COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – September 14, 2015 – USA Field Hockey is excited to announce changes to the Olympic Development Program, Futures. The initiatives are focused on the caliber of training, quality of the athlete's experience and a preeminent selection process. For 2016, there will be a focus on placing athletes in a team environment, based within region, with an upgraded seven session, 21 hour curriculum.

Since its establishment in 1990, the Futures Program, sponsored by Harrow Sports, has been the start of many athletes' Olympic journeys and approximately 5,000 of the nation's top athletes participate with aspirations to play at an elite level. The Futures Program is the elite training experience for athletes, and consists of specialized training with some of the top coaches in the country. It is the start of the Olympic Development Pipeline and nearly all of the U.S. Women's National Team members and Olympians have participated in the Futures Program.

In the new structure, which will have a more regional focus, athletes will train at their Futures sites, now called Futures Training Academy, for seven, 3 hour sessions.

"We are committed to providing the very highest quality Olympic Development pipeline," commented Kyle Boyer, USA Field Hockey National Development Director. “We have gone through a comprehensive process of reviewing the whole program and are so excited to be offering a program that is truly of Olympic standard.”

The change in the number and length of the training sessions provides for more intense and productive sessions, allowing the athletes rest time before additional play. The curriculum will further be adjusted to reflect more tactical concepts and will continually be aligned with USA Field Hockey’s high performance programming. The concepts taught at the Futures Training Academy will be age appropriate versions of the training strategy used by the Olympic teams. After the training, all athletes in the U-16 and U-19 age groups will be invited to participate in the Regional Futures Tournaments (RFT) with the possibility of being selected to a Regional Team for their respective region. If selected, the athletes will be invited to participate in a Regional Training Camp (RTC), which will allow for more team building with a focus on refined tactical skill development. RTC players will receive an additional 12-16 hours of on-field training during the course of a weekend with the coaching staff selected for that particular region. The regionalization strategy allows for a better player and coach environment, a renewed focus on team play and a prioritized tactical side of the game. This encompasses the development of a complete player, which will create a more solid foundation for all Futures participants.

"Our goal is to strengthen the individual players by putting them in a real team environment, select the best players to our national team and to grow the game of field hockey," added Boyer. "Part of our mission in this change is to allow coaches to have ideal coaching environments where they can get to know the players and focus on helping them advance their tactical skills.”

The U-14 age group will not move to regional teams but will compete at the National Futures Championship (NFC) in the current system, where athletes are mixed by region. As the sport grows and develops at the grassroots level, it is the intention to move to regional teams for the U-14 age division. Following the Athlete Development Model, the age appropriate curriculum for U-14 will focus on honing technical skill, with more tactical concepts being introduced later.

The NFC will also include the “Stars and Stripes Elite” game, which will be comprised of the top 68 athletes in each of the U-16 and U-19 age groups and the top 34 athletes in the U-14 age group. The game, which will showcase the athletes in the same manner as the former Future Elite Championship done in recent years, will fall on the final day of each age group of the NFC. Approximately 50 percent of the U-16 and U-19 “Stars and Stripes Elite” athletes will move on to Junior National Camp. The Futures Elite program will phase out as we look to include all the athletes of one region in the Olympic pipeline. This allows for a more streamlined selection process to be filtered down from the National to the Regional Junior High Performance staff.

"The Futures Program is the foundation for the Junior High Performance Program, by making these changes, we think that the individual players will be challenged more and will be given more opportunity to learn, improve and showcase themselves," said Janneke Schopman, U.S. Women's National Team Assistant Coach, U.S. Women's U-21 Head Coach and overseer of the Junior National High Performance Program. "This ultimately will result in a higher level of competition and a bigger pool of athletes for future selection of national team players."

Based on the above changes, some program dates and fees have been modified for the upcoming 2015-16 Futures season. USA Field Hockey encourages everyone to review the information below to understand the changes.

2015-2016 Dates and Program Adjustments:

September 10: Coaches selection committee formed to select coaches to regional positions as applied for through an open application process

September 15 – October 10: Applications for the Regional Coaching positions open

October 15th: Regional Coaches selected and announced

October 15 – November 15: Registration for prior Futures’ athletes open

November 16 – December 15: Invited / trial athletes’ registration open; caps are placed on each site based on facility capacity

January 3 – May 8: Futures Training Academy

Sessions take place during these months
7-session program with consistency and greater standards across all sites
- Allows for consistent attendance from participating athletes in a congested youth sports season
Sessions 3 hours in duration and played on the best surfaces possible
Registration fee $485 includes Futures Training Academy, Regional Futures Tournament and Harrow Futures reversible pinnie
Athletes must be 10 years old by January 1, 2016 to participate

April 30 - May 1, May 7 - 8 or May 14 - 15: Regional Futures Tournaments

All athletes that participated in the Academy are invited to compete at the RFT
Athletes will be randomly mixed and placed on teams. Selection at the RFTs will be for the U-16 or U-19 Regional teams, which will compete at the NFC, and the U-14 age group selected for the NFC on a mixed team. Some regions will have two teams in an age group.
The diagram below illustrates the number of Regional teams, based on 2015 data; please note the total number of athletes participating in the NFC does not change and is based on regional membership and reviewed each year:

	NE	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	Total
U-19 Teams	1=20 Athletes	1=20 Athletes	2=40 Athletes	1=20 Athletes	1=20 Athletes	1=20 Athletes	1=20 Athletes	1=20 Athletes	1=20 Athletes	10 Teams
U-16 Teams	2=40 Athletes	2=40 Athletes	2=40 Athletes	2=40 Athletes	1=20 Athletes	2=40 Athletes	1=20 Athletes	1=20 Athletes	1=20 Athletes	14 Teams
U-14 # of Athletes	20	20	40	20	20	20	20	20	20	10 Teams
Total Athletes	80	80	120	80	60	80	60	60	60	680

Regional Team Selectors at the RFTs:

Selectors will consist of the Regional Head Coach, Regional Assistant Coach and 3 neutral selectors.
Selectors will be chosen from the coaching committee (as described above)
Regions allotted multiple teams per age group hold a draft concluding the selection process; the coaches draft to their teams

May 20 – June 13 (specific weekend TBD based on regional activity): Regional Training Camps (U-16 and U-19 only)

2 full days (Saturday – Sunday)
12-16 total hours of team training, team building, team meetings and team meals
Sessions held on water-based turf
Registration fee $285

June 20 – July 2 (approximate dates TBD): National Futures Championship

Regional teams compete against different regions U-16 and U-19 age groups
- Each Regional Team will play at minimum 5, 70-minute games
U-14 age group to compete mixed together
“Stars and Stripes Elite” game for all age groups
- U-16 and U-19 age groups: 68 total athletes, 4 teams, 2 games – 15 field players and 2 goalkeepers per team
  - Approximately 50 percent of athletes chosen to Junior National Camp
- U-14 age group – 34 total athletes, 2 teams, 1 game – 15 field players and 2 goalkeepers per team
Please see the NEW Olympic Development Pipeline below.

All questions regarding these changes should first be directed to your Regional Development Manager (RDM). All RDM contact information can be found here.

USA Field Hockey Announces Evolution of Futures Program

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