The new season sees a revamped NextGen program to develop the next generation of Team Canada athletes
Field Hockey Canada is excited to launch the 2025-2026 season of the NextGen program. Based on feedback from previous years, Field Hockey Canada is adapting the delivery model of the NextGen program to launch in a new format. This follows feedback from athletes, members and clubs and will enable an athlete centred, system wide approach to athlete development.
MEN’S REVAMPED TALENT DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM | WOMEN’S NEXTGEN INFORMATION
The Field Hockey Canada NextGen Program is a talent assessment and development philosophy focused on identifying and nurturing the next generation of performance-development athletes through collaboration with key stakeholders; athletes, parents, clubs, Provincial Sport Organizations and Field Hockey Canada. Designed for players approximately 4 to 8 years away from senior national team impact, the approach provides a pathway to help young players reach their goals within field hockey.
At its core, the NextGen Program is dedicated to long-term athlete support and development, to create a life-long affinity to the game and giving players the best opportunities to reach their goals. Through research led and principles driven approach athletes will receive support to:
- Navigate the multiple and often competing demands they face as young people
- Individual development plans
- Technical and tactical skill refinement
- Strength and conditioning program
- Mental performance training
- Nutrition and recovery education
The program partners with athletes, parents, clubs and Provincial Sport Organizations (PSOs) to align coaching and development principles nationwide, enabling progression for athletes through their individual contexts and the varying stages of their journey.
In 2025/26 this will be a series of local camps run across Canada. Crucially, national team coaching staff will be delivering sessions, making this program unique and outstanding among sports. NextGen Director, Andrea Gibson said that her and her team have been in the community, soliciting feedback, and generating a program that she thinks will strike the perfect balance between accessibility and high performance for Canadian hockey. Holding camps around the country will allow athletes and coaches to experience the high performance environment and will be the best for their development as athletes.
“This program marks a transformative step for Canadian field hockey, uniting clubs, provinces, and national leadership to support every athlete’s unique journey. By prioritizing long-term growth and inclusivity, we’re building a stronger, more connected system that nurtures talent and inspires lifelong participation across the country,” Gibson said. “This revitalized talent system empowers athletes across Canada by aligning development from grassroots to elite levels.”
The updated talent system is specifically designed to put athlete long-term development at the forefront, while also playing a crucial role in strengthening the broader Canadian field hockey ecosystem through greater alignment and collaboration between the national governing body, provincial organizations, clubs, universities, and schools. This alignment maximizes resources and capacity directed to athletes in all layers of the system (club-province-national). The core objectives of this new system are to:
- Engage and keep athletes in field hockey as life-long participants
- Allow athletes to develop relative to their unique psycho-social and physiological developmental journey, prioritizing long-term development goals over short-term outcomes
- Provide our senior national teams with an ongoing competitive depth of players that will help Canada start to see top 10 finishes at international competitions
- As Field Hockey Canada refines its Talent Development System this year, the updated program addresses current needs and aligns with Field Hockey Canada talent development principles that acknowledge each athlete’s unique journey, creating a more open, accessible, and inclusive pathway nationwide.
