We have a thriving Junior Section at primary age and want to inspire a love of hockey amongst boys and girls of all ages. The focus is on encouraging participation whilst developing skills and helping peer groups to develop and play together. We split ages into two groups, with both aiming to stretch players as needed.
More information on this and lots more is in our Primary Information Pack.
RECEPTION – YEAR 3: Hockey FUNdamentals (Sundays)
We hold professional coach-led training sessions on Sunday mornings with specific equipment, games and drills to help younger children build up the basic skills required for hockey in a fun and enjoyable way. We offer flexibility so this age can try hockey without a full season commitment.
YEAR 4 – 6: Hockey FUNdamentals and Foundations (Sundays & Fridays)
We hold two sessions a week for this age group. We want to focus on development of core skills for all players and also enable development of game awareness and tactics.
The Sunday sessions focus on development of core skills for all levels; year 4 and 5s train together as U10s, while year 6s train alongside year 7 and 8s. Players are grouped broadly for ability while keeping peers together as much as possible, enabling all players to have stretch and newer players to develop in their own time.
On Fridays, U10s and U12s train as age groups, building core skills into gameplay and developing game, position and rule awareness.
Sunday training for all primary age players
Sunday training restarts on 8th September 2024.
All Fundamentals and Foundations training will now be held at the main club pitch, led by Ian Hardingham and supported by professional coaches, performance players and volunteers. These sessions will be planned around our Bowdon Development Curriculum, which has been designed in line with the England Hockey pathway.
This is skills-based training which will be split into three sessions:
9 – 10am: Reception, Years 1, 2 & 3 (FUNdamentals)
10 – 11.15am: Years 4 & 5 (U10s) (FUNdamentals)
11.15 – 12.30pm: Years 6 – 8 (Foundations)
Sunday training will run in five blocks. In a slight change, it will now finish at the Whit half term with breaks only for the first weekend of GM school holidays (all dates below). Sunday training runs through until the Whit half term, with the last session on Sunday 18th May.
Friday U10 and U12 Training
Friday age group training will restart on 6th September 2024 and runs 5 – 6.30pm.
These sessions for U10s (years 4 & 5) and U12s (years 6 & 7) will also be led by Ian Hardingham, working with a support coaching team and parent volunteers, who will provide consistency for coaching at matches. These will focus more on applying skills to gameplay and learning set pieces.
After Christmas, the format will change slightly to prepare squads for the IN2 U10 and U12 tournaments, whilst continuing development for all players.
These sessions finish at Easter (28th March), and there will only be breaks at the first weekend of each of the Greater Manchester holidays.
Don’t forget that the Club bar is open and food will be available for all the family each week!