Hockey NZ announce return of Junior Black Sticks programme

Hockey New Zealand has announced the return of their Junior Black Sticks (JBS) programme after an enforced hiatus due to COVID and the lack of international opportunities as a result.

The return requires having coaches in place for the men and women’s programmes and following an extensive recruitment process Hockey NZ appointed Aaron Ford as the head coach of the JBS Men and Mitch Hayde as head coach of the JBS Women.

Both Ford and Hayde are familiar faces in the high-performance network with Ford looking after our South Island players on the performance pathway and Hayde coaching on the performance pathway in Auckland. Both are well rehearsed in age group international competition and will look to utilise those experiences as we shape a robust programme for this critical age group.

The next course of action is the selection of players for the JBS and this will happen after a “super-camp” in October. Players will be invited to the camp based on performances from the North vs South series, National U18s, and the upcoming Ford NHC.

From the camp, teams will then be selected to face Australia in the Junior World Cup qualifier later in the year, and ultimately the Junior World Cup at the end of 2023.

The camp will also be an opportunity to involve coaches and staff before completing the remainder of the assistant coaching and management role appointments within the programmes.

Hockey NZ are excited about the reintroduction of their JBS programme as they look to build depth as part of a wider plan to create sustained success on the world-stage.

Image: Junior Black Sticks Credit: Hockey NZ