Mission statement: At Oxford Hockey Club, our mission is to inspire and nurture young talent through exceptional coaching in our junior section. We are committed to fostering a fun, supportive and inclusive environment where every child can develop their skills, enjoy the sport, and cultivate a lifelong passion for hockey. Our focus promotes teamwork, sportsmanship, and personal growth, ensuring each player reaches their full potential both on and off the field.

Coaching Philosophy: We aim to develop suitably equipped players who can compete at all levels of the junior and senior section of the club. All junior players are given the opportunity to grow in a supportive playing and coaching environment that focuses on individual playing ambitions.

Junior Hockey Programme: Our hugely successful Junior Section goes from strength to strength with a high-quality coaching programme and excellent facilities. We develop the potential of girls and boys beginning with Hockey Heroes for our youngest group, all the way through to our U18 cohort. The Junior Section is thriving with 20 Junior teams and 350+ junior players and we see a very strong progression of players into Senior Teams, Regional and National representation.

U6 – U12: Our focus with the younger players is on participation, having fun and developing individual technique. We do this through enjoyable game-based sessions which are complemented with focused small breakout groups which help develop individual player technique.

• Fun
• Participation
• Game-based
• Technical shaping

Our younger junior teams (U8–U12) compete in hockey festivals throughout the season, with the season concluding at the County Championship and Regional Hockey Finals.

U14 – U18: As players progress into older age groups the focus shifts to decision making and match based tactics, whilst still emphasizing enjoyment and ongoing technical development. Players are encouraged to adapt, be resourceful and self-aware. The aim is to develop improved performance and winning teams. This change takes place with a gradual shift of emphasis between the U12 and U14 age groups.

• Fun
• Performance
• Game-based
• Decision making
• Self-awareness, reflection, and self-development

The older junior teams (U14 – U18) compete in South Central leagues with regular fixtures throughout the season, and the England Hockey Championships.

Our junior coaching programme provides a weekly 90-minute training session for each age group every Sunday throughout the season. The U10s, U12s and U14s have an additional midweek 90-minute training sessions to complement the weekend activities.
During the school holidays and summer months the club also provide Hockey Camps and weekly sessions for those junior players who wish to continue playing and developing their hockey capabilities.

Player Progression: We are very keen for junior players, from age 13 years onwards, to participate in Senior hockey, whenever they feel ready to play. As these players progress to the Senior section, they are also encouraged to attend the Senior section midweek training sessions. These sessions are performance based, organised by player capability and team groups. This coaching programme is based on the club coaching philosophy with consistent coaching content deployed across each playing group.

We realise that some younger players have other commitments during the season, and we understand they cannot always play, this is never a problem.

Player centricity: The individual athlete is central to the coaching philosophy, player development and Junior Hockey Programme at Oxford Hockey Club. We recognise and never forget why children engage in sport;

• to have fun.
• to hang out with their friends.
• to play the sport they enjoy.

When coaching juniors, we are responsible for developing the whole child and this includes;

• personal and social development.
• developing motor skills, body control and physical coordination.
• understanding the skills and tactics needed to play hockey.
• developing game sense and helping players get better.

We recognise all the above are linked, and we encourage our coaches to instil these principles into their coaching ensuring we develop confident, competent decision makers.

September 2024