ABOUT JDC/JAC

All information for the Lancashire South JDC, JAC and Squads will be posted on this Web Blog by the JDC/JAC Administrator who may also e-mail you direct from time to time.
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The Lancashire South JDCs for the 2011-12 period have been confirmed as:
JDCs
Venue
Queen’s Drive, Mossley Hill, Liverpool, L18 8BG, 0151 724 4000
Date
11th September, 25th September, 9th October and 23rd October 2011
Time
10:00am – 12:00 noon
Venue
Formby Hockey Club,
Cricket Path, Freshfield, Formby, L37 7DP, 01704 831 104
Date
9th September, 16th September, 23rd September and 30th September 2011
Time
19:00 – 20:30
JACs
Venue
Northern Hockey Club,
Elm Avenue, Liverpool, Merseyside, L23 2SX, 0151 924 1594
Date
TBC – End January / Early February 2012
Time
TBC


Fees
Unfortunately, there is no funding provided for the England Hockey Single System coaching and assessment. Fees for the JDCs and JAC coaching will be charged at £5 per session. Players will also need to pay to compete in tournaments. Again the cost will be £5 per tournament.

Players and Parents
Perhaps the most important aspect of the England Hockey Single System is that it allows junior players to receive the best coaching available in the region from top level coaches. The experience of being coached outside the normal school or club environment adds to the hockey experience for the player and can provide a noticeable improvement in their individual performance. This improvement and the increased confidence on the field can be taken back to their club and school teams.

The JDCs/JAC Procedure
There are links to the right which direct readers to the England Hockey Board official documentation on the JDC and JAC procedures and the England Hockey Single System but in broad terms, the system is as follows:
Players attend the JDC where they are taught and put through their paces by regional senior and assistant coaches. At the end of four coaching sessions the players of Liverpool and Formby JDCs are placed into teams relating to their age and gender. The Liverpool and Formby JDC squads play a mini tournament against each other where the players can demonstrate their skills, match play and fitness to the coaches. Throughout the coaching and tournament process, the coaches are assessing the players.
In January /February the JAC begins at Northern Hockey Club. The dates for this remain to be confirmed but are likely to start at the end of January / early February 2012. The JAC continues the JDC coaching but is more intense and tries to stretch the players’ abilities. Again, coaches will be assessing the players and scoring them. The scoring at both JDC and JAC relates to:
Fitness, Comfort on the Ball, Agility, Hitting, Passing, Elimination, Attack, Defence, Game Aptitude, and so on.
Each player is given one of four gradings ABC or D with a D being the highest. A large number of D's indicates a recommendation from the coaches at the JDC/JAC that the player is to be considered for the Manchester Junior Regional Performance Centre (JRPC).
The JRPC is the hockey development centre for the North West of England and coaches the best players from Cheshire, Greater Manchester, North and South Lancashire and Cumbria. 
You can see from the above that the assessment by the JDC/JAC coaches and the scores the players achieve through the continual assessment process at the coaching sessions is paramount. However, in addition to the opinion of the local JAC coaches, JRPC coaches check the player’s abilities at the JAC tournaments held between the JAC  teams in March/April. It is therefore essential that all players attend the coaching sessions of the JDCs and JAC for the coaching and assessment process to be completed.
  • Players that attended last year's JRPC (held summer 2011) are exempt from the JDCs, only. They must attend JAC to be considered for the JRPC 2012.
  • Players who do not attend three assessment days will not go forward to the competition phase and will not receive a D assessment.
  • If players choose to play for their club/school on assessment days it will be assumed their commitment is to the club and not to the player pathway which takes them to the JRPC and hopefully to a National Age Group selection.

It cannot be emphasised enough that the old County system has gone and has been replaced by a development system with less emphasis on the competition phase and much more on the assessment of the JDC/JAC coaches.