Grow Your Own Players by Alex Teasdale

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England Hockey Board (EHB) wants to encourage, support and nurture all hockey clubs in England to recruit, retain and reward their volunteers, staff and players and to take pride in their facilities and surroundings. Contents

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The key to survival

Hockey for 11-13 year-olds

League and cup hockey and retaining players

Masters Hockey

What next?

Don’t forget about GYO Club Day Open your gates and join hundreds of clubs around the country by taking part in GYO Club Day every September. Find out more at www.englandhockey.co.uk/gyo

Top Tip! Check out the chart on the back cover for a handy guide to recruiting players of all ages

The key to survival Clubs need players of all ages and abilities to survive. For a club to provide for a player, there is a need to understand the people already playing for you, and the community surrounding your club. Knowing your club and its community is key to the growth and sustainability of hockey. A common mistake made by sports clubs in general is spending time recruiting new players without having fully thought through the infrastructure required to support those players.

Is it all about winning? Sometimes. Is it all about having fun in a sport you love? Absolutely. There are a number of people/groups worth considering to increase the size of your club, or increase the size of certain age groups. These stages have been broken down accordingly, and information on each can be found within this booklet. There is also a useful chart which shows the types of groups you may be looking to recruit, where to find them, things to consider, and when to approach them. It can be found as a roll-out at the end of this booklet.

There are a number of products available to clubs to recruit and retain players across the age groups This starts with Quicksticks, a four-a-side introductory game of hockey, designed especially for 7-11 year-olds to play. It can be played on any surface, and uses a larger, lighter and safer ball. The game is designed in a way that makes it easy for teachers and coaches to deliver, even if they have little or no prior knowledge of hockey. Quicksticks was implemented in schools in 2008 and an increasing number of clubs are now playing. A larger ball and great coaching cards which provide lots of activity ideas means the game is a perfect entry point for your younger juniors. As many of your children will be starting off with Quicksticks in school, making sure they come to the club to a familiar game will be important. To find out more about Quicksticks, visit www.playquicksticks.co.uk

Look out for extra Grow Your Own support

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use this resource in isolation! It is most effective when used alongside our other booklets, GYO Volunteers and GYO Money, to ensure you are providing your current and prospective players with a great club to play for.

Hockey for 11-13 year-olds During 2011, EHB will be launching a revamped version of mini hockey. This will be a small sided game which is suitable for 11-13 year olds and follows on directly from Quicksticks. This will mean that the transition from one game to another will be seamless for the young player. The game will introduce the key skills of goalkeeping and penalty corners in line with the recommendations within the EHB player syllabus, and will prepare players ready for the final transition to the full 11-a-side game.

Did you know?

There is growing recognition in performance sport (not just hockey) that playing small-sided games have a significant player development benefit. Smaller teams and smaller areas mean more touches on the ball.

What do young people want? To play! In the first instance, Quicksticks is a great introduction to hockey. Whilst helping to develop core skills, the game predominantly concentrates upon young people picking up a stick, getting loads of touches on the ball and enjoying hockey.

Progression The next stage (currently known as mini hockey) helps with the transition into

the full game, whilst concentrating upon small sided games and further developing skills. Skill development through game play is essential â&#x20AC;&#x201C; no one wants to spend an entire session just moving between cones!

Did you know?

There are on average 40 schools in the immediate area of your club! Imagine if you had a contact for those teachers, and you helped to get hockey going in those schools...you could have an endless supply of young people to your club!

Young people want to play with their peers and it is important they are able to do this. They also want to be able to play the same format at the club as they play at school. For example, it can be daunting playing Quicksticks or Mini Hockey at school and arriving at a club to play a different version of the game to the one they know. Young people want to be challenged. Training for weeks on end with no competition can put kids off. Look to run regular inter- and intra-club competitions to keep enthusiasm high.

Does your club know about GYO Club Day which happens nationwide every September? Start planning for your Club Day NOW! For more information, visit www.englandhockey.co.uk/gyo

Top Tip! To keep enthusiasm high, run regular inter- and intra-club competitions

Top Tip! There are plenty of programmes available to help you recruit and retain players â&#x20AC;&#x201C; check out the pull-out chart at the back of this book for more guidance

Recruiting and retaining players Clubs are amazing at facilitating league and cup hockey for their members. They work closely with County and Regional Hockey Associations in particular to make sure their players have competitions to play in, across the age groups. This is an integral part to hockey for many people and it is a main reason they play sport. Clubs get a gold star for their fantastic involvement in this area. Recently though, times have started to change, and hockey has seen a number of drop off points in club membership. The

first area is around further and higher education, the second around a wider age group who are struggling to manage work, children, and are time or financially constrained. There is a huge opportunity for clubs to embrace new club members over the coming season with some of the programmes below.

Get involved with programmes to help you recruit players There are programmes which can help with these drop off points, the first being the Get Back Into Programme and the second being the Gold Challenge which is covered in more detail on the next page. We want to encourage more women back to the game of hockey by making it as easy as possible to take part; helping them relearn, refresh and replay the game and giving them opportunities to continue to play, whether for fun or as part of a competitive team. Get Back into Hockey (GBIH) is designed to achieve this with a focus on fun, fitness and friendship. It is particularly aimed at women who currently do not play hockey but have played hockey before at school, college or university, or perhaps in a club or work team, and who we might be able to persuade with the right programme to play again. However new participants are also welcome. GBIH is being developed by the England Hockey Board (EHB) with the help of local clubs. Our target is for GBIH to take place at lots of local hockey clubs and other venues throughout England by 2013-2014 and for thousands of women to be involved.

Make it available

ith w y ed a lv b D vo lu in C et O G GY 8

Get Back into Hockey needs to be available locally to women at venues that they can easily get to and feel safe at. Local hockey clubs are ideal for this. GBIH will stand alone as a programme, but we also expect it to feed players into club hockey and other hockey playing opportunities.

Visit www.englandhockey.co.uk for further information on Get Back Into Hockey. 9

Seven super tips to help recruit and retain players for your club  Investigate what type of hockey is available for different age groups and make sure your club caters for them all. Consult the roll-out chart on the back cover of this booklet for a handy guide!  Make sure you have read the other GYO resources available to your club - Grow Your Own, Grow Your Own Money and Grow Your Own Volunteers. Posters are also available to help you communicate with your local community.  Get involved with GYO Club Day every September. Take part in the nationwide balloon release and investigate the chance of a GB hockey player visiting your club.  Make sure you have contacts for at least some of the schools in the immediate area of your club – there are 40 on average! Get in touch with the teachers and get hockey going.

Gold Challenge is a new programme aimed at bringing a variety of people into sport. It is a unique new charity challenge where individuals can test themselves in 5, 10, 20, or 30 Olympic and Paralympic Sports by the end of 2012. Gold Challenge gives individuals the choice of over 100 charities to fundraise for whilst completing the charity challenge. Clubs are integral to facilitating this activity for Gold Challenge members. People may want to come along to sessions at your club to get the Gold Challenge Hockey signed off. Gold Challenge may be something clubs wish to use to help attract new members to the more relaxed hockey in the summer months.Your club could offer Gold Challenge sessions around summer league, or summer hockey festivals.

intra-club competitions - people like to be challenged!

Visit the Gold Challenge website at www.goldchallenge.org/hockey

 Make sure your club is involved with the various

Have you considered?

 Keep enthusiasm high by running regular inter- and

programmes available to help you recruit and retain players, e.g. ‘Get Back Into’ and ‘Gold Challenge’

 Ensure your club is a welcoming and friendly environment. at all times.

Stay up to date with Grow Your Own by visiting www.englandhockey.co.uk/gyo 10

Gold Challenge

Gold Challenge people may never have picked up a stick before. How would your club make sure they felt welcome, and not out of their depth? If you do a good job, you could convert Gold Challenge members to members of your hockey club! How about adding 15 mins to the start of your GBIH sessions to show these newcomers the basics?

Masters Hockey Masters hockey is thriving in England.Veterans hockey has been played around the world for almost as many years as the game has been going and in England, it’s set to get bigger and better than ever. Some people will be familiar with the tournaments periodically supporting world events such as the Olympic Games and World Cup and many will probably have played or be playing in a club Veteran’s team in cup and league competitions, both at home and abroad. In England, club knock-out competitions for both genders at Over 40s men have taken place annually since 1994-95, and currently comprise of cup and plate competitions for women at Over 35 and Over 40 and at Over 40 and Over 50 age groups for the men. Regional tournaments take place at various age group for both genders and this forms part of the England Masters squad selection process. At international level there have are various tournaments for national Masters teams. To name a few successes, the men’s Grand Masters, Senior Grand Masters and Great Grand Masters sides are current World Champions following their success in winning the gold medal at the Wold Cup in South Africa in 2010.

For more information on masters hockey and the domestic review, visit www.englandhockey.co.uk 12

Interest in ladies masters hockey is also now growing at a tremendous pace with the Over 40, Over 45 and Over 50 regional tournaments now firmly embedded in the hockey calendar. The lady Masters infrastructure continues to develop and representative sides compete on the international stage at Over 40, 45 and 50.

Clubs are very active in facilitating masters hockey. As a result of the review of domestic masters hockey, an action plan for the 2009 – 2013 period has been produced and identifies areas and actions required to drive the development of masters hockey at club, county and regional level. One example of this is to provide regular competitive playing opportunities on a local level where there is a demand (e.g. club leagues). The Masters Development Committee has produced an annual action plan for 2010 – 2011 and members are currently engaging with Regional HAs as to how best to implement the actions. This is an exciting time for masters hockey with recent success at national level and work being carried out as a result of the domestic review. This is a real “watch this space” situation and we expect there to be exciting developments regarding masters hockey. If your club wants to be involved, contact your EHB Development Officer now!

So many options...what next? We want hockey clubs to be the heart of the community. Hockey clubs are friendly places to visit and the Hockey Family is a brilliant host. Make sure you are showcasing all of this by getting involved with Grow Your Own Club Day. If you can open your club to the local community, we believe many people will be drawn in by the ethos and values hockey provides.

Read our other resources There are three other booklets in the Grow Your Own series so far: ÖÖ ÖÖ ÖÖ

Grow Your Own – a generic guide to GYO Grow Your Own Money – a guide on how to generate more money for your club Grow Your Own Volunteers – a guide on how to recruit more volunteers to help at your club.

Together, these resources will help your club to create a development plan.

Get to know your club and its community Ask yourself these questions: ÖÖ ÖÖ ÖÖ

What does your club have to offer? What does the community need? What does the club need?

This will give you some steer on which areas you should be concentrating upon.

Once you have that, start to formulate some great club community links, whether that be with local schools, leisure centres, ladies slimming groups or libraries. Potential hockey players are everywhere!

Start preparing your club for Grow Your Own Club Day Club Day – which happens nationwide every September – provides a chance for all GYO clubs to take advantage of a national marketing campaign and open their doors to their local community to attract new players, volunteers, officials, coaches and much more. Consult the ‘Grow Your Own’ booklet for more help on planning your Club Day. As well as having the opportunity to showcase your club to your community, there is also a nationwide balloon release which we encourage everyone to get involved with, and the opportunity to have a GB hockey player visit your club. Club Day is also a great way to stay engaged with your current members and keep the club welcoming and friendly. Once you have found your prospective players, it is really important to start the season with a bang and make everyone feel as welcome as possible.

Find out more at www.englandhockey.co.uk/gyo

Grow your own WHAT DOES YOUR CLUB NEED?

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Grow your own PLAYERS

EHB

Grow Your Own aims to assist clubs who aspire to be well run, welcoming and successful and to be proud to promote themselves to the local community and beyond.

E HB

Your guide to finding and growing players

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GROW YOUR OWN – A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS GYO Money + GYO Volunteers = Facility Developments or a Club School Link Programme GYO Players + GYO General = A great club day GYO general + GYO Volunteers = a great committee structure, with all roles filled

This resource was produced by the England Hockey Board for use by affiliated clubs in April 2011. The England Hockey Board, Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, SL7 1RR Telephone: 01628 897500 • E-mail: info@englandhockey.org • Website: www.englandhockey.co.uk

Grow your own PLAYERS

E HB

Learn how to cater for all age groups and abilities and Grow Your Own Players for your club

www.englandhockey.co.uk/gyo www.harvester.co.uk

OFFICIAL PARTNER

Your guide to player recruitment Age

Where to look

Products

Considerations

Community Link opportunity

When to engage with this group

Who to engage with

Junior School 7–11-year-olds

Schools, but how about thinking outside of the box? What about brownies or beavers groups?

ÖÖ Quicksticks

ÖÖ Most primary schools playing hockey will play Quicksticks, Consider how a young person would take to arriving at a club and being received with a different version of the game?

ÖÖ Link with primary schools,Your DO will be able to assist. There are on average 32 primary schools in an easy reach distance of every club.

After May half-term, start thinking about engaging. This will allow for activity to take place in the quieter summer term and will allow plenty of time for the schools to plan for the autumn term.

You can contact your Development Officer in the first instance for assistance. They can help you to form good links with your schools

Senior School 11–16-year-olds

You might find these young people at youth centres, or guides or scouts as well as schools.

ÖÖ Mini Hockey

ÖÖ Badgers Leagues are fantastic at offering integration between mini and full hockey.

ÖÖ Link with senior schools, there are on average 10 schools within reach of a club.

ÖÖ Duke of Edinburgh needs leadership, it is a good way to give young people life skills.

ÖÖ Offer assistance towards hosting GCSE practical lessons, offering junior sessions for young leaders to practice.

After May half term, start thinking about engaging. This will allow for activity to take place in the quieter summer term, and will allow plenty of time for the schools to plan for the autumn term.

You can contact your Development Officer in the first instance for assistance. They can help you to form good links with your schools.

Look towards your local college/sixth form.

ÖÖ Leadership

Your local University will be a great source for this category.

ÖÖ Gold Challenge

Job Centres! But outside of there, how about looking to Leisure Centres or Gyms?

ÖÖ Get Back Into

Full-time workers 22-35 year olds

Look towards gyms, libraries, sports centres, local pubs or restaurants.

ÖÖ Get Back Into

Parents

Try mother and baby groups, slimming groups and supermarkets.

ÖÖ Get Back Into

Try libraries, sports centres, post offices, and supermarkets

ÖÖ Get Back Into

Further Education Higher Education

Graduates

www.englandhockey.co.uk/gyo Mature

Grow your own WHAT DOES YOUR CLUB NEED?

ÖÖ Integration into Mini Hockey

ÖÖ Badgers and Vixens ÖÖ Leadership

ÖÖ Duke of Edinburgh often look to the club at these times to gain credits. ÖÖ Coaching

ÖÖ Credits towards courses in coaching and umpriring as a follow on from Leadership

ÖÖ May come as part of senior school link, but colleges are overlooked in many cases.

Contact after May, ensure the club and hockey is on the radar to allow planning for the autumn term.

You can contact your Development Officer in the first instance for assistance. They can help you to form good links with colleges.

ÖÖ This is a drop off point – young people go to university and when they don’t make the university team, they stop playing completely. Make sure your club offers an opportunity for these players.

ÖÖ University links can be really important. There are usually a great number of people to be found here, creating a renewable player source.

Contact after May to ensure the club and hockey is on the radar to allow planning for the autumn term. Get down to the Freshers Fayres, usually held late September, early October.

You can contact your Development Officer in the first instance for assistance. They can help you to form good links with universities.

ÖÖ This group is overlooked financially. Many of them struggle and although most clubs offer student rates, they don’t offer graduate rates. What about offering returning special rates as a reward for members who have left to go to university and have come back?

ÖÖ Social Media is a great way to link with this group,. Use Facebook and Twitter to offer discounted graduate rates.

The summer months after graduation, this group have usually migrated back to where they originated from. They will be looking to re-enter social circles and these months are a great opportunity to engage.

Why not make up welcome packs, ask local councils to host them electronically or get them into supermarkets, advertise in leisure centres, doctors surgeries or form a link with a local gym.

ÖÖ This group may struggle with time! Regular commitment to training on a weekday evening is sometimes difficult, as is giving up hours on a weekend for games. How can these people be accommodated within your club? These people may not have played since school, so how about running some Get Back Into sessions?

ÖÖ Social Media is a great way to link with this group. Link your social media channels to those of local companies to tap into a new corporate market.

New Years Resolution time is always a good time for people to start looking for exercise opportunities. At the start of the summer is also a key time for getting people involved in summer league, if they have a good experience in September, they are likely to stay for the season.

Why not make up welcome packs? Ask local councils to host them electronically or get them into supermarkets, advertise in leisure centres, post office, doctors surgeries or form a link with a local gym.You can find more information on advertising in the GYO Money booklet.

ÖÖ As above, time may be an issue!!

ÖÖ Target parents of the younger members at the places mentioned at the top of this chart. What about running a parents session along side their kids’ session?

New Years Resolution time is always a good time for people to start looking for exercise opportunities. At the start of the summer is also a key time for getting people involved in summer league, if they have a good experience they are likely to stay for the season in September.

ÖÖ This group may not have played for some years, or indeed at all, but may be looking for a new social circle. Some of them will want competition, some of them will want something more casual.

ÖÖ Your council will usually offer activities for this group, and your County Sports Partnership may be able to help.

It is a good idea to engage with user groups at times most suitable to them. Find out from your local council when their busiest activity period may be. Also look at the timings of masters leagues in your area.

ÖÖ Umpiring

ÖÖ Coaching ÖÖ Umpiring

ÖÖ Gold Challenge

ÖÖ There are masters leagues running all over the country for the more competitive, but for those who want to take it a little steadier, try Get Back Into. EHB

HANDY WEBSITES – www.englandhockey.co.uk/gyo • www.playquicksticks.co.uk • www.goldchallenge.org/hockey