The purpose of England Hockey’s talent System is to produce greater breadth and depth in the talent pool. For all details see the EH website via this link:
EH Talent System

As part of the new Talent System, Twenty clubs across the country have been awarded licenses to deliver a Talent Academy. There will be four additional England Hockey led Talent Academies in year 1 to fill geographical gaps in the Talent Academy network

Reading Hockey is delighted to have been awarded one of the TA licenses covering over 15 Clubs in the South Central Region.

Talent Academies aim to: 
• Provide exceptional talent development environments supporting the development of a phenomenal generation of players at international level
• Provide year round high-quality ‘on pitch’ contact time for approximately the highest potential boys and girls aged 15-18 (approximately 500 players per gender)  
• Provide appropriate best vs best competition to further support player development within a safe, inclusive and enjoyable environment
• Provide holistic education for young players in line with the complete player qualities that effectively prepares them for performance environments 

The 2023-24 Talent Academy Programme will run from September 2023 to July 2024, starting with Open Assessments in September. EH has been accepting Open Nominations for TAs (closing date 25 June) from schools, counties and clubs across the country. The TA Open Assessments are open to all current Performance Centre players. Dates for the Open Assessments will be notified to players when invitations to attend are issued.

Reading TA Sessions will be on Mondays from September 2023 to July 2024 with some Sunday sessions when the Academies are in the Competition phase. In school holidays there will be high-performance camps for the squad plus additional young players with high potential. Further details will be released soon.

For enquiries about the TA please contact talentacademy@readinghockeyclub.org.uk