Pembrokeshire youngsters who have shown potential in hockey have received extra coaching during the past five weeks at a development centre.
The hockey development centre has been run by Sport Pembrokeshire in collaboration with the Welsh Hockey Union (WHU) for boys and girls under the age of 14.
The aim of the development centre was to develop the core skills of the young players, who had been nominated by their school or hockey club as having shown promise.
The coaching has been lead by head coach Roger Middleton and assisted by Angela Miles, hockey development officer for Pembrokeshire, together with coaches from Julie Campbell, Brenda Scourfield, Wendy Burge, Sarah Martin, Scott Lewis and Paul Jewell, from various Pembrokeshire hockey clubs.
On Saturday (18th June) 34 of the players attended a hockey festival at the Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff, with players from other development centres in South Wales. Also taking place over the weekend at the Centre was the Men's Celtic Cup hockey event.
The players went into groups of 20 with members of the Welsh squad and completed a 20-minute warm up. This was followed by eight stations of core skills, culminating in small games.
The Pembrokeshire group stayed to watch Ireland play France, which Ireland won 7-1.
Angela Miles said: "The whole group were inspired by the day, from what they had learnt during the coaching sessions, meeting the Welsh squad, and seeing the level of hockey played by Ireland and France."
Caption 1
Some of the Pembrokeshire players who attended the hockey festival, with Welsh international player Andy Cornick, from Pembroke.
Designed and Developed by Pembrokeshire County Council
Copyright © 2013 Pembrokeshire Youth Zone