What does a Meerkat, a Hot Tub, a school and a Hockey Club have in common?
Winchester HC - Primary School Outreach Programme
For many years Winchester HC has run a sophisticated junior programme for over 600+ youngsters between the ages of 6 to 18, every season. The Club works closely with Kings school and the University of Winchester, and has a comprehensive coach development programme for parents and players who want to get involved in delivering hockey in our community.
The fantastic support of our wonderful junior sponsors – Happy Hot Tubs, has enabled the Club to further develop our junior programme providing a sustainable platform for the ongoing delivery of sport to children in the Winchester area.
A big positive from the Happy Hot Tubs sponsorship has been the ability for the club to set up and run six week blocks of coaching at Winchester primary schools, run by our professional coach Angie.
To quote Angie: “for 14 months I have had the pleasure of coaching Hockey in 4 local primary schools in Winchester, representing Winchester Hockey Club. This was the first opportunity for most of the Winchester schools to play Hockey and have a specialised coach with them for 6 weeks during their PE lessons”.
Angie and the Club have been warmly received and welcomed by all the staff and Children, and soon felt part of each school and the local community. “The teachers were very supportive and enjoyed being part of the session whilst learning how to teach Hockey with confidence to continue these sessions. Most importantly, the children really enjoyed the sessions and many have been inspired to become part of Winchester Hockey Club, attending the extra “Introduction to Hockey” sessions the club has organised.”
Meerkat fun with Angie - teaching our younger players to be more like a " Meerkat " when playing Hockey. Eyes up and scanning for passes!
England Hockey are very keen on the children learning skills through playing games with different constraints and the children really look forward to the fun sessions with some super entertaining ideas!
The Club continues to look forward to extending this outreach programme with Winchester schools over the coming year, continuing the school to club link coaching in the community – and working with St Bede’s primary this term.
The help from Happy Hot Tubs has also enabled the club to support the growth in under 10 players, arising from this successful outreach programme, with extra coaching & development sessions, as well as funding coach development, and bursary support to facilitate financial support to participate where needed.
The Club sincerely thanks our junior sponsor Happy Hot Tubs; Angie and all our Coaches & Helpers who provide such a great experience to all our youngsters.
The Junior Club has two key objectives – and the combination of the financial support of Happy Hot Tubs and the coaching team achieving England Hockey Talent Centre accreditation helps us achieve these:-
Participation - provide opportunities to play hockey for as many children as possible
Talent Development - provide stretch opportunities for motivated and high potential players
@happyhottubs @winchhc #goldstandard @WinchesterSALT