Children who enjoy playing field hockey from a young age will be healthy and more likely to continue in life long physical activity. In addition, if they are well trained and have access to an appropriate development pathway, more of them will reach elite playing levels that enable our National Teams to qualify and compete consistently at World Cups and Olympic Games. Long-Term Hockey Development (LTHD) addresses the important role that field hockey has in promoting wellness and also provides an athlete development pathway for World Cup and Olympic success.
FHC wants to increase the number of Canadians participating in our sport across the country. We also want to improve our National Men’s and Women’s Teams’ world rankings. The paths to achieving these goals are complex. While we can take elements of what has worked for us in the past, we will still need to take a different strategic approach then the one we have had for the past 20 years.
Led by the LTHD expert panel and technical leaders, FHC has identified many of the challenges facing field hockey and laid out a vision and general course for implementation. The pathway involves shared leadership and cooperation from the local coach to the international governing body.
This document is just the start of a growing number of resources to aid in achieving the LTHD vision. To better adapt to the ongoing evolution of our sport and provide practical tools to our vast array of stakeholders (coaches, umpires, parents, volunteers, etc.) FHC has created an interactive website designed specifically for our members to explore LTHD. This resource, among others, is available to download and will be updated from time to time.
Please continue to visit us at www.lthd.fieldhockey.ca for the latest LTHD information.
