We are incredibly proud of following up our track record of excellence by being the first hockey club in the country to have achieved Club Mark to now being one of the first to gain Talent Centre accreditation.

- Stephen Tabb. OSHC Chairman

Old Silhillians has been named as one of only 7 clubs in the Midlands to achieve the Talent Centre Accreditation

The club is delighted to announce that it has achieved the England Hockey Talent Centre accreditation. This is a quality standard, directly linked to the new England Hockey talent pathway, and is testament to the significant investment by the club and its volunteers into coaching resources and also the supporting elements of safeguarding, player development, communication and many other factors.

The accreditation has taken a year to complete in terms of attendance at workshops, provision of evidence, and ongoing interactions with England Hockey coach developers. More details of what the Talent Centre Framework is all about can be found here:
https://www.englandhockey.co.uk/play/talent-system/talent-centres

However, the club has been working towards creating the right environments, and developmental structures within the club for several years, and will continue to do so as it moves forwards. In recent years, the coaching team has been bolstered by the recruitment of Sharon Smith (who is a Talent Academy Lead Coach, and currently part of the Advanced Coach Programme with Great Britain), and the return of Etienne Blatt and Virginia Bournot, who both bring their International coaching experience to add to the already strong junior setup. Meanwhile, the Men have recruited National League player, and Birmingham University Club Captain, Alex Holloway, to support that section of the club.

This is a long term investment in ensuring the right culture and environment exists to support the development of all our players, but short term success is already apparent with the club having more teams entered in the England Hockey Junior Championships than any other club in the Midlands other than Beeston (a club with two National League Premier Division teams).

With more exciting developments planned over the next 18 months, this is a great place to be playing hockey at the moment. If anyone knows any players who may be interested in joining the club, do please ask them to get in touch. They can use this url to get in touch:
https://tinyurl.com/OSHC-New-Member