Confused by the all new (and ever changing!) terminology in the Talent System?? See the the below from England Hockey
What is County Hockey?
• Junior County Hockey is the new name for junior county hockey programmes previously known as Development Centres (DC) and Academy Centres (AC)
• Junior County (Sub Area) Hockey will continue to provide an exciting and aspirational representative opportunity for the U12-U17 age groups that provides a different experience to regular club or school hockey.
• It is a standalone development experience, focused on preparing for and competing in representative teams.
• It is one route to progress to the next stage of the talent system and counties can nominate players for Talent Academy and/or England Age Group trials.
• For some players County Hockey will be one of several talent foundation opportunities they take up and it is regarded as steppingstone towards both elite domestic and international performance hockey. For others it will be the pinnacle of their representative hockey and hopefully a stepping stone to life-long enjoyment and involvement in the sport. Both these outcomes are worthy aims and valuable to the long-term development of hockey.