Sheffield Hockey Club is proud to announce that we have been awarded the operating licence by England Hockey to deliver the Talent Academy (TA) for the Yorkshire region from 1 August 2025.

A TA is a licensed club that is part of a national network of delivering provision to the highest potential boys and girls from U15-U18. It provides an education programme to help prepare athletes for the demands of junior international hockey.

It is an environment that provides high-quality coaching across 40-44 weeks of the year with individual player support through player profiling, individual development plans and regular coach feedback whilst bringing together athletes from different clubs, school and junior county hockey to develop personal and athletic relationships fostering a healthy squad culture.

Every TA has a squad of players selected through a robust process based on the England Hockey Player Profile.

Two key appointments, of TA Director (Stephen Hipwell) and TA Manager (Michele Daw), have already been made, and work is well underway to ensure the smooth and seamless transition from the current Yorkshire TA.

Our TA programme will be based at the Sheffield Hallam University Sports Park (Bawtry Road), operating on a Monday night throughout the year, with weekend and holiday elements of the programme being split between the Sports Park and our home pitch at Abbeydale Park.

SHC will shortly be advertising for various coaching roles to support the delivery of our Talent Academy Programme. If you are interested in getting involved, please get in touch with either Stephen or Michele by emailing: manager.sheffieldta@outlook.com

On receiving the news regarding the award of the TA licence, SHC Club Chair and TA Director, Stephen Hipwell commented, “We are extremely proud and excited to have been selected by England Hockey to host the Yorkshire TA and are committed to delivering a high-quality programme. Our aim is to ensure we are truly collaborative, working effectively with all stakeholders across the region, to best support the development of the next generation of high potential athletes.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ENGLAND HOCKEY'S TALENT ACADEMY PROGRAMME, CLICK HERE.