Providing an amazing hockey experience for young players in Leeds
We currently have over 250 junior members at Adel, and we strive to deliver an amazing youth hockey experience in welcoming and inclusive environment. We are incredibly proud to have one of the highest proportion of state-school children playing hockey for a club of our size in England – a testament to our fantastic community-first volunteer ethos. Whether your child is just starting out, or aiming to push themselves to the highest level, they have a home at Adel.
Our Junior Journey
Adel Pups (Ages 5 – 8)
Your child’s hockey journey begins here. Available for ages 5 – 8, our Adel Pups programme is all about inspiring a lifelong love for the sport with a strict focus on FUN!
- Safe & Accessible: Because we use lightweight, oversized training balls, no gum shields or shin guards are required to get started.
- Exceptional Coaching: We pride ourselves on a 1:4 coach-to-child ratio, ensuring every single player receives active encouragement, safety, and personal attention in every session.
- Tournament Play: We proudly host and run the regional Under 8s league, giving our Pups the exciting opportunity to play in friendly, tournament-style fixtures right here on our home pitch throughout the year.
Under 10s & Under 12s
We run three boys’ teams and three girls’ teams at both the U10 and U12 age groups. All of our teams proudly represent Adel in the Yorkshire Youth Hockey League (YYHL) and national England Hockey Competitions.
- A Level for Everyone: We cater to all abilities, with squads playing in top-tier regional divisions down to local beginner leagues. Your child will play at a level where they can build genuine confidence.
Under 14s, Under 16s & Under 18s
As players grow, we support their development into the full 11-a-side game, offering pathways for both social and elite-level athletes.
- Regional Leagues: We run at least one boys’ and girls’ team in both the U14 and U16 age groups, competing regularly in the Yorkshire & North East Regional Leagues and cup competitions.
- Tier 1 Hockey: We are also very proud of our U14 Boys entering the England Hockey Tier 1 competition, representing the club at the absolute highest junior level in the country.
- Cup Runs: Our U18s compete on the national stage in prestigious England Hockey Cup matches.
Unique to Leeds: Saturday Development Teams (Ages 10–14)
We are incredibly proud to be the only hockey club in Leeds to run dedicated Junior Development teams playing weekly competitive 11-a-side Saturday hockey!
Our two development teams help bridge the gap for 10 to 14-year-olds making the transition from junior to senior hockey. It offers a safe, supportive, and highly structured pathway to build confidence playing alongside experienced club mentors before entering our main senior teams.
The Adel Pathway
We take integration of our junior players into our senior teams very seriously. We understand it can be an exciting and nerve racking time – presenting opportunities and challenges.
To help with this we have a group of senior members who oversee and support this transition. Led by Jim Robinson, Natalie Innes and Louis Bowden, it is also supported by the men’s and women’s club captains, junior coordinator and coaches and captains of each senior team.
The group has two main aims:
- Identifying and promoting the most talented junior players, aiming to progress them into the top end of the club quickly. The aim of this is to support a “pipeline” of juniors capable of playing first team hockey, maximising the time they can play at that level.
- Supporting all juniors to be able to become “lifelong” hockey players, who continue playing beyond junior teams.
For more information on this contact juniors@adelhockey.co.uk
We offer a free taster session to anyone who is thinking about joining us.
- Free taster session
- No stick required
If you are interested in joining us, please click here to get in touch!
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