We welcome secondary school age players of all abilities, subject to space, and are proud to have many players representing England and Wales at age group level, as well as many others participating in the NW Talent Academy.
We believe we have the best talent development environment for both boys and girls in the North West region and are one of only five accredited Talent Centres in the North West. You can find out more about Talent Centre activity here. We also offer playing environments for juniors to play socially and build experience outside of school hockey.
Training environments
There are multiple training environments available for junior players to suit their desired level of play and commitment.
Players in years 7 and 8 remain part of our ‘Hockey Foundations‘ programme held on Sunday mornings to build strong core skills, while they build experience in 11 a side gameplay as Junior mixed teams on Saturdays. This is also important as a ‘leveller’, as brand new players often join at this age, with some progressing fast once their core skills develop to become high performing players on the Talent Pathway.
From year 9 / age 13, players are able to start to progress from Junior Saturday friendly teams into adult league Saturday hockey, so at that age they are encouraged to join the club adult squad training sessions on midweek evenings, even if still playing in Junior friendly Saturday teams.
Year 7 players are encouraged to join the U12 age group training on Friday evenings 5 – 6.30pm and committed players from year 8-11 are also encouraged to regularly take part in Talent Centre age group training on Fridays for U14 or U16s.
Just Play sessions on Mondays and/or Thursdays are more informal gameplay sessions for players in years 7-10 and are also open to non-members on a PAYG basis. These may be preferable to the age group training for some players, although some players do one evening of this in addition.
Players in years 12-13 tend to focus on adult training as they have wider commitments to manage, although our U18 team managers and coaches do try to arrange ad hoc training prior to competitions.
The full club training schedule can be found here.
Foundations Programme (Years 6-8)
A key aspect of our training is player development. To do this, it is essential to develop core skills and the ‘Foundations‘ of a great player who can perform in any team.
Therefore all year 6-8s are strongly encouraged to attend our Hockey Foundations Technical Skills training on Sunday mornings, held at the main home club pitch from 11.15 – 12.30am.
These sessions are led by experienced coach Ian Hardingham, supported by performance players and young leader coaches.
Dates for 2024/25 are shown here.
Training overview per year group
Year 7: Foundations Skills on Sundays 11.15 – 12.30 plus U12 age group training every Friday 5-6.30pm and/or Just Play mixed social gameplay on Mondays/Thursdays 5-6pm
Year 8: Foundations Skills on Sundays 11.15 – 12.30 plus U14 age group training alternate Fridays 6.30-8.00pm (boys then girls, both training with U16s) and/or Just Play mixed social gameplay on Mondays/Thursdays 5-6pm
Year 9: Adult squad training (Boys Tuesdays 6 – 7.30pm; Girls Mondays 6 – 7.30pm), plus U14 age group training alternate Fridays 6.30-8.00pm (boys then girls, both training with U16s) and/or Just Play mixed social gameplay on Mondays/Thursdays 5-6pm
Year 10-11: Adult squad training (as per squad), plus U14 age group training alternate Fridays 6.30-8.00pm (boys then girls, both training with U16s). Year 10s option of Just Play social gameplay on Mondays/Thursdays 5-6pm
Year 12-13: Adult squad training as per squad then ad hoc U18 training
Additional England Hockey Training
‘Talent Academies’ have now been established by England Hockey to replace ‘Performance Centres’. These are intended to provide exceptional training for the top 1,000 junior players nationwide in school years 10 to 13 (i.e. U15 to U18 inclusive). Following a tender process, the running of these has been outsourced to clubs who wish to operate them at their venues; the only Talent Academy serving our area is run by Timperley Hockey Club.
Bowdon HC identifies and nominates appropriate players for NW Talent Academy trials who our coaches feel fulfil the England Hockey nomination criteria; this is only a small number of players each year. Those who are successful in trials take part in additional Talent Academy development sessions held at Timperley HC. Prior to nomination, players are asked if they would like to take part, as this does involve a financial commitment.
County Hockey: Some players may also wish to take part in County Hockey, which is open access and designed to offer wider opportunities for those playing hockey at non-Talent Centre Clubs or at Schools, although players at Talent Centres like Bowdon are still able to take part if it fits around their club programme.
More information on the England Hockey Player Pathway can be found here.