Neil Menzies to lead development of Talent Pathway

Scottish Hockey is delighted to announce that Neil Menzies will move to a new role within the organisation as Talent Pathway Lead Coach. Neil will continue in his role as Head Coach for the Scotland under 21 Women’s Programme, as an integral part of his new remit. Menzies had previously served as Assistant Coach for the Scotland Senior Women’s team as well as 21’s coach, but will now assume responsibility for leading the ongoing process of systematic change to the Scottish Hockey talent pathway.

The role will involve working more closely with the national age group coaches in the ongoing development and alignment of the talent system, while leading a number of key initiatives such as the revamped Scottish Hockey Academy Programme.

Head of Performance Andy Tennant said “Neil is the perfect person to fulfil this exciting new role. As well as being passionate and steeped in Scottish Hockey, Neil has considerable high performance coaching experience, while also having first-hand knowledge and understanding of the talent pathway and how it can be improved. I am sure he will do an excellent job in the new role. The change of role has been driven by a need for us to commit more of our resources to the development of the talent pathway – and to provide enhanced levels of support to our outstanding age group coaches and support teams. These guys work tirelessly to develop the increasing numbers of talented players coming into the system – and we are committed to giving them more support”. He added “Our plan is to eventually have a talent pathway lead for each gender, however Neil’s new role will cover both initially, as over time we systematically increase the investment of resource in our best young talent.”

Neil Menzies said “Having worked for a number of years at the top end of the pathway, I am very conscious of the need to provide the senior teams with young players who are properly equipped for the demands of the modern game at senior international level. A key part of my job is to ensure our system is more joined up, with a clear age and stage programme that equips players with the required standard of skills, physical ability, and game understanding. To make this possible we plan to provide more support to the age group coaches and players – with an important first initiative, which will provide a tiered physical development programme for the long term physical development of our talented players – to ensure they are international ready, if and when the time comes.

 

 

 

 

 

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