In addition to her NHL and Club commitments, Angeline also managed to find time to step in and coach the Northland U18 Women’s Development team after they had no coach to take the team. In taking on this role, Angeline enabled a group of players the opportunity to represent their region.

We congratulate Angeline on receiving this award in recognition of her work in the coaching space.

Angeline Waetford and the Northland team at the 2019 NHL in Tauranga.

Dave Ross has had a significant impact on the development of generations of players in the Otago region.

In 2019 Dave was the Head Coach of Kings High School winning the schools first ever Rankin Cup. Dave also coached the U21 Southern Men, securing a bronze medal at the National Championships.

Dave is referred to in the community by those that he coaches as the “Oracle”, a highly respected hockey coach who has given an incredible amount of time and effort over a large number of years.

Congratulations to Dave on a great 2019 season and thank you for your on-going support of our game and players in the Otago region.

Geoff McNaughton has been coaching at Westlake Girls for eight years, continuing to coach at the school after his children graduated.

Geoff has a strong belief in building a positive team culture, and instilling belief and confidence in his players. He is committed to learning and is a regular attendee at coach development opportunities.

In 2019 Geoff stepped into the role of assistant coach of the North Harbour Collier team. Working with a younger age group, Geoff adapted his coaching, and utilized his humour to support a successful experience for the team.

Congratulations and thank you Geoff for your contribution to coaching, and a great 2019 season.

Sunjay Ganda is heavily engaged in the Canterbury hockey community, coaching club, school and association spaces as well as supporting coach development as a mentor.

In 2019 Sunjay guided the Canterbury Beavers to a National Senior title and was a selector for the Canterbury NHL Men and Women’s sides. Sunjay was also the head coach of St Margaret’s finishing 3rd at Federation Cup.

As a mentor, Sunjay supports the development of community coaches and has been instrumental in implementing a coach mentoring programme at St Margaret’s working with secondary school-aged kids that are coaching school teams.

Sunjays ability to relate to players and read situations during a game is a strength and his knowledge is an invaluable asset to Canterbury Hockey. Congratulations Sunjay on a great 2019 season and receiving this award.

New Paragraph

Olympian and Community Hockey Leader Sandie Mackie Shares her Journey

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 00:33:55 GMT

Don’t miss out on Sandie Mackie’s interview from Auckland Hockey’s Flashback Friday

Sandie Mackie has had an exciting hockey journey. Born in Hamilton, Sandie moved to Northland when she was five, where she started playing hockey.

Sandie was part of the first New Zealand Women's Hockey team to compete at an Olympic Games in 1984 after the the team did travel in 1980 due to the boycott . The side finished 6th in Los Angeles.

Following her national representative honours, Sandie has continued to play and coach. Sandie is a familiar face in the New Zealand Masters age group teams and has coached numerous representative teams across the age groups. Sandie is currently the Development Manager for Auckland Hockey.

Sandie is a great community hockey leader and we are excited to share Auckland Hockey’s flashback Friday to hear more about her background as she catches up with Auckland Hockey CEO Manoj Daji.

Exploring Coaching Podcast Episode Three Live Now!

Thu, 24 Sep 2020 04:06:18 GMT

What Matters Most.... The key element to developing individuals and teams

Hockey New Zealand’s Exploring Coaching podcast is designed to share information to support the growth and development of community coaches.

Facilitated by Bay of Plenty Coaching and Development Manager Jamie Carroll, episode three features Performance Network Coach Mark Borgers and internationally experienced Coach Jason Butcher.

Coaches are constantly seeking the magic bullet to build a successful team. This episode our panel dive into what is the key element to creating a great team. Focusing in on the importance of culture and starting to touch on a deeper layer of togetherness. There is a lot to unpack in this episode, so make sure you don’t miss second.

Tune in via Spotify or YouTube below or check the additional links underneath for your preferred podcast provider.

Happy listening!

Follow the Exploring Coaching Podcast on your favourite podcast platform:

Vantage Black Sticks Assistant Coach and Manager Roles

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 22:42:14 GMT

Hockey New Zealand is advertising for two roles for the Vantage Women's Black Sticks Women's Teams. Please find details for both roles below and further information on the links provided.

Vantage Black Sticks Women’s Team Manager

Full time management role to support the Black Sticks Women’s Team and National Squad targeting Tokyo 2021 and the Commonwealth Games and World Cup in 2022. The role will optimise the performance of the programme, working closely with the Head Coach and Head of High Performance to lead the management and implementation of holistic athlete well-being, team values, continued commitment to the Hockey NZ values; and aspirational team culture.

To be considered for this role, you will have:

Excellent communication skills and understanding of communication strategy
Attention to detail and short and long-term planning skills
Experience in high performing teams
Experience in international travel or event management
Financial management or operations management experience

The role of the manager is an important part of the Black Sticks and Hockey NZ organisation playing a key part in uniting the vision of the team, the manager will enjoying building strong working relationships and working with a wide group of stakeholders.

For more information on both of these roles I have attached the position descriptions for you or please visit our website.

https://hockeynz.co.nz/about-us/vacancies/

Applications Close: 5.00 pm, Friday, 2 October 2020

Vantage Black Sticks Women’s Assistant Coach

Full time coaching position focused on individual and team coaching, planning and monitoring, daily performance environments and contribution to the leadership, planning and development of the Women’s high performance programme overall.

To be considered for this role, you will have:

· A detailed and systematic approach to achieving High Performance outcomes

· Knowledge of international trends and current game developments

· Experience of holistic athlete development in a coaching capacity

· Experience building and managing trusted relationships with others

· Experience and proven capability in the holistic development of athletes and programmes

· Strong initiative and problem solving ability

To be part of the Black Sticks Women’s programme is to be part of something bigger than the role of the coach. The coach will play a key role in supporting the galvanisation of a team and organisation, they will celebrate the success of the individuals and the team.

For more information on both of these roles I have attached the position descriptions for you or please visit our website.

https://hockeynz.co.nz/about-us/vacancies/

Applications Close: 5.00 pm, Friday, 2 October 2020

The L Word: Learning

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 20:58:49 GMT

As an Adult are you open to Learning? Do you fear it or embrace it?

Learning is a word that we use a lot.

As a young person you are immersed in structured learning environments through schools, apprenticeships, universities, and many other mechanisms.

Typically, as a young person you are given the time and space to explore, be creative, test and try, are not judged on failure and even encouraged to fail to enable learning. As an adult I felt the opportunity to learn changed.

This is what I have learnt from my personal experience so far in exploring the process of learning.

You are the Leader of your Learning

I remember receiving advice in the initial days of my first full time role as a coach. My manager told me “Remember, you are now responsible for leading your own learning”. I smiled and did not think too much of it at the time.

Looking back now, I realise the importance and power of this advice. There were no longer teachers, lecturers or parents assisting me with my learning, I was now in the driver’s seat and given the freedom and responsibility to explore.

Coming from structured learning environments, it is easy to look at courses, accreditation's, and rely on others to determine what you should learn next. I would encourage coaches to sit down and take the time to work through what it is they are wanting to learn, what are they curious about, and see how they can find ways to dive into this area. Do not be afraid to think outside of the box, you may find opportunities outside of sport, or from another sporting code, a peer, an online resource, or many other avenues.

Learning is messy, and on-going, so take a hold of the steering wheel and embrace the journey.

Get out of your comfort zone and stop fearing failure

For me, I found the fear of failure, particularly in front of peers, overwhelming. I did not want to be the person in the room who did not know the answer and to get something wrong. Although I enjoyed problem solving and would consider myself a solution oriented person, I did have a fear of failure that impeded my learning.

The all too common phrase encouraging individuals to get out of their comfort zone, could not be truer for my journey. The key element though is the need to transition through the fear zone before you reach a very rewarding and exciting space where learning can happen.

When you approach things in life as an opportunity to learn, it becomes a lot more fun. You do not need to have the answers, you spend more time listening and being able to ask questions. You can hear different perspectives, soak up new information, and then take all of this away to see how it impacts your context. And most importantly you walk away from the experience having broadened your knowledge instead of spending the time regurgitating what you already know to others.

Learning is fun if you are open and ready to immerse yourself in it.

Give yourself time to learn, grow experiences and reflect

Learning is not a linear process. We all learn in different ways and at different rates. It is not a race, but a lifelong journey.

When I started coaching, I went from campaign to campaign, a club team to an association team to the next association team. I was fortunate to be in environments where innovation was encouraged, and I enjoyed being creative. The only catch was, I never hit the pause button long enough to really maximise the opportunity to capture what I was learning along the way.

I typically took on head coach roles, and only coached the sport of hockey. I did not attend any learning opportunities across different sporting codes, outside of sport, and stop to catch up and just chew the fat with others in the coaching environment. I was growing my own experience, but it was very one dimensional, and was without the critical ingredient of reflection.

Reflection is a powerful tool; it is key in turning experience into knowledge. It can be done internally or by working with others. It allows you to ask questions about what went well, what did not, brings in the ability to observe yourself and get feedback from others. It requires time and needs to become part of a coach’s toolbox. I tend to look at the expectations we put on players to reflect on their performance, and question if as coaches we apply the same process to our own performance.

I would encourage all coaches to look at how they can grow and diversify their experiences, make reflection part of their coaching process and give themselves time to learn.

As coaches we are constantly supporting the learning of others. We work hard to allow our players to access new knowledge and have the time to practice, test and try. We promote the importance of taking risks and making mistakes to be able to grow experiences and create learning opportunities. So let’s make sure we walk the talk and apply our belief of learning to ourselves as individuals, and as coaches.

To kick start your learning journey, here are a few resources that may be of interest;

Sport NZ Newsletters

This includes the opportunity to sign up to one or more newsletters covering the Sports Sector, Coaching and Balance is Better. Click here for more.

The Athlete Development Show with Dr Craig Harrison

You can visit his Athlete Development Project website or listen to his podcast.

Book Club

Chat to your peers or get researching to find books or other resources. Here are some of my favourites from coaching leaders in NZ; Netball NZ National Training Manager at Netball New Zealand Tammy Mehrtens and Sport NZ National Sport Development Consultant Andy Rogers .

The importance of having Team Values: How to build an effective Team Culture

Wed, 02 Sep 2020 03:03:17 GMT

Having a team full of superb individual skills is a great asset to any team, but having an effective team culture makes any highly skilled team even better. How can that be you ask, surely a team full of superb skills is going to be a great team?

Well I’ve found that this is not always the case. Superb individual skills are only one part of building a great team. In my experience, another very important piece of the team jigsaw is effective team culture. Building team culture is an important starting point for any coach who wants to work with a sports team. It doesn’t matter what age, skills, ability or sport they are involved with, an effective team culture is a valuable foundation to set up a great sports team. A coach’s most important job is to firstly develop and then foster, that effective team culture. Team Culture is important for everyone in the team to feel like they belong, that they feel safe, they are included, can learn from each other and have a shared vision for the team. This all adds to the enjoyment and fun of being a part of a team.

So, how do we go about building that team culture?

Who is a part of the team?

What is important?

What is going to make a difference?

Why are we doing this?

How does this fit in with our goal setting and team objectives?

So many questions to ask, lots to work with to problem solve and find answers to.

Who is a part of the team?

A team to me consists not only of the players, but also the coaching team, management team and any medical staff too. All of these people work together to make an effective contribution to the team. Everyone should have an involvement with building the team culture, as they all need to work together efficiently to ensure a strong sense of team culture right across the whole entire team as they work towards common goals.

What is important? Valuing the individual's thoughts.

The first place to start is with your team, by involving the team in the brainstorming of values, what they want and making decisions gives them a feeling of belonging and ownership of the whole team’s culture, what is important to them.

For younger teams you can give them a list of values, some examples of values to help guide them with ideas, they can then choose which ones are important to them from the list.

For older players they can list their own individual values that are important, maybe 8 to begin with and then a narrowing down to 5-6 with a final 3-4 to share with the team. Some examples of values you may have on a list include:- Team Work, Attitude, Dedication, Enthusiasm, Effort, Commitment, Perseverance, Resilience, Integrity, Passion, Kindness, Fun, Trust, Mental Toughness, Growth Mindset, Compassion, the list can be as varied as you like. Think about what is important to your own team.

Secondly, a discussion about everyone's 3-4 choices of their individual values and the opportunity to explain why those values are important to them. This is a chance to really get to know the individuals in the team and build a big picture around what is important for the individual and the team.

All of the individual’s values are then shared, from here you can see which values are common amongst the team. The team can then decide and agree on some common and appropriate team values that will help to shape the team expectations and culture. This will also help to develop the individual’s confidence as they have been a part of the decision-making process for the benefit of the whole team.

What is going to make a difference?

By involving the whole team in deciding on a team set of values, helps to build good relationships amongst each other. You can put these values into place by taking time to do some fun team building exercises. This is always a good way to have a laugh together and help build the trust and respect for each other too. The team begins to understand from deep down what makes people tick, what are their beliefs, what is important to them and can then have a better understanding of each other.

A couple of simple, fun exercises to help build the team culture include 3 legged races, trust fall circle, blind folded obstacle courses or even a game of another sport that no one in the team usually plays. This puts everyone on a level playing field and they can have some fun just playing together. By taking part in some simple, fun activities, allows everyone to be involved and have an opportunity to feel included, start to trust their teammates and show some real connectivity with each other. This makes a difference to the way people in the team are treated and how they may speak to, or treat others. The difference will be seen not only on the field but also off the field, where all good teams become great teams. They become great by having effective relationships with each other, their communications with each other become innate, intuitive and honest. The team can trust one another, rely on each other and have an immense sense of pride in each other too. This ‘family / community / band of brothers-sisters’ etc works hard for each other to ensure a successful outcome for all.

Why do we set up a team culture?

Setting up an effective team culture, sets up a valuable foundation for the team to work from to help enhance their skills and abilities, both individually and as a team. If the team is able to get along with one another, work hard for each other, communicate well with each other, then the individual skill level, the team ethos, the team collaboration and connections on the field will also increase. Their work ethic increases as they are working not only for themselves but for the team as a whole. The extra effort that they put into their training, their fitness, their individual skill is done not only for themselves, but for the benefit of the whole team. The connections that are made from having a great team culture can lead to life-long friendships off the field too.

When trouble arises you can revisit the agreed on team values which gives a guideline to rebuild the effective team culture. You can then ask the questions: are they being a team player, are they upholding the team culture, what can they do to show respect and improve their individual contribution to the team culture?

How does this fit into our goal setting and team objectives?

Setting smart goals or team objectives is another great platform to have for your teams to work from. It gives a clear pathway of what is to be achieved, when, how, why and what next? (This is another whole article)!!

Most importantly though to tie it into our team culture, is to ensure that somewhere in every individuals ‘toolbox’ is a need for self-reflection, goal setting and action planning that includes not only personal development but also a team element. This will help to deepen the individual's understanding of the teams values and their responsibility to the team as a team member. Each team member may use the following questions to help guide their self-reflection:-

What am I personally doing to help the team connect?
What team value did I show/embrace during the game/training today?
How did I show this or what did I do that made a difference?
What can I do next time to help improve the team culture and how will I do this?

So, from my previous experiences, I believe that the necessity for a great team culture and effective well understood team values is ‘invaluable’ for all sports teams. It sets a solid foundation to build great teams that are able to communicate well, work together well and play for each other. The coach just needs to develop, encourage and foster these values right throughout the season to ensure great success for their whole team.

A Psychological Perspective on Coaching Secondary School Students

laura.nagel@hockeynz.co.nz (Laura Nagel) — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 22:12:14 GMT

A sneak peak at one of our articles from the recent Coaching Newsletter

This week the the first edition of the HNZ Coaching Newsletter was sent out. For those who missed out, we thought we would share one of the articles.

Don't forget to click on the Coaching Newsletter link in the menu bar to the left if you are yet to sign up for the Newsletter!

Performance Psychologist Daniel Stamp shares insights into coaching secondary school students.

A coach’s actions and behaviours can have a significant impact on the development of young people.

We caught up with Performance Psychologist Daniel Stamp to dive into this a little deeper.

Daniel has an academic background, working in the tertiary environment in sport and exercise psychology, athlete well-being, health psychology and global health. Daniel is also a practitioner, he has his own consultancy business, Ultimate Performance, working with individuals and teams in sport and business.

We hope you enjoy listening to Daniel share his knowledge and experience.

Tips for Coaching at a Secondary School Tournament

laura.nagel@hockeynz.co.nz (Laura Nagel) — Sun, 23 Aug 2020 21:33:08 GMT

About the Authors: The following tips have been collated from current Secondary School coaches.

With Secondary School Tournaments just around the corner, we thought it would be handy to share some insights from our experienced secondary school coaches to help coaches and their teams enjoy the week and make some lifelong memories.

Use free time in a positive way o utside of hockey and the stress of a tournament. Making it enjoyable off the field is a great way to create a strong bond within the team and making the tournament memorable. The break away from hockey during a tournament is important and making it fun off the field will help add to the overall quality of the tournament . It could be as simple as everyone having their meals together and being present - no phones, team activities / challenges

Identify the key themes you want in a game which might be say three on ball and three off ball points. As much as possible stick to these and use your quarter time and half time talks to reflect on how well you are going in relation to those key points

Consider having 1v1 meetings with the players every couple days or mid tournament. This helps to gauge different views on how the team is going. Think about informal opportunities for chats as well, such as meals or team walks.
Tournaments are about being consistent and having plenty of fuel in the tank at the end of the week. With that in mind ensure you are always encouraging your team to take one game at a time and make sure you are well organised with rotating your players .
From a whole person perspective, make sure players have dedicated time to do their schoolwork . Often, they’ll have assessments due around that time, and that distracts them if they don’t have time to keep up.
To get the best out of players they need to be confident . Focus on what is going well and the strengths of your players and team.
Define success, have an agreement on what success looks like for your team, school, and supporters. Then make sure you stay true to this during tournament.
Focus on the things your team can control . Have your players focus on the process, not the outcome. The score board is not always a good indicator of how well your team played

Thank you to all the coaches who contributed, and special mention to Mitch Hayde for leading the collection of information. All the best for your upcoming tournaments.

A Psychological Perspective on Coaching Secondary Schools

laura.nagel@hockeynz.co.nz (Laura Nagel) — Sun, 23 Aug 2020 21:02:44 GMT

Performance Psychologist Daniel Stamp shares insights into coaching secondary school students.

A coach’s actions and behaviours can have a significant impact on the development of young people.

We caught up with Performance Psychologist Daniel Stamp to dive into this a little deeper.

We hope you enjoy listening to Daniel share his knowledge and experience.

Balance Matters Coaching Secondary Students

laura.nagel@hockeynz.co.nz (Laura Nagel) — Sun, 23 Aug 2020 20:25:46 GMT

Being a coach is a privilege that comes with responsibility. When I started coaching, I strived to be the best I could be. I worked hard to understand my players, their strengths and their weaknesses. I trained the team to play structured hockey and we beat teams that were better than us. I was a successful coach if success is measured by winning matches and it was only in later years that I reflected on how much I had failed.

As a coach you need to be clear about your philosophy and purpose for coaching. You need to be confident and secure as a person, so you are truly coaching to serve your players. My identity as an athlete was coming to an end and I wanted to prove I could be the best coach. My ego meant I forgot that I was coaching young people who have different motivations, different personalities, and different life pressures from my own and these needed to be central in my decision making. I did not allow my students balance.

Secondary school students need balance in their lives so they can concentrate, listen, think clearly, and learn to develop holistic life skills. Sport plays a big part in developing young people, but it is only one small part of an already full curriculum. Students are pulled in many directions by well-meaning adults and it is easy to get some aspects out of balance. As a coach of school students, we have a responsibility to help manage students stress levels and ensure we are not over scheduling training's and games. If you think of the different curriculum areas of a student's life they will have many different “section leaders” all wanting their students to be the lead performer. The sports coach should not be the conductor of the entire orchestra but rather one of many section leaders. When the coach thinks they are the conductor and demand more time or energy, they are denying the opportunity for students to have far richer lives. Adults coaching in secondary schools must allow students to have fun and explore other things, so they do not get burnt out, and are left with a love of the game, to have lifelong involvement.

Some simple reminders for ensuring your students have balance.

Balance means that Physical, Social, Mental/Emotional, and Spiritual well being are all considered.
Time management is critical – We all have the same number of hours in a day so be organised and stick to time. Start and finish on time so students can plan other activities around their sport commitment with confidence.
Plan ahead – Know what other things are happening in your students lives and have flexibility with the schedule so they can attend their school ball, study for exams, be in the Kapa Haka group and play in your team.
Listen to your students – Talk to the students about their goals and ambition and decide together what it will take to reach their goals.
Team culture matters – Hold open discussions so everyone knows who is at what training's, what is negotiable and what is compulsory, so you are consistent and fair

As a passionate educator and hockey coach I know that students who are regularly engaged in team sports will do better academically and socially. They will have more self confidence and a positive outlook on life but only when coaches allow growth and development of students through experimentation and decision making. As a coach you set up the framework and guide students, but allowing them choices and the freedom to make mistakes is a greater gift than the competition title. Students must learn how to have balance to achieve their goals and to understand that actions have consequences. This type of coaching requires a partnership between the coach and the players with coaches giving students more responsibility and freedom.

Reflections on Changing Dynamics of Auckland School Sport

Sun, 23 Aug 2020 20:08:29 GMT

Secondary School Sport has changed a lot during my 40-year teaching career. Back in the 80’s a significant proportion of teachers were involved in coaching secondary school sport. Many secondary school teachers entering the profession having either played, or were still currently playing, their chosen sport(s) at top club or provincial level. Trainee teachers were paid an allowance to attend university and were also paid significantly more to attend the one year post graduate secondary training college year. Now teacher trainees pay fees for both their university courses and for their post graduate teacher training courses. This has resulted in fewer younger trainee teachers coming into the profession, the ones more likely to coach sport.

The beginning teachers of that era were very willing to share their playing expertise with secondary school students as current players of the game. In the 80’s there was also a surplus of teachers in the work force and consequently those teachers that were prepared to coach school sport had a greater chance of gaining a teaching position. Finally, the workload for teaching was far less than it is today, with very little internal assessment compared to the current assessment requirements.

Moving on 30 plus years, there are now a far greater choice of sports for secondary school sports students can play compared to the traditional winter sports of; rugby, netball, football and hockey. The ethnic mix in New Zealand has changed immensely, particularly in our large cities. Teenagers have significant other entertainment opportunities outside of sport.

Sport has always been, and still is, a cornerstone of developing the all-round student at most New Zealand Secondary schools. However, in recent times it has been used more frequently as a marketing tool to attract the most talented sporting students to attend a number of secondary schools. Full scholarships became incentives to attract these talented sports students. There were examples of added financial incentives given to students to transfer from one secondary school to another in order to strengthen that school’s premier team. This was with the sole purpose of winning a premier provincial title or National title. In some specific cases the coaches of the teams who lost these talented players became disillusioned and gave up coaching which resulted in teams folding.

In 2018 Auckland principals agreed that secondary school sport should be about developing their current students rather than cherry picking the best from other schools. The win at “all costs” mentality is rapidly disappearing. While the school’s premier team is still the pinnacle for the talented sports student, there is now extra emphasis in getting more players involved in sport. The intention is that more students play sport. Some will stick with the particular sport when they leave school, there will be others that will only be happy to play while they remain at school.

Over the same period there was also a backlash from parents of current students who had missed out on a “premier spot” in their schools’ team because of this cherry-picking or poaching. This has led to several schools rethinking their investment in sports scholarship, in particular not offering scholarships for students who are entering year 11, year 12 or year 13.

Last year Auckland principals agreed, by a huge majority, to tighten the quotas of transferring students allowed to play in a school’s premier team. Compulsory stand-down periods for students transferring from one school’s top team to another school’s premier team are now a feature of College Sport Auckland premier competitions. (Prior to 2020 this had had only been a requirement for premier 1st XV rugby transfers.)

The significance for secondary school hockey is that hopefully more students who gave the sport away, when they were replaced by a transferring scholarship student, might stick with the game and in some cases become the stars of the future. Those schools who lost their talented students, and in many cases their potential future captains, may retain good quality first elevens and inspire their younger players to stick with their sport.

With the significant changing teacher demographics from the time I started teaching, as highlighted at the start of this article, schools are more and more reliant on non-teacher coaches. For any school sports programme to survive, their sports department is heavily dependent on assistance from the community. Many schools can not afford “professional” coaches but are willing to pay some allowance. Coaching a junior school team is a great entry step for future coaching endeavours. It is common practice for schools to use unpaid community coaches in many of the other 38 sports that are sanctioned by College Sport Auckland.

Exploring Coaching Podcast Episode Two Live Now!

Tue, 18 Aug 2020 00:26:48 GMT

Tune in to hear about Coaching Fundamentals with our experienced trio of seasoned coaches.

Hockey New Zealand’s Exploring Coaching podcast is designed to share information to support the growth and development of community coaches.

Facilitated by Bay of Plenty Coaching and Development Manager Jamie Carroll, episode two features Performance Network Coach Mark Borgers and internationally experienced Coach Jason Butcher.

Episode Two focuses on Coaching Fundamentals. Jamie, Mark, and Jason share their thoughts on what are fundamentals and how coaching fundamentals impacts a player’s confidence, enjoyment, and ability to engage in a sport. Although it sounds basic, coaching fundamentals is far from basic.

Tune in via Spotify or YouTube below or check the additional links underneath for your preferred podcast provider.

Happy listening!

Follow the Exploring Coaching Podcast on your favourite podcast platform:

Developing people is a passion for Coach Sunjay Ganda

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 02:09:35 GMT

Community Coaching leader Sunjay Ganda has a passion for creating a positive team culture. Enjoy hearing about his coaching journey .

Sport is a powerful vehicle to provide enjoyment, connection and development for people from all backgrounds, ages, and abilities. The key ingredient to the strength of sport is the people, our community leaders.

Our profile articles are an opportunity to celebrate our incredible community leaders by sharing their story and inspiring our future leaders of our game.

We are excited to share our next profile on Canterbury Coaching Leader, Sunjay Ganda.

When you first meet Sunjay you cannot help but smile, his positive approach to life and passion for developing people is contagious. Born and bred in Canterbury, Sunjay enjoys working multiple roles and is always happy to help you with tips in the kitchen, around the house, and of course on the hockey turf.

In high school, Sunjay and one of his friends took on the role of coaching a local community T-ball team. Since then, Sunjay has continued to coach across a variety of sporting codes including rugby 7s, touch rugby, and now predominantly coaches cricket and hockey.

As a curious learner, Sunjay completed his chef training before following his passion of sport and completing a Bachelor of Sports Coaching at Canterbury University. He continues to drive his learning through a variety of opportunities including involvement in the Hockey New Zealand Coach Developer pilot program in 2019 and recently enjoyed a podcast listening to Mike Hesson on controlling your emotions on the sideline. Sunjay is constantly finding ways to grow his coaching and managing his passion and emotions on the sideline is one area he is wanting to develop.

When speaking with Sunjay about his coaching philosophy there is no surprise that there is a clear focus on creating a positive, fun, enjoyable and successful learning environment. He believes in creating a team culture which is inclusive and that always has the team values at the forefront of everything they do on and off the pitch.

When reflecting on his coaching, a key learning for Sunjay has been that coaching is very contextual and what can work in one environment will not always work in others. You need to be very flexible as a coach and have the ability to change and adapt depending on the needs of your players.

Sunjay enjoys seeing individuals grow and gets a real buzz from seeing the smile on a player’s face when they learn and execute a new skill. A particularly memorable moment in his coaching career was winning the National Seniors Men’s title in 2016 versus Northland in Whangarei. There was a full house of Northland supporters on a Friday night under lights at Kensington Park and his team won 1 nil in a very tight match. We understand Northland Hockey hosted a great end of tournament celebration to round off a fantastic week of hockey.

Sunjay is a very positive person who will always look for the good in most situations. He is a good communicator with the ability to connect with a variety of people from all ages and genders. He has a great sense of humour and an openness to learn through exploration and connecting with others. When asking about what advice he would have for other coaches, Sunjay shared," Coaching is very rewarding and a place you can make many friends, mix with a variety of people from different backgrounds and cultures. As a coach don't ever be afraid of not knowing everything about the game. Often as coaches we believe we need to know everything about the game and need to know more than our players. However, there is nothing wrong with not knowing all the answers and being able to go on a process of learning new tactics or skills with your players. This is also a great way to show your players their knowledge and experience so valuable to the team and is worth sharing to help everyone within the environment learn and develop together. Going on a journey of learning together as a team can be very rewarding for everyone as you are all doing it together”

In addition to coaching teams, Sunjay finds time to support the development of fellow coaches. We were fortunate to speak with Canterbury Hockey about Sunjay’s impact in the community and gain a unique perspective as Canterbury’s Community Hockey Manager Ben Owers has enjoyed working with Sunjay in the Coach Development space as well as having Sunjay coach him as a member of the Canterbury Beavers. Ben shared, “Sunjay is a fantastic role model and positive influence on hockey in Canterbury. He is an extremely passionate and committed coach who constantly works alongside his players to get the best out of them on the field, whilst also taking a real interest in their life off it. Having played under Sunjay for a number of years, I believe a definite strength of his is his ability to build team culture through creative and thoughtful approaches, which is something all coaches can take something from. In addition to the work he does with his teams/players, Sunjay should also be recognised for the work he does supporting and mentoring other coaches. It’s a testament to his unselfish approach towards the development the game here in Canterbury”

The role of a coach is demanding, and it is very important for a coach to have a strong support network. A key supporter and influencer of Sunjay’s coaching has been his family, enabling him to spend the time and energy to develop as a coach and to be confident and give it his all. Sunjay shared, “I personally can’t thank my wife and also my two children Indie & Mila enough for allowing me to be involved in coaching”.

And in case there wasn’t enough excitement in Sunjay’s journey so far, we thought we should share his most interesting fact. In 2015 Sunjay was in the right place at the right time, taking a one handed catch in the Tui catch-a-million promotion at the Cricket World Cup. It was the opening game of the Cricket World Cup and NZ were playing Sri Lanka at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Sunjay made the ESPN top 10 plays of the day and enjoyed being part of interviews all around the world!

Calling Female Coaches: Coach Development Opportunity

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 01:54:07 GMT

Hockey New Zealand is calling for expressions of interest for an exciting Female Coach Development opportunity.

Are you a leader of a team who enjoys developing individuals, developing the whole person, and are curious and constantly seeking new information? Someone who is self-motivated, passionate, and knowledgeable about hockey and enjoys listening, questioning and facilitating learning? If you answered yes, then we have an exciting opportunity for you.

From 16th to the 20th of September, Hockey New Zealand is offering an opportunity for coaches to immerse themselves in the Premier Hockey League Women’s finals.

This opportunity is for coaches who identify as female;

We aim to have 8 coaches alongside Hockey New Zealand and FIH Coach Trainer Pat Barwick to observe and engage in a performance hockey environment. Hockey New Zealand will cover the costs of accommodation, flights, and majority of meals.

Coaches will engage in the following activities;

Game day coaching, including pre and post-match
Specialist skills training session
Technical and Tactical workshop
Women in leadership function to connect with female leaders in the fields of management and officiating and engage with expert guest speakers
Reflection sessions to capture and consolidate individual and peer to peer learning

The Hockey New Zealand Coaching team will appoint a panel including one independent to review all expressions of interests and identify a maximum of 8 coaches who meet the criteria and demonstrate the Hockey New Zealand coaching core beliefs.

We are moving fast! Expressions of Interests are now open and will close on Monday 3rd of August.

All coaches who have expressed an interest will be contacted by Friday 7th of August.

Please click here to complete the expression of interest.

We encourage all eligible and interested coaches to apply for this exciting opportunity. If you have any questions please do not hesitate in contacting Nicole Youman, 022 067 5511.

Creating Engaging Trainings: Increasing Time on Task

Wed, 22 Jul 2020 00:41:19 GMT

Gain insights into how the principle of Time on Task can enhance your training environment and provide players greater opportunity to learn and enjoy our game

People learn best through doing, and this is no different for our players. Creating environments where players have maximum time to practice a skill or concept is key in keeping players engaged and allowing them to explore and learn.

Time on task is a coaching principle focusing on the time players spend physically performing a skill.

When planning your training, ensure you look at the design and delivery of your session and consider how you can maximise Time on Task.

Here is a short video from Canterbury’s Community Hockey Officer Will Zhou, to explain the principle and give you some tips for planning your future session.

Repositioning Our Game: Coaching Webinar Recording

Wed, 15 Jul 2020 23:35:02 GMT

Did you miss our Coaching Webinar or want to relive the conversation? Check out the recording of Repositioning our Game here!

On Monday July 13th, Hockey New Zealand held its first coaching webinar. The theme of the evening, Repositioning our Game, was identified by coaches who registered for the event. Discussions centred on adapting our coaching approach to positional play to support long term player development and engagement in our game.

Facilitated by Jamie Carroll, coaches were able to ask questions and gain insights from guest coaches Mark Borgers and Jason Butcher.

We hope you enjoy listening to the recording below and encourage you to land on a couple of takeaways to implement in your coaching to support long term player development and engagement in our game.

Interactive Coaching Webinar this Monday!

laura.nagel@hockeynz.co.nz (Laura Nagel) — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 19:53:40 GMT

Register now and have your say in the topic for our interactive webinar. Led by our Exploring Coaching Podcast Team, it will be a great night to stay in and chat coaching!

On Monday 13th of July Hockey New Zealand will be hosting a live coaching webinar via the TEAMs platform kicking off at 7:00 pm .

The webinar will be targeted at Community Coaches, new and experienced, working in the club and school environment. The format for the evening will involve hearing from expert coaches before turning the control to our coaches, to ask their questions and drive the discussion.

The topic for the webinar will be coach driven. Coaches have been asked when registering to share their preferred discussion topics, determining the focus of the session and future discussions to follow.

The webinar will see the return of the Exploring Coaching podcast team. Facilitator Jamie Carroll will continue his key role of facilitator, keeping on track expert coaches Mark Borgers and Jason Butcher .

The webinar is free to view, and you do not have to leave the comfort of your home to be part a great evening. Make sure you click on the link below to receive the latest updates on the webinar and have your say on the topic.

A curiosity for learning drives Juliet Dunlop-Fraser

laura.nagel@hockeynz.co.nz (Laura Nagel) — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 02:53:46 GMT

Community Coaching leader Juliet Dunlop-Fraser has a diverse coaching background. Enjoy hearing about her cross code journey and her philosophy and passion for coaching.

Our profile articles are an opportunity to celebrate our incredible community leaders by sharing their story and inspiring our future leaders of our game.

We are excited to start our profiles with Community Leader, Juliet Dunlop-Fraser.

Juliet is a Community Hockey leader from the beautiful Katikati in the Bay of Plenty. Finding time in her busy schedule as a coach, player, mentor, parent and sports coordinator isn’t easy, but we managed to steal a few minutes of her time.

Born in Tauranga, Juliet has enjoyed a diverse experience in sport, having played rugby, athletics, cricket, volleyball and hockey. Her first experience of coaching was at school, but it wasn’t until she had children that she returned to coaching. Initially involved in coaching athletics and rugby, Juliet eventually added hockey to her experience bank. It only took a few years for hockey coaching to take the lead in Juliet’s coaching journey.

There are some consistent themes when you look at great coaches, and two themes that were particularly evident when meeting Juliet were her passion for developing people and a curiosity for learning as an individual and coach.

When asked what her coaching philosophies were, Juliet said her “over-arching philosophy is to develop a positive team culture, where enjoyment of the game is paramount and where all players feel valued and supported.

My objectives when I coach are always to continue to grow and learn, make progress in the development of athletes, individually and as a team, and finally to play my part in imparting a life-long love of hockey”.

Juliet has a clear purpose to provide a positive experience for all her players, to provide an opportunity for them to grow and learn; and for her to give back to the sport she loves.

Over the past few years Juliet has been coaching the Katikati College First XI boys and intermediate teams, involved in Tauranga age group representative teams, as well as mentoring new umpires. In addition to her role as a coach of players, she has also started to move into the Developer space, receiving an invitation to attend the Hockey New Zealand Developer workshop in 2019. The Developer space focuses on identifying and supporting people with the potential to lead the coaching of coaches.

A critical part of Juliet’s positive impact as a coach is her interest and passion to learn. Leading by example, Juliet constantly pushes herself out of her comfort zone to challenge and develop. A prime example of this was just last year, where Juliet took the learning from the Hockey NZ Developer workshop and co-delivered an FIH Level One Coaching Course in Christchurch, facilitating a valuable learning opportunity for community coaches.

Tauranga Hockey also sing Juliet’s praises. Tauranga Hockey’s CoachForce and Participation Officer Emma Phelps commented, "Juliet continues to grow as a coach in our community. Her dedication, give-it-a-go attitude, and willingness to learn has helped Juliet to develop her own philosophy and become a confident coach. Her passion for the game is evident in everything she is involved with as she creates such an enjoyable experience for all involved".

In reflecting on her coaching, Juliet’s biggest take-away has been “that you get back more than you give”. This was evident when she shared her proudest moment, “coaching a bunch of boys from a small, rural school through to playing in Midlands, picking up two titles and then going on tour. Watching them grow up and into their game and loving it”. But ultimately Juliet enjoys proud moments every game, “just the little things give me enormous pride”.

As always there are a few perks with coaching, and the funniest moment in her coaching comes from watching her team do their colds in the Paetahi stream (Mt Taranaki) in September.

For future coaches Juliet’s advice is to ensure you don’t think that you know it all. Give your players the opportunity to be part of their own journey, they will surprise you. And if you’re thinking about getting involved in coaching, just do it.

KEEPING THE KEEPER IN THE GAME

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 01:42:03 GMT

Great tips for coaches to support the development of a Goalkeeper in your team training.

About the Author: Born in the deep south, Hymie Gill has returned home in 2019 to take on the role of Pathways Manager for Otago Hockey. Hymie has over 18 years of coaching experience spanning across Belgium, Italy, England and New Zealand in community and performance hockey. Hymie is part of the Hockey New Zealand Trainer network, supporting the development of the national coaching system.

I have never played in goal. I have never put the pads on to give it a try. I probably never will. It’s not my cup of tea, but I now find myself coaching Goalkeepers. Not just elite Goalkeepers but young new players and everything in between too. They all have one thing in common; they want to be coached. They crave the attention, to have feedback given to them, to have time spent on their technique and the smallest details to help them be better. They often see coaches' comment and refine field players at training, during the game, and post-game but often not too much attention thrown their way.

I started taking an interest in coaching Keepers (when? We could just put ‘a few years ago’) to add to my coaching skill set. There are not many coaches around who have mastered the art of Keeper coaching. It’s not easy, but you have to start somewhere. So to begin, we ask questions and look for answers:

• How do I coach/run a training with a team of field players but also give enough attention to a Goalkeeper?

• How do I give attention to a position which I have no clue how to play, let alone coach?

• If I ignore that position will they manage themselves and still develop and feel included?

Whether you are an experienced seasoned coach, or a new parent to the art of hockey coaching, we will all ask these questions at some point. We will search for “masters in the art of Keeper coaching” to help us, if we can find them, and if not, we will find some super keen helper or assistant coach to “warm the keeper up” for the entire practice, thus taking that responsibility from our role. But this does not help the team, it does not help the Keeper improve, and it does not broaden your skills as a coach.

Through challenging myself to explore coaching Keepers, I have managed to learn a few things. Although I may not even get close to understanding what it takes to be a Keeper, I have captured several key elements I can reinforce to all Keepers at all levels so they can grow and develop:

• Foot work is important - get acquainted with a ladder to improve footwork

• Do not dwell on your mistakes – focus on the next play

• Lead with your head and your feet will follow

• Communicate with your defenders - hopefully, they will do most of your work for you

• Self-analyse your game - learn to be the student of the game

• Practice to be perfect but in a match do anything to stop the ball

In addition, here are some questions I have been asked over time from coaches who have found including a Keeper into a team training challenging.

1. How do I keep Keepers engaged during training?

This is not easy!!! Here are some ways I engage my Keepers in training:

• When I talk to the group the Keeper is included. If this means we have the discussion closer to the goal so they can be included, then we do this.

• If I want to do a tackling exercise, I include the Keeper in tackle boxes. This could help with their footwork, the use of their stick in tackles and given shoot outs have become part of the game, this is great for developing skills to assist in defending a shoot out

• When we play 3v3 - 1 team will have a Keeper as part of the 3.

• If I want to do a passing drill, I use the Keeper as part of a 1-2 or wall pass to help with the Keeper’s kick accuracy.

• If I want to do long passes for defenders, I use the keeper as a target who must make a controlled accurate pass to another player.

2. How do I maximise my Keeper development while working on goalscoring with field players?

I do not encourage power goals (balls smashed from the top or mid circle) - I want skilful goals by my attackers. Young Keepers’ confidence is massive, designing attacking exercises where the ball is played skilfully in close quarters helps a Keeper to get involved, get lots of touches, and grow their confidence.

Here are some tips for how you can support the development of your Keeper during your team training:

• Hard Shots: There is a place for hard shots. If I want a keeper to have hard shots at them, I make sure they are done from the very top or just outside the circle. This not only helps the attackers taking early shots but provides the Keeper time to prepare. Following the shot, you can make it game-like by including 1 or 2 defenders and 3 or 4 attackers to play out the rebound. Remember for young or inexperienced Keepers, if the ball has to travel a greater distance, they will have more time to prepare, and more likely to make a save and experience success, growing their confidence.
• Change it up:
- Include more defenders than attackers in the circle to create game like situations
- Mix up where the drill starts from to change the point of attack in the circle, but still ensure each ball is played out of the circle, as it would in a game.
- Include less defenders and more attackers in the circle. Tell the keeper if they touch the ball they are doing well. They do not have to stop everything. On the flip side I tell the attackers the keeper should not touch the ball.

• PC’s or Shoot Outs: I have added in PC’s and Shoot Outs to my shooting drill

3. How can I give individual feedback to the keeper during a training session?

If I have the time, I work with the Keeper separately. This is a luxury only afforded to some, but it can be the difference between an individual feeling included, learning and growing, and enjoying their experience. I can focus on giving feedback around their technique a little more and help them identify what good technique feels like. I keep my comments as positive as I can. Keepers are hard on themselves at the best of times and if they make a mistake everyone sees it and they know that.

Here are some tips on providing individual feedback to a Keeper during a training:

• Coach Positioning : During training, as a coach I change the position of where I stand in different drills. I may spend time behind the goal getting the Keepers view on things and talking to the Keeper about what is going well, and not so well, as the drill plays out. I can give them feedback as they go.
• Get the Keepers input : I ask the Keeper for their view on different plays to get a different perspective on how the attackers are attacking or how the defenders are doing in their roles.
• Ask Questions : Because I have not played in goal myself, I ask a lot of questions to the Keeper I am working with. It does not matter how old they are or how experienced they are. I have an idea to the answer I might get but I am also keen to hear what the Keeper has to say. On many occasions they have made comments which have put a different perspective on what happened. This has been great for my development as a coach.
• Be Curious : Find resources and people to support your learning. I have needed to work hard in learning about the art of Goalkeeping. It is such an important position in our game. I have found talking to other Keeper coaches and ex-players helpful in understanding what it takes to be a Keeper. I have found using YouTube and Instagram helpful tools in finding drills for 1v1 keeper coaching. Some of which you can find here:

Hockey NZ GK Videos

- Goalkeeping Stance

- Goalkeeping Kicking

- Goalkeeping Glove Saves

Instagram

- Gk_fieldhockey

- s.m.zijp

- Gewoonmike_hockey

- Uru.sports

Finally, what I have found is, if you give time and pay attention to Keepers, they will become a valuable set of eyes for you, absorb the information, feel included, and improve. This may just help keep that ball out of the net as well!

EXPLORING COACHING PODCAST NOW AVAILABLE

Wed, 17 Jun 2020 02:13:43 GMT

Tune into the Exploring Coaching Podcast to learn from the knowledge and experience of seasoned hockey coaches. Episode one is all about game day coaching, covering pre, during and post-match.

Hockey New Zealand’s Exploring Coaching podcast is designed to share information to support the growth and development of community coaches.

Facilitated by Jamie Carroll, episode one features Performance Network Coach Mark Borgers and internationally experienced Coach Jason Butcher.

Click on the links below to tune in via Spotify or YouTube, to hear Mark and Jason’s thoughts on coaching on game day.

Happy listening!

A SIT DOWN WITH THE VANTAGE BLACK STICKS ASSISTANT COACH KATIE GLYNN

Tue, 07 Apr 2020 02:51:32 GMT

K atie Glynn has been the Assistant Coach of the Vantage Black Sticks since 2019. Not only is Katie an accomplished coach having previously coached Secondary School Hockey at Diocesan, Auckland Age Group Hockey as well as being the head coach of the New Zealand U21 Women’s Team.

During her remarkable playing career, Glynn amassed 134 caps for the Black Sticks and scored a whopping 77 goals during that time before being forced to retire from the game that she loved at the age of 26 due to lingering back and knee injuries.

During her stellar career, she had the privilege of representing New Zealand at the 2010 and 2014 World Cup, the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2012 London Olympics where she was a part of the side that would fall in the Bronze Medal match.

When she retired from playing, Glynn stated that she was passionate about coaching and was looking forward to dedicating more time to this area now.”

We spoke with Glynn during the recent FIH Hockey Pro League matches at Ngā Puna Wai where she talked about her journey to becoming an elite-level coach.

Q – What has been your coaching journey so far?

K atie – I started coaching earlier than I thought when I was forced to retire early from playing due to injury. Coaching was a way for me to stay involved in the game that I love. Once I finished playing, I got involved at club level, and from there, I started to get involved in some age group rep coaching. More recently, I have been involved in the New Zealand junior programs.

Q – What courses have you gone through to get to the position you're in today?

Katie – I have been involved with the Performance Coach advanced program, which is a two-year course. I am also on the NZOC women’s leadership program, which has given me some other different skills to bring into my coaching.

Q – What are some learnings that you have taken from your time as a player into coaching?

Katie – Coaching is a lot harder, you're on the sideline and you cant jump on the turf and help out. One of the critical things I have learnt is the importance of the relationships that you build with all your athletes. Understanding your athletes, who they are, and how they like to communicate is essential to making the relationships with the athletes.

Q – What are your future goals that you would like to achieve in coaching?

Katie – I haven’t thought about it a lot, I love the game and want to be involved in the sport. I take each year and opportunity as they come.

Q – Why is having good female representation in coaching important?

Katie – Role models are essential, females understand females when you talk about relationships that is a crucial step in building those relationships. Women operate in different ways to men, and I believe having people with those different skill sets in a management staff is important.

Q – How did you embrace the role of being a role model in your time working at a school?

Katie – When I was working at Dio, I reflected on what I struggled with at school, which was finding balance. I tried to take my learnings and support them with some of the challenges that they had.

Q – Hockey is a sport at the forefront of equality in sports. Why do you think that is so unique and important in hockey?

Katie – Its sport for everyone, you want everyone to participate and enjoy it. No matter what you are going through, you want people to feel welcome and accepted.

Original Article:

http://hockeynz.co.nz/a-sit-down-with-the-vantage-black-sticks-assistant-coach-katie-glynn/

hockey_new_zealand

Seriously Fun - Learning

Seriously Fun - Confidence

Seriously Fun - Friendships

Junior Hockey - Seriously Fun!

Bringing the National Coaching Direction to Life

Understanding the National Coaching Direction and what it means to you and the wider coaching community.

Coaching at JHL

2026 Junior Hockey League Coaching - collaboration in action.

Coaching for the Game You Can’t Predict

Where to Start as a Junior Coach

Here is your guide to the first steps as a Junior Coach and how the FREE CoachMate App is there to help

FIH Courses in Action

FIH Coaching Courses Delivered Across New Zealand in Early 2026

Keep your Coaching Ticket Current

FIH Academy Level 3 Coaching Course 2026 EOI now Open

FIH Academy Level 3 Coaching Course 2026 EOI now Open

CoachMate – Your Free Coaching App

The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme

Applications are now open for Sport Exchange Advisors for Hockey in Japan, through the JET Programme ﻿

Developing Leadership Across Codes through the HNZ and NZC Trainer Programme

Hockey NZ and NZ Cricket join forces to support sport development leaders ﻿

Building Coaching Capability

Hockey NZ Developers support Australia to strengthen Oceania's Coaching Network

Sport NZ - Women in Coaching Programme - Applications now Open

Applications are now open for the 2026 Sport NZ Te Manaakitanga - Women in Coaching Programme

Who can apply

What is Involved

Key Dates

How to Apply

More Information and Questions

Coaching for Impact Applications now Open

Applications are now open for the FREE Sport NZ Coaching for Impact Programme. Targeting Secondary School Coaches

Who can apply

Programme Information

How to Apply

Celebrating ICCE Global Coaches Day: Honouring New Zealand’s Role in the Global Hockey Coaching System

Celebrating the Coaching Advisory Group

Expressions of Interest Open NOW for Masters World Cup

Canterbury Hockey Leads Collaborative Coaching Initiative with VBSM

New podcast - Canterbury Coaches Box is launched

��️ Introducing Canterbury Coaches Box – a brand-new podcast

Collaboration and Coaching Innovation: A Cross-Code Success Story

Verity Sharland - Coach Profile

The Coaches Kōrero, created by 'Te Korowai - Sports Performance Coaches NZ,' recognizes and celebrates Verity Sharland.

National Developer Residential Workshop 2025

FIH Level 1 & 2 Coaching Courses at JWCQ

FIH Level 1 & 2 Coaching Courses at Oceania Junior World Cup Qualifier in Auckland.

FIH Level 3 Coaches Spotlight

Coaches from around the country attended an FIH Level 3 Coaching Course in Auckland.

Chris Arthur

National Developer Residential Workshop

National Coaching Ticket now Available for ALL Coaches

Hockey part of Global Coaches Conference 2023

HNZ Annual Awards

FIH Educator and Trainer Accreditations

Coaching Advisory Group to Continue!

Sport NZ Coaching for Impact Programme Underway

Developers and Trainers

Coach Development at National Hockey Championships

Balanced Female Health

FBS Coaches Programme

Coach Development at Sentinel Homes Oceania Cup

There is something for everyone at the Sentinel Homes Oceania Cup, sign up now for coach development opportunities.

'Playmaker' Research Opportunity

There is still time for Coaches to support an international research project and develop their coaching for FREE

Shane McLeod Workshop

Repeatable Outcomes, not Repeatable Movements.

Calling all Performance Coaches

Applications are now open for the Future Black Sticks Coaches Programme

Sport NZ Coaching for Impact Applications now Open

Applications are now open for the FREE Sport NZ Coaching for Impact Programme. Targeting Secondary School Coaches

Who can apply

Programme format

How to Apply

Win a Workshop with Shane McLeod

Don't miss out on the opportunity to attend an exclusive online workshop with world class coach Shane McLeod

What is Happening in April!

Find out what's happening in April and how to get involved

National Coach Development Programmes LIVE

Applications are now open for Sport Exchange Advisors for Hockey in Japan, through the JET Programme

Hockey NZ and NZ Cricket join forces to support sport development leaders