Start of the 2025 DC | Email to all players

Hello,

If this is your first time in the DC, welcome!

If you've done DC before, Welcome back!

It promises to be a great DC cycle. We have some amazing coaches lined up and everyone at Hampshire Hockey is looking forward to it and can't wait to get started.

This email contains a few important notes, so please encourage your grown-up to read it all the way to the end!

For starters, if you want to know what to expect, have a look at the DC Syllabus which we have just published on our website:

This applies mostly to field players but is also good for GKs to have a look at,

I have almost finished appointing the coaches to the centres on our Pathway Management System. As soon as that is complete, I will ask the lead coach of each centre to contact their players to introduce themselves. When you receive that email, that is the time to tell them if you need to miss any sessions etc. Remember to also read our player attendance policy here.

Parents/guardians, can you now please log-in at www.hampshireplayers.net and have a good look at the Player Panel. Make sure you are registered at the centre of you expect to be at by looking at what is stated after 'Current Training Centre'

• North Hants DC is Down Grange, Basingstoke
• South West Hants DC is Trojans, Eastleigh
• South East Hants DC is HMS Temeraire, Portsmouth (except session 1 which is in Gosport)
• Goalkeepers will see 2 centres in this panel, because you join the field players for session 5. The specialist GK sessions are at Ganger Farm Sports Park, Romsey - but you will join the field players in one of the above centres for session 5.

While you're there, please take the time to download and print the Player Consent Form, sign it and have it ready to give to the coach at your first session.

PLEASE DO NOT FORGET THIS, as without the form, you WILL NOT be allowed to participate.

For more details see our page on the consent form here.

Armed with the knowledge about which centre you are in, now go to DC page of our website and follow the link for your centre to see the session dates and times.

GOALKEEPERS:

Your centre page is here:

https://www.hampshirehockey.net/dc_goalkeepers (opens in a new tab)

Please visit this page and download the minimum kit requirement page to make sure your kit is all up together and ready to go. We don't mind if it is smelly, but the GK coaches won't be impressed if it is incomplete or bits are broken!

If you are an U13 Goalie and this is your first time in the DC, you will be needed on the 18th of May for the U13s Assessment Session for newly nominated U13 GKs. You will get an email from hems (our GK head coach) with more details.

We have to run this session as every year we get GKs nominated to the DC by (mostly) schools who send their goalies "for a bit of coaching" but who we then find are nowhere near ready for the DC. And while we would like to give everyone all the opportunities, the last thing we want to do is put a young GK in a position where the training is just not appropriate for their level, as this can cause upset and can even be a little dangerous. Hems will chat to you privately after the session if he has any concerns.

Finally, parents and guardians, please also have a look on the player panel to see if you have accepted the invitation and if you have paid. Under Playing Information is should state the 'Current Training Centre' (i.e. South East Hants DC for example) followed by (Accepted) if you have accepted and paid. If not accepted it was say 'Invited' and if not paid, it will say 'Not Paid' in big red letters.

All players will get a numbered polo shirt at their first session,. Please wear that shirt for all sessions as the coaches will use the player numbers as part of their assessment process.

Please avoid wearing any Hampshire AC kit if you were in the AC before.

I think that is it for now. As always if you have any questions, please check our FAQs first as most questions will be covered there:

If not covered there, you can contact me at koo.janzen@hampshirehockey.net

Any issues regarding attendance, questions about the sessions etc, please direct them to the lead coach when you hear from him or her.

Remember to have the best time at the DC and work hard to improve your hockey. Treat the DC not as a stepping stone to the AC and the county teams, but as an opportunity to become the best you can be. If you get invited to the AC assessments at the end, GREAT! BUT, remember that the pathway lasts only for a few years - you'll be playing hockey (hopefully) for the rest if your life!

Ask questions of your coach and ask for feedback on the pitch. Really get involved and you will gets lts out of it!

Good luck and have fun!

Regards,

Koo Janzen

(koo.janzen@hampshirehockey.net)