After five years of research and planning, England Hockey is set to take the next step in implementing the Single System, with the announcement today of 12 Junior Regional Performance Centres (JRPC). These centres form an integral part of the Single System Player Pathway and will open with their first training sessions in June this year.

The primary purpose of the Single System is to make opportunities within hockey equitable and consistent and to ensure that an appropriate level of coaching, competition and training is made available to all. Through the Junior Regional Performance Centres, England Hockey wishes to maximise the chance that all participants have of fulfilling their potential, whether that potential is as a player, coach or official.

After an extensive tendering process, involving nearly 60 sites, England Hockey is delighted to announce that the 12 venues for the Junior Regional Performance Centres are as follows:

  • JRPC Centre (Venue)
  • Newcastle (University of Durham)
  • Leeds (University of Leeds)
  • Manchester (City of Manchester - Belle Vue Site)
  • Nottingham/Loughborough (Highfields Sports Club)
  • North Birmingham (Cannock Hockey Club)
  • Bury St Edmunds (Culford School and Bury St Edmunds Hockey Club)
  • St Albans (Merchant Taylors' School)
  • Oxford (Oxford Consortium - Oxford Hawks Hockey Club/Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University)
  • Winchester (Trojans Hockey Club)
  • Oxted (Tonbridge School)
  • Exeter (University of Exeter)
  • Bristol (University of the West of England)

The first session for the Centres will be on Saturday 27 June 2009, as part of the JRPC Tier 1 activity for the U15 to U18 age groups. This activity leads to possible selection for the England Hockey Futures Cup and High Performance Assessment Camps (HiPACs) and the opportunity to be selected for England at U16 and U18 level.

Sally Munday, England Hockey CEO, said: ÔÇ£This is a significant step in the implementation of the Single System. We have worked with the five Regional Hockey Associations to appoint these centres across the country and the partnership with these 12 Centres will provide increased opportunities for young people to access good quality coaching closer to home.ÔÇØ

David Faulkner, England Hockey Performance Director, said: ÔÇ£This structure will have significant impact on our young players' lifestyles, which we believe will lead to far greater development opportunities supported by an improved training culture and coaching exposure.ÔÇØ

Source: England Hockey


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