Junior Hockey

Junior hockey fees for the 2023 Season:

TBA

These fees are payable for the entire season and include:

• Turf hire
• Coaching equipment and aids
• Coaching structures as set up by international coaches, with top coaching from some of the best young coaches locally and internationally.
• Match and / or festival fees
• An awesome playing Shirt to wear to training,
• Purchase club socks at the Mini & REACH Hockey sessions.
• Riverside Sports membership (Junior until 13 years of age), with parking access on Fridays for Mini and Mondays for REACH

Dates for the 2023 season

TBA

Notices:

Please remember to wear your Shin pads & Gum Guards!
Riverside Hockey Club is a club and bases our membership on an annual club membership subscription which is payable in advance. We do not operate off an ‘academy based’ termly subscription model.

Payment Terms

• Payments are to be made within 7 days from date of registration.
• Should a member require payment terms or wish to pay by means of a credit card – please contact hockey@riversidesports.co.za

Discounts

• Riverside Sports family discounts apply and will be passed on to members on application to hockey@riversidesports.co.za

Banking Details:

Riverside Hockey Club
Nedbank Umhlanga
Acc. 1353 049 663 Branch Code. 135 329
Ref. Members Surname*

Email proof of payment to hockey@riversidesports.co.za

History of Junior Hockey at Riverside

The Mini Hockey section of Riverside Hockey Club (RHC) commenced in 1992 when the club was still known as Durban North Hockey Club (DNHC). From small beginnings, the section has grown considerably over the years and, during 2015, over 400 members between the ages of 2 and 16 registered for the Riverside Hockey junior programme.

2006 saw RHC’s junior section’s first full season on artificial turf, making it the only junior section in Durban at the time to have access to such a world-class facility. With the laying of the second turf in April 2011, the programme became and remains the only one in South Africa currently using two turfs which ensures extra space for members to learn their skills.

During 2008, RHC launched Youth Hockey to cater for U12′s and U13′s. This Youth section is referred to as the Riverside REACH programme that was initiated in 2013 by Riverside which caters for the 12 to 13 years old age group, with all 14 year olds and upwards being introduced and encouraged to join our senior section.

An exciting development during 2011 was the launch of the Hockey Tots programme, teaching basic beginner sports skills for 3 to 4 year olds as well an incorporating what has traditionally been our under 5′s and 6′s into the introductory levels of hockey.

What is Tots, Mini and Reach?

Both boys and girls are accommodated in all age groups.

Tots Hockey commences at 3 years old with what is primarily a generic ball skills programme. The Tots groups are split into either Little Tots (3 to 4 years old) or Big Tots (5 and 6 years).

Note: Those turning 3,4, 5 or 6 during the year will train as Tots and generally are not encouraged to play in festivals which only commence at Under 8 level.

Mini Hockey commences when you are Under 7 with an age appropriate hockey skills programme. the oldest age group being Under 11. Both boys and girls are accommodated.

Note: Those turning 6 or 7 during the year will train and play as Under 7 in festivals and those turning 8 or 9 during the year will train and play as Under 9. Those turning 10 or 11 will train and play as Under 11.

Riverside REACH Hockey commences when you are in grade 6 & 7.

Note: Those turning 12 and 13 during the year will train and play as Under 13 Children in grade 8, 14 and older are able to play in Riverside Hockey Club’s senior teams in KZN Senior leagues once assessed by the Junior coaching staff.

Youth vs Senior hockey – what is the selection process &what are the criteria? – what is the selection process & what are the criteria?

Why join Riverside Hockey’s programme?

• Riverside Hockey believes in the potential of ALL young players and their ability to grow into meaningful club members at all levels of the game. We do not grade teams until senior hockey level.
• Attention to each individual’s technical, tactical, mental and physical skills.
• Professional, state-of-the-art facilities (water-based artificial turf training) – only club in South Africa with two artificial turfs for junior hockey.
• Play with other dedicated players from the region who are at different schools.
• Target of 1 appropriately qualified and experienced coach per 8 players, training in small groups and receiving individual attention.
• Benefit from Riverside’s ongoing association with top, internationally-respected clubs and associations, with session content influenced by the latest international trends of play and their approach to development of players.
• Talented, experienced and qualified coaches from the region who are closely monitored for attention to detail.
• Riverside Hockey Club is synonymous with top hockey in Durban, KZN and South Africa having developed and grown many provincial and international players, some of whom currently play in our men’s and women’s 1st teams and are involved in Riverside’s Junior programme as coaches.
• It is fun and challenging to participate in the Riverside Hockey programme!
• The Riverside Reach programme is unique to Riverside’s Junior offering, involving exposure to match techniques and tactics.

Coaching

Riverside Hockey Club is excited to confirm the following senior coaching staff for the 2021 programme:

Head Coach: Riverside Reach Hockey – Justin Collins (current Riverside HC 1st team and has represented KZN as a player on numerous occasions and more recently as coach and management for KZN Schools as well as for SA hockey in high performance)

Head Coach: Mini Hockey – Caryn Springate formerly Bentley (former SA player capped 99 times), has coached and developed mini hockey programmes in South Africa, Spain and the UK, former coach of winning Irish Premier league team).

The primary focus of mini hockey is the technical development of each individual player to their maximum potential, within a fun, non-pressurised environment. Player development takes precedence over results in matches, festivals and tournaments and, whilst there is a strong focus on fun and playing with your friends, this is underpinned by an ongoing quest to improve coaches and coaching in line with international best practice, thereby ensuring that the necessary levels of intensity are achieved in training.

The focus of youth hockey is also on the technical individual development of players, although there is a strong additional theme of tactical awareness introduced into these sessions primarily through the Riverside Reach programme.

Riverside Hockey provides regular opportunities for all coaches who coach Junior Hockey to participate in training courses which obtain national coaching grade certificates. This requirement is in addition to ongoing practical sessions with the coaching supervisory staff within the club.

Working Group

The working group of parents is responsible for making the strategic decisions to ensure that the Riverside HC Junior Section and the Riverside REACH programme is properly governed and that hockey within the junior ranks continues to thrive at Riverside.

This working group has representation on the main Riverside Hockey Club committee and strives to develop junior hockey within the guidelines of the club’s overall strategic vision.

The Working Group is always looking for assistance and anyone who is interested in assisting should please email hockey@riversidesports.co.za or let one of the members of the Working Group know.

Sponsorship

In 2014, Spur became a major sponsor of the Riverside Hockey programme, including the annual Spur Riverside Mini Hockey Festival, which is hosted by Riverside Sports and is one of the country’s biggest mini hockey festivals, with almost 1000 participants.

There are other opportunities to sponsor different aspects of the programme and the club and if you are interested in further details, please email hockey@riversidesports.co.za

Coaching Sessions

The structure of the season will be broken into Friday evening (Mini) and Monday evening (REACH) coaching sessions. Dates and times of all training sessions and festivals will be advised.

Each session will consist of a structured programme and, in order to maximise the quality of the coaching, an optimum player-to-coach ratio will be maintained.