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The goal of the NextGen Program at Field Hockey Canada is to identify athletes that are 2-8 years away from making a significant contribution on the senior national stage. The FHC Women’s NextGen National Program is a collection of young athletes from across the country. These players train and compete in their regional training centres located in BC, Alberta, and Ontario. It is from this athlete pool that coaches draw for Junior and Youth international competitions. The NextGen pathway serves as the development pipeline for the Senior Women’s National Team.
The NextGen tiered system identifies athletes at different ages and stages of their NextGen development. This holistic approach allows for Field Hockey Canada to identify talent at many junctures and include athletes at all stages of their development. Read more and view the current NextGen tiers below.
Detailed Women’s Tiered System | Women’s Tiered Next Gen 2022 [UPDATED SEP 2022]
Field Hockey Canada is always evaluating and identifying young talent. The talent identification model allows Field Hockey Canada to use different stages of the year to identify and evaluate young talent by way of training camps, tours and talent ID sessions. The long-term development of Canada’s Targeted Athletes is a fundamental priority of this program. Our goal is to provide the best possible experiences for players to realise their potential of representing Canada on the International Stage. View intake opportunities and more information about talent development below.
Talent ID Model | Talent Development Priorities
Athletes within the NextGen system are evaluated based on the Junior Gold Medal profile which is an evaluation metric that compares athletes to World Class Junior Internationals globally. Athletes are evaluated on a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 would be a recreational youth athlete, and 10 would be a Junior International with Senior team Caps and potential participation at Senior events such as Pro League or Olympic Games. The NextGen program is working toward the following performance goals for Canadian Evaluation. Athletes within the NextGen system can expect to receive regular feedback related to their performance.
Over the course of a season of play, there are multiple selection moments. Athletes that are named to NextGen Tiered Lists will all train as Field Hockey Canada NextGen Athletes. Selection to National Teams (U16, U18, U21 Teams) will be done on a project to project basis from the pool of NextGen Athletes. Selection to one event, does not guarantee selection to a subsequent event. Read more about evaluation, feedback and selection to national teams below.
Evaluation and Feedback | Selection to National Teams
NextGen is a completely Self-Funded program, in order to bring athlete fees down as well as reduce cost for training tours, international competition and events a significant sponsorship and fundraising program is needed. All athletes involved in the NextGen program can participate and support both fundraising and sponsorship programs. Participants are encouraged to reach out to the FHC Sponsorship and Fundraising leads for more information, or with any leads regarding sponsorship or fundraising. Every effort will be made to find financial support for National Teams, and NTC Training Centres to reduce the overall cost of the program.
Sponsorship Contact – Hailey Yhap (Field Hockey Canada Events and Engagement) – hyhap@fieldhockey.ca
Field Hockey Canada recognizes that the cost of NextGen Program may be limiting for some individuals with family financial hardship. Financial hardship is defined as when a person has difficulty paying for basic living costs such as food, clothing, housing, and does not have savings or other financial resources available to support high performance sport activities. The Athlete Subsidy Program will be funded through contributions and program donations. As this program grows, FHC will be able to support more athletes through the subsidy program. Click below for more information about sponsorship and subsidy programs.
Please visit the following links for more information about this program:
Junior National Selection Policy_June 2022
2022 NextGen Youth Assessment Camp Process and Information
Upcoming rosters and information about the Junior Pan American Championships and other competitions will be posted here.
NextGen Director – Andrea Gibson [agibson@fieldhockey.ca]
Men’s U21 Head Coach – Geoff Matthews [gmatthews@fieldhockey.ca]