A venue of champions is an ever-evolving platform for youth sports excellence.
Celebrating the recent acquisition of the venue, Aspen Sports Academy held a star-studded afternoon of hockey hysteria at the Hillfox Action Sports Arena, on February 4. As part of their launch of Action Hockey at Hillfox, young hockey enthusiasts were invited to a free training session that ties in with Aspen’s vision of promoting youth participation in the country’s premier sports.
Promoted as a ‘pitch and play’, the two-hour session enlisted the services of five coaches taking roughly 40 buzzing preteens and teenagers of all skill levels through their paces. Spearheaded by top-tier hockey coach Raquel Barbosa, Aspen captured the star power of national men’s hockey player and South African indoor hockey captain, Owen Mvimbi, and national women’s player, Teshawn de la Rey, giving young players the rare chance to rub shoulders with elite players.
A rainy day in December left Raquel needing a place to train and after approaching the Hillfox arena for a space, the new venture was born. Action Hockey at Hillfox will be a five-a-side indoor version of the game played with a smooth ball. All normal rules apply but the Action version prohibits the ball from leaving the carpet as well as no stick lifting. The tight space limitation creates a game of quick pushes, and pacy short strokes with plenty of flair and fast stick control.
The arena will also be providing a venue for skills development classes that mirror those offered for cricket, soccer and netball.
“It is a perfect way to learn and promote a safe style of hockey,” said Owen, who will be assisting in a development capacity.
“This can add another dynamic by helping to bridge the gap between coaching at school and higher levels of participation. This has the potential to expose many children in the area to high-level coaching,” added the 53-cap Protea.
Mandy Brink, Operations Manager for Aspen Sports Academy, has been involved in Action Sports for almost 30 years and is a nationally accredited netball umpire.
“We aim to grow the game of hockey and cricket at junior levels. For the arena as a whole, we want to build on the family atmosphere of the arena to make it the best in South Africa. We say bring us your spares and we’ll take care,” said Mandy, noting the arena’s sterling netball development record.
The enthusiasm of attendees was too much to cram into two hours and Raquel was heartened by the unbounded energy. “It was an amazing afternoon, everyone was so keen to participate and learn,” she said, noting how games would break out spontaneously around the arena.
Players who showed even a hint of improvement received prizes and participation mementos. The doors are now open to anyone wishing to use hockey as their social activity.
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