Skills, skills, skills and skills! 

The Hawks academy program helps young players develop their hockey skills.

Young players who want to join a talent pathway, become a high-performance player, or simply be more confident on their team can benefit from more coaching and technical practice.

Our 1-hour academy sessions give Hawks members this extra training, helping them become more confident and capable players. This focused time will help them master key skills—like receiving, carrying, passing, leading, scoring, positioning, marking, intercepting, and tackling—to improve their performance all over the pitch.

Who should take part in the academy?

The academy is open to all Hawks outfield players in School Year 6 and above who want to enhance their core hockey skills. While every player can benefit, the program is especially valuable for those with ambitions of progressing to county, talent academy, or national age group hockey.

We will carefully select groups based on current ability and tailor the coaching to meet the specific needs of the players. The academy is split into two age groups: Years 6/7/8 and Year 9+.

How to apply. 

Due to the limited number of places, the academy is expected to be oversubscribed. To ensure small group sizes and focused coaching, we are accepting applications to participate.

Current Hawks members with an active 2025/2026 season membership will receive an invitation to subscribe to the academy via our membership system on or around August 18th. To be considered, you must accept this invitation before August 31st.

During the first week of September, the Hawks coaching team will select the first group of academy players from all the applicants. Everyone will be notified of the results. Only those who are selected will be charged for the program.

If you are not selected for the first term, you will have another chance in future terms. We will give priority to players who applied but did not get a place, ensuring that all Hawks members have the opportunity to participate over the course of the year.

When and where?

Hawks academy sessions are on Friday evening, split in to session for the younger and older age groups. 

• School Years 6/7/8 – Friday evenings 6:30 to 7:30pm
• School Years 9+ – Friday evenings 7:30 to 8:30pm

From the applications, we will select 15 players from each age-group to take part in indoor hockey practice for a half-term. This will take place at Copthorne Prep school. 

The remaining players will be outdoors, at Worth School. 

Outdoor sessions

Our outdoor academy sessions will be led by Calum Giles.

As a double Olympian and the founder of Hawks, Calum is an exceptional skills coach with over 30 years of experience. He is regularly sought out by national-level players for one-on-one coaching and will bring this deep experience to our academy members.

The program will focus on specific skills tailored to each group, whether that means refining core skills or developing new ones.

Indoor sessions

We’re delighted that Sue Perry is helping to design our new Indoor Skills Academy program.

Currently the Chair of Sussex Hockey, Sue has a wealth of experience coaching at club, county, regional, and even national levels. She has an incredible knowledge of indoor hockey and, as a former university lecturer, is an expert at coaching coaches. While she won’t be with Hawks forever, she will be training our coaching team to ensure the academy’s long-term success.

We’ve added indoor hockey to our academy because the fast-paced nature of the game is fantastic for developing all-around hockey skills.