The Guildford Talent Academy delivers talent development for high-potential players aged 14-18 from clubs and schools in Southwest Surrey and Hampshire.
The Talent Academy squads are selected in September each year to be part of a programme that runs from late September until the end of July. The Girls and Boys Talent Academy Squads are made up of between 25 and 35 players of each gender.
Players receive over 100 hours of high-quality contact time, including on-pitch training, nutrition, conditioning, sports psychology, and fixtures against local Talent Academies.
The programme also includes blocks of fixtures throughout the cycle with other TAs within the region, prior to a final set of fixtures at the national TA Festival at the end of the programme.
Players are nominated by their Club, School or County coaches. For non-Guildford Hockey Club coaches. Follow this link to nominate players:Talent Academy Nomination Process and Guidance (englandhockey.co.uk)
Players can be nominated at any point during the year. There is no advantage or disadvantage to being nominated at different points in the calendar year.
Guildford Hockey Club players will be nominated the week after May half term each year.
After nomination players will be invited to a Talent Academy trial. These take place over two Sundays (7th and 14th September 2025).
Players selected to be in the Talent Academy squad are entitled to stay in the squad for the full year. However, we do require a minimum 75% availability in order to be part of the Talent Academy.
In May and July each year the Talent Academy runs taster sessions to give players the opportunity to experience Talent Academy hockey. These are designed for players, rather than as an assessment opportunity. There is no requirement to attend, and coaches do not use the sessions as a selection opportunity.
Once nominated you will be contacted by email in advance of the next taster session and/or before the September trials. You do not need to contact the club directly in the meantime.
The Talent Academy aims to develop National league and international players of the future. Selecting players is based on current performance and future potential.
To give the coaching team the best chance of identifying players with high potential, expect a range of activities on selection days
During the selection process, it is likely that the TA staff will contact club and school coaches for information to support the players’ nomination. This may discuss a players training history, when they started playing, how much coaching or playing opportunities they have had in the past.
To read more about Talent identification, talent development, and assessment please see here.
EH FAQs which cover the Talent System queries can be found here.
7th and 14th September 2025.
Between 25 and 35 players of each gender.
From experience, and with guidance from England hockey the Talent Academy age distribution looks like this:
• Year 9: (September-December birthday only) 0-4
• Year 10: No less than 4
• Year 11: No less than 6
• Year 12: No more than 8
• Year 13: No more than 5
Typically, there are 10-15 spaces in a Talent Academy squad at the start of a new Talent Academy cycle. This reflects the number of players who leave the Talent Academy each season
No. A Talent Academy is open to players from all clubs and schools.
Ten clubs are within the catchment of the Guildford Talent Academy
• Aldershot and Farnham
• Alton
• Camberley and Farnborough
• Chichester
• Fleet and Ewshott
• Guildford
• Haslemere
• Petersfield
• Old Georgians
• Woking
In addition, players attached to other clubs (or only to their school) may select Guildford Talent Academy if it is the most convenient Talent Academy to travel to or train at.
You should trial at the Talent Academy that you would like to attend, having considered travel times and training location
Talent Academies are one opportunity. Should you not be selected then club hockey (junior and adult) offers opportunities to develop. County hockey provides opportunities to play and train. Your local club may also run a talent development programme, for instance Guildford Hockey Club runs a broader Talent development programme called Future Stars. The Future Stars Senior Squad is open to players in year 9-13 from all local clubs and schools. Information can be found here
No, TA players relinquish their spot in the county hockey squad. If you are thinking about a Talent Academy trial, then you may still attend a Development Centre (County) programme in the summer. This will give you the opportunity to play county hockey should you be unsuccessful with the Talent Academy trial
Further Information on the England Hockey talent system is here
EH FAQs which cover the Talent System queries can be found here
In season, this is fortnightly for 2 hours on a Monday, and 3-4 weekend (Sunday) training / match day sessions.
Out of season, training is on a Monday and a Thursday, plus 8 weekend training and match days (Sundays).
Training is held at Charterhouse School or at Guildford HC, Broadwater School – both are in Godalming.
A 3-day Talent Academy festival takes place in Nottingham each July. During the season competitive matches take place against other Talent Academies, with the bulk of fixtures taking place during the summer term.
The programme is designed to maximise contact time while balancing players’ other hockey, academic and social commitments. Rest weeks are built in, while there are longer breaks during periods where we know academic pressure is likely to be highest. Talent Academy hockey is designed to put players at the centre, so if you have any concerns around training load during the year you are encouraged to talk to the coaches so we can help you manage your commitments.
Yes, selected players will be able to order kit (training t-shirts and a jumper) at the start of the programme.
The Talent Academy programme will be managed via Teamo. If you play at Guildford HC, you’ll already be familiar with the platform. If you play your regular junior / adult hockey at another club, you will need to download the Teamo App, join the GHC account and you will then be added to a Talent Academy group.
Teamo is a GDPR-compliant platform that will give you access to the Talent Academy calendar, allows you to indicate your availability to attend, helps us to keep track of emergency details and payments, and allows us to send messages / emails to the Talent Academy group.
Payments will be scheduled on a termly basis and will also appear in your Teamo account
The TA is a non-profit, player funded programme. To deliver a meaningful and impactful programme, players are required to make a financial contribution of approx. £700 per player – paid through instalments throughout the programme. This is broadly £7-8/hour of coaching contact time.
Please note we at Guildford TA do not want cost to be a barrier for our talented young athletes. We can look for financial assistance to support those that need it, so please contact us for more information if this is the case.
Email: talent [at] guildfordhockeyclub.co.uk
Guildford TA has had a successes full junior programme with the following young athletes representing at junior international level.
• U21 England: Sam Carleton (2025), Sammy Dowds (2025).
• U21 Scotland: Cara Falconer (2024).
• U19 Scotland: Charlotte Barr (2024), Cara Falconer (2023).
• U18 England: Matt Haines (2025), Sam Bagley (2025), Alec Clayton-Jones (2025), Sam Carleton (2024). Ehsan Anwar-Khan (2023 & 2024) Sammy Dowds (2023).
• U18 Wales: Alex Talbot (2025).
• U17 Scotland: Charlotte Barr (2022 & 2023) Cara Falconer (2022).
• U16 England: Albie Jones (2025), Poppy Stace (2025), Sam Bagley (2024), Tom Chapman (2024), Alec Clayton-Jones (2024), Ollie Gibson (2024), Matt Haines (2023 & 2024), Sammy Dowds (2022).
• U16 Wales: Luisa Canenti (2024).
To become a member of Guildford Hockey Club simply register through our club management app, Teamo!
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