SA Hockey Icons to share skills with KZN’S young players

Former SA Women’s Hockey player, Shelley (Russell) Jones will head up the KZN-leg of the nationwide hockey development programme for schoolgirls in La Lucia on 6 and 7 July. Along with a stellar line-up of current and former international hockey icons, Jones hopes to inspire, motivate and identify young talent as part of the Investec Hockey Academy’s high-performance courses.

Jones played striker and midfielder for the SA Women’s Hockey team for 13 years and has accumulated 280 caps during this time. The double Olympian believes that playing sport from a young age has benefits which surpass the sports field and hopes to encourage SA’s youth to play sport.

“I feel that it is important to be out there, taking part in outdoor exercise, from a health and general well-being perspective. There are so many life lessons to be learned from the discipline of sport, especially fitting into a team dynamic. If we can instil love for sport within the youth, that would be first prize,” says Jones.

Aimed at growing the sport’s participation and skills from a grassroots level, The Investec Hockey Academy offers a Fundamental Players’ Course (ages 8 to 11) that aims to build a solid foundation for the sport, an Intermediate Players’ Course (ages 12 to 15); focusing on skills development, and an Advanced Players’ Course (ages 16 to 18), providing players with position-specific training.

“The courses we offer work on creating dynamic well-rounded athletes. Very important aspects such as mental toughness, functional ability, fitness, nutrition, recovery techniques and athlete education in general are addressed at the academy. These aspects are vital in one’s sporting development,” emphasised Jones.

The Investec Hockey Academy will take place on 6 and 7 July at Crawford College in La Lucia. For more information or to register, visit www.investechockeyacademy.com or contact Shelley Russell on shelley@investecacademy.com.