Dear Members,
This bulletin is to serve as a update as to what is happening with the national squads in the future. There has been a lot of work put in by people who do not get the credit they should, the youth players we have coming through are a great testament to those players and coaches who dedicate hours week after week to allowing them to progress through the national squad structure.
So I would like to say thanks to all those who coach, help, organise and allow the future of our sport to look so promising.
From a personal point of view I hold my hands up and say I made mistakes both with my Under 23s as well as the overarching selection process across Team GB. With this in mind and with consultation I released a Vision document which I believe outlines some of the steps we need to take before our next major tournament and the subsequent steps to hit achievable targets in the future.
The mental side of top level competition was one such area that players and coaches said they would like to learn more about so I set about finding and recruiting someone to help Team GB in that. Martin Robert-Hall from Manchester is going to be doing four workshops and is extremely keen to come out to the next elite world championships to help the squad finish this evolution.
The current plan is to have four workshops with the first one to be held on July 12th 2014 at Britannia Country House Hotel, Palatine Road, Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2WG.
There are currently 85 people who have committed to this but there should be at least 150 attendees from the coaches, managers and players. If you do not believe you have said you are coming please email me at
squadsmgr@gbuwh.co.uk to get your name added to the list.
This workshop will set the framework for how Team GB operates in the future and the behaviours we want to follow so the more people that start the journey the quicker those behaviours will start to become the norm.
In terms of competitions our next major one will be in 2015 which will be U19, U23 for both men and women. Location is still to be confirmed but likely to be in Europe, for budgeting purposes you need to be looking at £1,500 per player.
2016 see the elites and masters for men and women have their world championships, again location to be confirmed but likely to be South Africa. If you want start saving the budget will be around £2,100-2,500 per player.
2017 sees it being U19, U23 for both men and women again however this is likely to be much further away. Initial chatter suggests an Asian location Philippines, Singapore so the budget will increase to over £2,000 per player easily.
The end of the four year cycle in 2018 could likely see the world championships for elite and masters being held in Medellin, Colombia. As far as it goes for the UK that’s as far away as we can get and it will take both money, holiday and altitude acclimatisation in order to compete at that one.
In terms of training sessions the men have the following sessions locked in.
11th January 2014 – Loughborough University – 1230-2030
8th February 2014 – Loughborough University – 1230 – 2030
15th March 2014 – Loughborough University – 1230 – 2030
These first three are open sessions, so if you think you have the talent and fitness to compete for a spot why not come down and show it? Please email
squadsmgr@gbuwh.co.uk a week prior to the session to indicate you are attending.
Georgie Lamble in her role as GB Ladies Coordinator is currently finalising pool bookings and will be emailing you shortly. If you want to go to sessions please email
squadsmgr@gbuwh.co.uk and I will forward your emails to her.
Finally that brings us to coaching and managing the respective squads. With the intensity of these next 5 years it would be my preference that coaches and managers who are voted in at the National Squads Meeting on 29th June 2014 run with their squads until 2017 and 2018 respectively. As with a two year drum beat it is going to be difficult to change and get across new ideas.
Please have no illusion that the national squad management positions are in no way full or have succession planning. There are numerous vacancies across the board right now which are looking for knowledgeable and dedicated people to work with the best this country has to offer with the aim of getting and making them better.
If you would like to put yourself up for one of the following positions
Ladies
U19 Manager
U19 Coach
U23 Manager
U23 Coach
Masters Manager
Masters Coach
Elite Manager
Elite Coach
Men’s
U19 Manager
U19 Coach
U23 Manager
U23 Coach
Masters Manager
Masters Coach
Elite Manager
Elite Coach
Can you please email me at
squadsmgr@gbuwh.co.uk by May 1
st 2014, this will be the closing date for applications. The purpose of this is that this will be the full re-election of positions since 2011 so will need to plan out the meeting. For any positions that are contested I am going to ask the nominees to do a 5-10 minute presentation in order to state their case. I will inform those people affected individually after May 1
st 2014.
Thanks for reading and from me and the BOA Committee have a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
Andrew