A review of indoor hockey operations

After receiving valuable feedback during the Indoor hockey season last year, Hockey NSW conducted a thorough review of indoor hockey operations. The review addressed several key aspects, including the processes involved in managing numerous teams, conflicts of interest in selections and coaching, alignment of outdoor and indoor pathway strategies, and ensuring consistency and cost-effectiveness across all NSW Indoor State teams during training.

Hockey Australia has officially confirmed the age groups for the 2023/24 National Indoor Championships, which are U13, U15, U18, U21 and Open.

The hockey community was given an opportunity to provide its input and Hockey NSW expresses sincere gratitude to everyone who contributed, as it significantly influenced the decisions for the future of Indoor Hockey.

The review identified several prominent themes from the survey, which were as follows:

• The need for Coaches to be impartial when selecting and not selecting the same players based on their own opinion.
• The need for a variety of selectors and coaches rather than the same ones
• Need to have more training and better organisation leading into the championship.
• There was feedback about the location of the State Championships (this feedback will be passed on to the State Championships review).
• The opportunity to grow Indoor in the participation space.

As a result of this review there will be some changes to Indoor for the 2023/24 National Campaigns. Some of these include:

• Ensuring there is an independent selector for each age group.
• Independent Selections Manager who will oversee all teams’ selections.
• The parent conflict of interest principle being applied to all junior age groups.
• There will only be two Hockey NSW teams selected for the U21 age group, all other age groups will have four teams selected.
• Hockey NSW will also improve its operations and communications, working with the team managers to ensure all athletes are getting the correct information in a timely manner.

Indoor Hockey remains a pivotal component of Hockey NSW, offering a pathway to National representation in both Indoor and Hockey 5’s. The organisation is committed to continuously reviewing and evolving Indoor Hockey to foster the game’s growth and success.