Hockey - Home
Australian Sports Commission
Hockey has come a long way since history's first players, the early Egyptians, took a stick to a ball. Today, the sport requires players to have expert skills, the stamina to run several kilometres in the course of a game, the power to move the ball over great distances, and deal with a fast-paced and dynamic game played on slick new surfaces. Elite hockey players need to be all of these things, and that is where the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Hockey program can help players make it to the next level of their game.
About AIS Hockey
Hockey was the first AIS sport established away from the Canberra campus. The program began in Perth in 1984 with separate men's and women's programs.
Many of the 16 inaugural scholarship holders in the men's program represented Australia at either the senior or junior level in the first year. Initially, the training emphasis was on improving speed, mobility and specific skills, but from 1985 onwards, sports physiology, psychology, physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, and athlete career and education have become important aspects of the program.
In 1986 the AIS, in conjunction with the Australian Hockey Association, established a Satellite Coaching Scheme to promote talent identification. In 1990, intensive training centre coaches were appointed in each capital city. Since then, the men's program has focused on both national squad players and a development squad of prospective Australian players.
The women's program started with 16 scholarship holders and initially emphasised individual training programs for players. As early as 1986, the program included a variety of sports science tests. With the cooperation of the Australian Women's Hockey Association, a Satellite Coaching Scheme commenced in 1986, and intensive training centre coaches were appointed in each capital city in 1990.
Since then, the women's program has focused on developing the senior national squad, as well as younger prospective Australian players.
Ken Wallace