The panel selections follow Hockey Ireland’s reclassifying of its pathway teams with the underlying ethos being to place players in the best environments to suit their personal development. These national panels will be supported by regional training panels and these groups will train regularly and include players both from the national panel and regionally identified players.
There will be three national panels:
- U16 (Rise)
- U18 (Accelerate)
- U21 (Breakthrough)
Players in each group may be out of the age range but Hockey Ireland has identified them as having the potential to progress to the next level and feel that their development would be best suited in this panel.
There are multiple strands to selection, and these are detailed below.
- Pathway recommendation: Players may be selected due to their performances in the previous Hockey Ireland cycle. This means that due to prior performance with Hockey Ireland that they have been identified as having significant potential and will be kept in the pathway for continued development, without the necessity to be identified during the Interpro tournament
- Interpro Performance: National staff will liaise with provincial coaches concerning the selection of a national and regional training groups. National staff will observe interprovincial matches.
- Observation in school and club hockey: We are establishing a network of scouts that will keep an eye on players who are demonstrating the required attributes outside of our programme. Should a player be recommended through this manner they will be observed and may be invited into a training panel.
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