By Stephen Wright
Copyright bernews
Kovin Moodley On Junior Hockey And More
[Written by Stephen Wright]
The Bermuda Hockey Federation is placing a strong emphasis on youth development, focusing on its junior programme to create a sustainable pathway into the senior national teams.
Kovin Moodley, the men’s and women’s head coach, said the sport is enjoying encouraging growth at the grassroots level, with new structures, a re-branding and more local involvement.
“We’re in a very healthy place numbers-wise,” Moodley told Bernews.
“A lot more kids are starting to enter the programme, and we have many more local coaches and volunteers stepping up and getting involved in the Federation.
“It’s allowed us to create a bit more sustainability and junior structure with our pipeline.”
The Federation runs several junior programmes at the Field Hockey Stadium at the National Sports Centre.
FunStix, for children aged 5 to 11, is led by Jennifer Chisnall, Yvonna Osborne and Heather Sinclair; the Next Gen group, for youngsters aged 12 to 15, is overseen by Liz Stewart and Megan Troake, while Moodley and Alex Godet guide the Colts and Griffins under-18 and under-21 teams.
There is also the Bermuda School Sports Federation programme, run by Troake, and Active Kids, led by Aizaya Smith.
Next Gen, which attracts between 30 and 50 boys and girls, is heading into its third season.
It runs from October to December, with skills sessions on Fridays from 6pm to 7pm and game play on Saturdays from 3.30pm to 4.30pm.
“We’ve been able to expand the programme, and it will hopefully lead into a junior league,” said Moodley, who started working as head coach in February 2022.
“We’d love to be able to tour with an under-14, under-16 and under-18 team.”
Moodley, who recently obtained his Level 3 FIG coaching badge, acknowledged that balancing schedules with other sports can be a challenge.
“We have days which overlap with other sporting activities on the island, and we try and manage that as best we can,” he said.
“In some of our age groups, we’ve actually had more boys than girls, which is quite incredible because in Bermuda girls, have tended to dominate the junior programmes.
“I learned when I first started as a coach that if you look after the junior programme, the basics, it will look after everything else moving forward.”
The increased attention on youth development comes at a time when Bermuda hockey is enjoying success on the international stage.
The women’s national team competed at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, El Salvador, in 2023, and have already booked their place at the 2026 CAC Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
“The exposure we gained from our teams competing at top regional tournaments has allowed us to hit another level,” Moodley said.
“We want to develop them not just as hockey players but all-round athletes. We’d love to have a team at the next Junior Pan American Games [under-21].
“We noticed last year the timing of the tournament was so inopportune for our players be away from high school or university as it was an exam period.
“We want to make sure our structure is quite solid. If it’s done properly, we will have a healthy pathway that leads into the senior teams.”
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