National Aspiring Boys’ squad announced

The National Aspiring Boys’ squad for 2022 has been announced by head coach Andrew Brogdon.

The players selected have great development opportunities in the year ahead of them including competitive matches along with regular training camps.

Following this season’s Academy Series and pre-Christmas Talent ID Day, 36 potential Scottish Aspiring Athletes were identified to partake in a final talent confirmation phase in late December 2021 and early 2022.

Following the postponement of the first talent confirmation camps due to poor weather, a collective decision was made to extend the final selection of the Aspiring squad until April. This gave all the players a number of further training opportunities to impress the coaching team with their hockey ability, willingness to learn and personal characteristics, in advance of what will be an exciting summer of international hockey.

Andrew Brogdon said:

‘Over the last few seasons, we’ve seen an increasing number of our high potential young players make the step up to U21 Scotland and GB EDP programmes following their time in the Aspiring set up, with last year’s group being no exception. This year’s squad of players have the same potential to excel if they continue to push to raise their standards both individually and collectively in the weeks and months ahead.

‘As 2022 progresses, we have a number of training days and exciting test series’ to look forward to, beginning with Wales next week, and culminating in July with the challenge of an eight nation tournament in Germany, which will provide an opportunity for both players and staff to challenge themselves against the best in Europe.

‘As always, myself and the rest of the coaching team look forward to working with the squad to not only enhance their individual and collective abilities on the pitch, but perhaps more importantly in developing their understanding of what it takes to being an elite athlete away from the field of play.’

 

National Aspiring Boys’ Squad 2022

Pete Caughey (Grange)

Xavax Cordero (Inverleith)

Connor Chapman (Grove Menzieshill)

Fraser Allan (Grove Menzieshill)

Luca Gardiner (Uddingston)

Andrew Lobb (Watsonians)

Thomas Austin (Kelburne)

Ollie Wilson (Inverleith)

Zachary Talbot (Grange)

Sam Hunt (Kelburne)

Rory Steedman (Inverleith)

Jake Swan (Grove Menzieshill)

Henry Porter (Watsonians)

Daniel Leitch (CALA)

Murray Banks (Grange)

Archie Stephen (Dunfermline Carnegie)

Matthew Lydon (ESM)

Hugh Middleton (Lewes)

John Osborne (Western Wildcats)

Alex Marsland (Inverleith)

Johnny Bradley (Clydesdale)

Calum Douglas (GK) (Clydesdale)

Bart Kuijpers (GK) (Perthshire)

Tom Shanks (GK) (Grange)

Jay Berry (Kelburne)

Jamie Green (Clydesdale)

 

Why are we moving away from Age Groups towards Stage Groups?

Rather than use a system that simply divides players into age groups depending on which year they were born, we are keen to develop players depending on their needs and stage of development. Research tells us that while this may seem more complex, it is a better way of maximising the production of talent. This is principally because young people develop at different rates both physically and mentally, meaning that competitions based on age groupings often does not compare like for like, and can hinder development opportunities for many.

Clearly age will still play some part in selection for a particular group, but it will no longer be the only determining factor. In practice, this means we can tailor an individual’s programme to give them the most suitable amount of challenge and support. For instance, a player may be invited to participate in the Aspiring Stage at an Academy Centre to give them additional stretch amongst their peers regionally but be selected for the Emerging National Squad to further develop, and may also allow more focus on additional areas such as leadership and confidence.

The Emerging Stage will normally consist of players who are in an earlier stage of physical or mental development, or have a lower training age/playing experience. The Aspiring Stage will normally consist of players who may be more physically or mentally developed, or have a greater training age/playing experience. Each decision will be made on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all relevant information about each player.

As a result, we will now operate two Stage groups called Emerging and Aspiring. This is to reflect the difference between those who are starting to demonstrate the abilities that may help them become international athletes in future, and those who are displaying those capabilities more consistently and working on further refining them.

 

Right Player

As a small nation, we can’t afford to miss out on potential internationalists. However, it takes time for young players to learn to perform consistently, and that there are often lots of factors which may prevent a player showing what they can do on any given day. We don’t want to base selection decisions on a snapshot of their abilities; instead, players need plenty of opportunities to be seen, to shine, and to be selected.

That requires longer assessment windows in the pathway, allowing us to see players more often, and in different situations and settings. It also includes strengthening relationships with schools, clubs and districts, so that we can build up a better understanding of those players, while ensuring we have a bigger network of people helping us find that talent in the first place. Ultimately, this will allow us to make more informed selections and minimise the chances of missing out on players with potential.

 

Right Opportunity

We want more chances for promising young players to be seen and progress through the pathway, however it is also important that those opportunities are appropriate, based on what young players actually need to develop, rather than imposing adult norms and values. That doesn’t mean consequence-free play with no competition or no pressure; just getting the right mix of all of these at the right stage instead.

It will also mean lots of different ‘entry points’ into the pathway and planned ‘exit routes’ so that those who aren’t selected to progress to the next level have somewhere to go in order to continue their development with a view to returning at a later date.

The quality of international hockey – at all ages and stages – is increasing all the time, as are the demands of what is required to be able to perform and compete at that level. So we also need to ensure multiple opportunities for our most promising players to receive quality coaching, gain exposure to different ideas and concepts, and get the chance test themselves against others in environments that challenge and support them along the way.

 

Right Time

Those opportunities also need to come at appropriate stages of their development; we require to make sure players are ready for any challenges and stretch opportunities, whether that’s technical, tactical, physical or psychological, and that will often look different for different players.

A key part of this approach is managing player workloads better, aiming to prioritise quality over quantity. Currently, we see a significant number of injuries caused by over-training, such as shin splints, tendonitis and a range of other orthopaedic injuries, as well as other associated issues including general fatigue, low mood and decreased motivation and performance.

We want to avoid injuries and burnout where possible, by designing the pathway calendar in a way that minimises the potential for over-training – removing conflicts between different pathway activities and better integrating the domestic and international calendars to reduce the frequency and intensity of busy periods. We also want to work more closely with schools and clubs to help provide players with more consistent advice and support. This also means taking other pressures, like schoolwork, exams and other important commitments into consideration when planning a player’s schedule.

 

Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top