Scottish Hockey releases recommendations of review into high performance hockey

Scottish Hockey’s Board of Directors today released the recommendations of an independent Performance Review, entitled ‘What it takes to win’, which was funded by sportscotland and carried out by consultants KKP in the last quarter of 2015.

Based on the desire to improve the performance of its international teams and the number of players entering Great Britain’s squad, Scottish Hockey enabled KKP to interview over 50 individuals, including current and former international players, international coaches, club coaches, sportscotland support staff and current employees.

KKP were also asked to review and analyse the success of performance programmes used by other international countries.

A copy of the KKP Performance Review Executive Summary can be downloaded and is summarised below.

Following the release of the Performance Review’s recommendations Scottish Hockey Chair Scott Baird said, “The Board of Scottish Hockey accepts the findings of the report and would like to thank everyone who took part for their involvement and contribution to the review.

“The review outlines that we are currently not achieving results we want for hockey in Scotland and there are a number of areas that require immediate attention and areas that require an approach to setting long term plans for high performance athletes and coaches.

“The Board of Scottish Hockey is committed to ensuring that we give all our athletes and coaches the best opportunity to perform at the highest level and we will aim to set a gold standard of performance for the organisation by creating an environment that encourages success both on and off the field.”

The Performance Review’s recommendations are categorised as follows:

Leadership

  • The review queried the benefit of the current Scottish Hockey High Performance Group and recommended that it review the value, membership, terms of reference and relationship to the Board for the HPG.
  • The review raised concerns whether the Scottish Hockey Board currently has the relevant focus on performance.
  • The role remit and profile of the Performance Manager and professional coaches needs to be reviewed in order to ensure that they are driving and leading performance programmes.
  • The performance plan could be improved to include medium and longer term targets, and be clearly visible and accessible.
  • An improved joined up approach to working across functions within Scottish Hockey is advantageous.

Player Pathway

  • The participants in the review were clear that Scottish Hockey do not have a clearly communicated, consistent player pathway.
  • Scottish Hockey need to improve its communications around performance so that coaches, parents and players across Scotland are clear in what Great Britain and our international coaches are looking for at all levels.
  • Improved succession planning for key roles on and off pitch, with improved tracking of individuals.
  • Improved relationships with clubs outwith Scotland to create opportunities for elite players to move to these clubs for performance benefits within a defined structure.

Coaching and Coach Development

  • The review concluded that Scottish Hockey has a strong focus on quantitative coaching programmes. The review identified a significant gap between this approach and the levels of support currently offered to the coaches further up the pathway, including district, performance, age group and club coaches.
  • It recommends the introduction of a performance coaching strategy
  • It recommends that Scottish Hockey is more proactive in its relationship with Great Britain.

Domestic Clubs and Competitions

  • While Scottish Hockey has made improvements with its playoff structure, the report recommends a more competitive league structure, potentially with differentiated support for certain clubs across Scotland.
  • Ensure better school to clubs links. Improve working with the private schools sector, especially for girls, creating synergy rather than competition between school/club/national.
  • The report recommends that increasing the time available for international teams at all age groups to train

Support Services

  • Establish how to improve the services available to the Senior Men’s international programme following the cut in performance funding.
  • Ensure that the information and good practice from the senior teams is communicated effectively to interested parties including age group programmes and club structure

Facilities

  • Current facilities and facility availability are good for teams and performance programmes in Scotland.
  • There is a need to ensure that these facilities are retained for national training and clubs.
  • The review also highlighted that an outdoor training facility (indoor) would be advantageous for winter training.

Finance

  • There is a need for Scottish Hockey to review its funding and commercial activity to see how it can improve the level of support for both programmes especially the Senior Men’s programme.
  • If Scottish Athlete Personal Awards aren’t available there will be a requirement to improve the funding for the Senior Women’s programme to allow full time blocks of training leading up to Major Events.
  • It recommends a review our staffing structure to support all Key Performance Indicator targets
All enquiries to the Scottish Hockey Board regarding the Performance Review can be sent to David Sweetman, CEO [email protected]

 

 

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