Hampshire Hockey Player Pathway | AC Assessment Decisions

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Academy Centre (AC) Assessment decisions | Field players

Notes for parents/guardians & players

We do not provide individual player feedback after the AC assessments. This is not possible after observing a group of players for a relatively short period of time, during which the coaches are looking for players with more advanced skills and technique in relation to their peers. Below is information you may find helpful.

What we look for at AC assessment

For the AC, coaches are looking for players who:

have Skill - competence in core skills coached at DC, relative to their age group
have Warrior Mentality - 'coachable', team player, focused on their own improvement, happy to make mistakes but not let it affect them, able to absorb umpiring decisions going against them and not react.
can TCUP - Think Correctly Under Pressure. Making good choices on the ball, recognising where space is and where it isn't. Choice of skill in context. Moving off the ball to create space or to reinforce the defensive formation.

All players selected should have an element of all 3 attributes (in different mixes) and the POTENTIAL to rapidly develop the traits further during the course of the current AC cycle. The players who show all three consistently are selected and the ones who have two out of three are in the frame.

At the earlier age groups core skills are critical to be effective, and deficiency in these under pressure will be a key focus of assessment. As the core skills improve through the age groups then Warrior Mentality and TCUP become more critical and become a selection focus.

How we select at AC assessment

At the AC assessments multiple coaches observe all the players and will look for:

Technique of the core skills
Decision making in game play
Determination and approach

So, basically, a player who doesn't exhibit secure core skills (under pressure) or whose decision making is questionable or whose attitude seems poor (holding back on the pitch for instance) will not be selected.

It may seem harsh to make such a determination about a player in a short space of time so to help our coaches, they will have been given notes from the DC coaches on the players they selected for AC assessment and have studied feedback (where available) for returning PC players. In addition, where multiple coaches have been present at the assessment, the coaches will take the time to compare their observations and if there is any doubt or disagreement, a player will be invited back for a second assessment. We put these safe-guards are in place to make sure we make an informed choice as far as is possible when we select the players who are ready for the AC at this time.

Returning PC Players

PC Players are NOT automatically selected at the Hampshire AC. They have to attend the assessments like anyone else and have to work just as hard. It is unlikely that a current PC Player is not strong enough to be selected but it has happened that we have not selected a player where they have come to the assessments and have not displayed the required skills or mentality.

Skill
Warrior Mentality
TCUP - Think Correctly Under Pressure

Players not selected

It does not mean that those players who are not selected are no good or incompetent in any way. It simply means they need more time to develop and hone their core skills and/or work on their game play and decision making skills to bring them up to the level displayed by other players at their age group.

We do have strong age groups where selection is harder but, as a whole, and we have seen this time and time again, players develop at different speeds and at different times in their hockey career, and a player who is not selected one year can make marked improvements and be right in the mix the following year. The opposite also happens regularly, when a player who did AC last year is now not selected, either because they have reached a plateau (levelled off) or others around them have improved more dramatically.

What to do if you wish to query a selection decision

If, after reading this, you feel the coaches have got it completely wrong when they did not select your son or daughter, you can challenge the decision. In the first instance please write to me (Koo Janzen) using the form below, and I will inform the Performance Director and the rest of the committee, before I gather the required information, discuss it with the team and respond with the reasons behind the selection decision.

If we feel we didn't get a satisfactory answer from the coaches or we learn that there has been a divided opinion, we can invite the player back for a further assessment at the first training session. However, this happens rarely. In all cases over the last few years, the coaches have been able to give good, concrete reasons for not selecting a player.

Please note: We are often presented with a number of points to illustrate why our selection decisions were wrong including: "my child was captain last year", "my child plays for the school A team" or ”my child was selected for British Lions, BUCS or British Colleges" - Although these are fine achievements, they are not indicative of a player's ability and performance within a group of equally talented players and do not play a part in the selection decision.

Player message

If you are a player reading this and you have not been selected for the AC, please remember this: as important as it seems to you right now, your time in the Player Pathway (single system) is but a very small part of your hockey career. We don't judge a player to be successful by how many years they've played AC or even if they've played for England. We think a successful player is the one who still plays when they are 18, 21, 30 or even older.

By not being selected for the AC, whilst you are missing out on match play against other counties in the County Championship, you are NOT missing out on development opportunities. The chance to improve and become a better hockey player is within YOU. It is dependent on how you apply yourself at training and at your club or school's league matches. Technique of the core skills, decision making in game play and determination & approach are just as important at school and club level as they are at DC & AC! Please use all your training and match opportunities to come back next year stronger, better, ready…..