Junior Men’s and Women’s National Team coaches speak to the importance of the National Championships in the development of the next generation of athletes.
The Field Hockey Canada National Championships provides a great opportunity for young athletes to get identified by national team coaches. This tournament helps open the door for young athletes to enter Junior National and Senior National pathways within the Field Hockey Canada pipeline.
Jenn Beagan, the Junior Women’s National Team coach since 2019, believes that the National Championships is an important tournament to see the next generation of athletes competing at the highest level in the country.
“I think it’s really important that the best athletes in their age groups get to compete against each other. It pushes the speed of the game and the ability of the athletes. I think it’s a really good environment for them to get kind of simulation to what a competitive tournament environment is, and it teaches them a lot, a lot in terms of like what’s possible,” Beagan said.
According to Beagan, the National Championships is an important step for athletes to be recruited into the Senior National Team.
“As for the development of athletes into the senior team, nationals is an important element to that kind of path. In order for our senior teams to be successful we really have to have all of our provinces on board and training.”
Many Junior National Team players have been identified from the National Championships.
The National Championship tournament is a great experience for young athletes. They will be introduced to the pressures, responsibilities, and experiences of a high-performance sport environment. Many athletes may be at their first National Championships and wondering how this may help them enter the junior pathways. Fortunately, for these athletes, the junior coaches will be in attendance at the National Championships this year. Jenn Beagan, head coach of the Junior Women’s Team will be at the final day of the U18 tournament. Geoff Matthews, head coach of the Junior Men’s Team will be at the U18 Nationals as well.
Whilst observing the tournament, Beagan and Matthews will be looking for many aspects displayed by the athletes. Not only will Beagan be looking for technical and tactical skills, she also looks holistically at the athletes’ attitudes, character, and efforts across all facets of play.
“How do they act off the ball? Are they engaged in the play off the ball? Are they creating space? Are they manipulating space? Are they able to defend and attack and play both sides? You know, how do they transition? What’s their body language like?,” Beagan said.
Another important aspect Beagan looks for is athletes’ attitudes.
“If something goes wrong, if they don’t like a call with one of the officials, how are they reacting to that and kind of, you know, how do they support from the bench?” Beagan said.
Matthews will be looking for the Men’s National Team style of play which relies not only on skill but speed of play as well.
“From a playing perspective, it would be great to see our ‘MNT Winning Style of Play’ coming through which will bring an exciting, skillful, and fast-paced game for all those watching,” Matthews said.
Matthews is excited to see the young athletes perform at their best and believes this will help continue the success of the men’s programs.
“This young group is challenging the norms and bringing an exciting brand of hockey that will hopefully elevate our position in the international environment. This was evident at the recent Junior Pan-American Championships in Barbados. We need to build on that success and challenge ourselves to keep getting better at every opportunity,” Matthews said.
As Nationals approaches, athletes may continue to work on these factors to perform their best at the tournament. However, some athletes may feel nervous when the big day arrives for their first game at Nationals. No matter how prepared an athlete is for a match, it is quite common to feel some nerves before a game.
Jenn Beagan speaks through her experience on managing anxiety.
“When I was coaching for BC at Nationals, the best advice that I always gave to my teams was that the team having the most fun and the players having the most fun will always be the most successful.”
Although the tournament feels big, and possibly intimidating, it is important for athletes to play free and play for fun because this is how they will perform their best. As Jenn Beagan said, “just have fun and everything else will come together.”
Over the past two years the junior pathways within Field Hockey Canada have been developing. The U16 and U18 pathways on the women’s side have now been established with the same on the men’s side coming this year. The junior programs have an exciting rest of the year, with the Junior Women competing in the Junior World Cup in Chile in November and the Junior Men competing in the Junior World Cup in Malaysia in December.
Key Takeaways on Junior Pathways:
- Junior National Team coaches will be attending Nationals to identify athletes
- When identifying an athlete, coaches will look holistically at their skills, abilities and attitudes
- Athletes get selected into the Next Generation system to train in local National Training Centres throughout the year and receive a holistic program for development including strength & conditioning, sport education, psychology, and hockey
- Talent identification and selection points are not limited to Nationals, the club environment and university are important as well
- The junior cycle is 2 years – this means what happens in clubs and provinces is critical in FHC’s Talent Pathway Programs
