Talent Academy

The Guildford Talent Academy delivers talent development for high-potential players aged 14-18 from clubs and schools in southwest Surrey and Hampshire. It is part of the wider Performance Programme that runs throughout the academic year, as a complement to club, school, and in some cases, junior international hockey.

• The home of all performance hockey for players in year 9 and up.
• Year-round training plus summer term matchplay.
• Includes the Guildford Talent Academy.
• Approx. 16 players at each year group of each gender.
• Open to players from clubs and schools across Surrey and Hampshire.
• Now in its second year after a successful introduction in September 2025.
• A track record of developing future National League and international hockey players.

• School Years 9-13.
• Players with the potential to play hockey at National League and International level.
• Enthusiastic, engaged and highly motivated children who would like to take their game to the next level and want opportunities to learn.

• To deliver high quality coaching to players.
• To provide a rounded curriculum that introduces players to… 
• Hockey specific strength and conditioning
• Video analysis
• Sports Psychology
• Nutrition and lifestyle support
• To prepare players for the next level on their hockey journey; whether that be junior international hockey, adult club hockey, university hockey.

• “The 'Player and Parent Annual Review' indicates that the Guildford Performance Programme is providing a strong development environment to players from across Surrey and Hampshire. The programme is valued by players and parents, particularly for the quality of coaching, the positive training culture and the integration of strength and conditioning...
• The most important learning is that participant experience depends not only on the quality of delivery, but also on how clearly the pathway is explained. Where players and parents understand the purpose of grouping, selection, attendance expectations and individual development priorities, confidence in the programme is likely to increase.”
  

• Whilst we accept players into the Performance Programme during the year the key access point is in September and October each year.
  
• August Training and Taster Session – Wednesday 26th August 11:00-16:00
  
• September Trial dates – Sunday 6th and 13th September
  
• October Trial dates – Monday 26th and Tuesday 27th October
  
• All trialists will be invited to the September trial dates. If successful, players are invited to the October sessions, which act as a final selection opportunity.
  

Friday 21st August 2026*

*After the September and October dates there are opportunities for assessment later in the year. This accommodates players who move to the area or who make significant progress during the season.
To apply for a place after the August deadline: Fill out this form

Yes, to check that the Performance Programme continues to be the right environment, we ask all players to take part in the training and trial sessions.

• No, we group players by age and experience, and these groupings can change during the year.
  
• Furthermore, research shows that players need to practice in different groups; sometimes as the most and sometimes as the least experienced player within a group.
  
• Coaches always ask players to train and compete at their highest level. The focus of these sessions is learning and improvement, in the context of a team sport whereby enjoying the challenge and working as part of a team are crucial skills.
  

• Fill out this form, and email talent@guildfordhockeyclub.co.uk to apply. For the Talent Academy aspect of the Performance Programme players must be nominated via England Hockey, here *
• You will be asked about the teams that you currently play for and to provide a named coach or teacher that we can contact for a reference.
• What next? 
• You will be invited to a training session/s where the coaching team will assess if the Performance Programme is the right environment for you at this time. 
• At these training sessions new joiners will be fully involved in the on and off pitch activities, receive feedback, and have the chance to find out more about what the programme involves.
• We’ll make sure that the environment is the right match for each player and if so, they will be formally invited to be part of the Performance Programme. 
• The programme is designed to sit alongside regular club and school hockey and has players from across southwest Surrey and Hampshire. 
• We take the commitment to support all clubs in the catchment very seriously and hope that being part of this programme allows players with high potential to thrive at their club and/or school.
  

The Performance Programme squads are the way that we structure training sessions and aim to give players an appropriate level of stretch and challenge. After each block of training the groups are reassessed. In training we often plan for groups to train together to vary the opportunities for all players.

The Talent Academy is a smaller squad chosen from within the Performance Programme. The Talent Academy is run by Guildford Hockey Club on behalf of England Hockey. The Talent Academy plays matches, mainly during the summer term, against other Talent Academies. The squad is finalised in May each year and involves 22-25 players per gender. Between September and May players will have the opportunity to gain a place in the Talent Academy squad through the Performance Programme training and a sequence of four fixtures that take place between December and April.

• In-season (September – April) training is delivered through a sequence of training days in September, October, December, February and April. 
• There are no weekly evening training session in-season because this leads to player over-load, fatigue and/or low attendance.
• A benefit of the training day format is that we have the time and space to deliver support activities, and the structure mirrors what players can expect if they attend junior international training days in the future.
• A typical day runs from 09:45-16:00, with two pitch sessions and two off-pitch activities.

• The Performance Programme sessions run every Monday evening.
• Talent Academy players attend the Monday Performance Programme and a second evening session each week (Thursdays – Boys and Girls).
• Both the Performance Programme players and those taking part in the Talent Academy have weekend fixtures during the summer term.

• Alongside pitch sessions, player development is supported throughout the year.
• Look out for a fortnightly mailshot with video content, opportunities to learn, and links to training days. 
• Every player in the Performance Programme has access to individual feedback, as well as a library of shared resources on the PP Google Classroom.
  
• The Performance Programme video library has content direct from the England Hockey Age Group led coaches, as well as match footage and feedback available for each player in their own online area.

• Sarah Robertson: Scotland and Great Britain international, and Olympian.
• Christian Moody: Head Coach of Guildford's Women's 1st XI and brings extensive experience from both senior club and university performance hockey.
  
• Graham Buss: One of the South East's most experienced performance coaches and a graduate of EH's prestigious Advanced Coach Programme.
• Soma Singh: Great Britain Olympian, National Premier League Coach.
• Andy MacDonald: experienced club and county hockey goalkeeping coach.
• Dan Fox: Double Olympian, International Hockey Coach with England Great Britain Senior and U21 Squads.
• Beckie Middleton: Premier League hockey coach, 100+ International Caps as a player.
• Rosie Hope: England Senior international.
• Jamie Whitehouse: Performance Centre, Talent Academy Head Coach and National League adult coach.
• Ryan Colman: Performance Centre, Talent Academy Head Coach and National League adult coach.
• Ben Edwards: Former National Premier League and England Age Group Coach.
• Conal Blackwell: Specialist goalkeeping coach, working with juniors within performance environments.

• The Performance Programme is designed to be flexible. Whilst we encourage players to attend as many sessions as possible, each event is pay as you go.
• Joining fee £60, which includes:
• Invitations to all training sessions, fixtures, and events
• Fortnightly Performance Plus mailshot
• Google classroom profile and resources
• Video Library Access 
• Training T-shirt and reversible bib
• Training Days £55
• Match fees £15
• Talent Academy players must be able to attend 75% of sessions to be eligible for selection (exemptions apply for affiliate members based in Channel Islands/overseas).

• Should you have questions about the Performance Programme please contact: talent@guildfordhockeyclub.co.uk
• For players selected for the programme, all dates, times and news will appear on our app; Teamo
  
• Nomination Form
• To read more about EH's Talent System please see here.
  
• EH FAQs can be found here.