Colin is Ulster Hockey's Children's Coach 2021-22

Youth Coach Colin Henning had a pleasant surprise at the club's presentation dinner on the 4th June when it was announced by Ulster Hockey President George Wilson, that he had been awarded the prestigious Ulster Hockey Children's Coach for 2021-22.

Shocked by the award, Colin said it was recognition not just for himself, but for all the youth coaches within the club.

Modest as usual, Colin plays down the personal effort and commitment he has made to the youth within the club over recent years. It's an award that is fully deserved and is a great honour for both Colin and for the club.

Open to all clubs within Ulster Hockey, the award recognises the outstanding contribution of a children’s coach to the development of young people’s skills, understanding, enjoyment, and lifestyle through sport.

As the lead Youth Coach and Youth Liaison Officer within Newry Olympic, Colin has been instrumental in developing youth hockey within the club over the last two years and in the 2021-22 season in particular. This has been a significant challenge given the restrictions placed on the sport from Covid lockdowns and protocols

A true club person, Colin has played senior hockey for Newry Olympic for all of his playing career. He completed the Fundamentals Coaching certificate with Ulster Hockey in November 2014 and although having always been involved in club youth hockey, it was in August 2020 that Colin volunteered to take on the lead coaching role.

Colin organises the youth coaching section on Saturday mornings at the club grounds. He works tirelessly with all the young players to develop their interest in the game and instil the basic hockey skills and techniques. He has also gained the support from parents and other senior players to assist in the coaching sessions.

Colin has been instrumental in doubling our youth membership from 60 at the start of the year, to the current level of over 120 young players aged from 5 to 15 years regularly attending youth coaching sessions. Although hockey is not a mainstream sport, our youth players represent 29 different schools from within the wider Newry area.

Through Colin’s efforts, there have been several notable firsts for the club’s youth hockey section this season.

For the first time in our history, the club has been able to field a Girls Under-15 team. The team was also entered in the Ulster Hockey Development League and remained unbeaten in matches against Dromore and Armagh.  Friendlies were played against Ballynahinch HC as well as other games with Armagh and Dromore. Goalkeeper Abby Moffett was also selected to take part in an Ulster Hockey Development Coaching session at Stormont at the start of the season.

The club was also able to enter boys’ and girls’ teams in Ulster Hockey Blitzes for the first time. Under-11 and Under-13 teams from both the boys and girls’ sections played in blitzes at Lisnagarvey and Banbridge. All the youth teams from the club were turned out professionally with new kit provided for the matches. The matches and the whole event were really enjoyed by everyone taking part and by the teams' supporters. The highlight from the blitzes was the Under-13 girls’ team which had great success by remaining unbeaten against more experienced opposition.

Colin has also organised blitzes with Kilkeel and home and away blitzes with Boyne Hockey Club held in Newry and in Drogheda.

Colin always ensures that having fun is at the forefront of the coaching approach he has adopted for the young players. He guarantees entertaining events for players and for parents at Christmas and at the end of the season, with games, barbeques and bouncy castles being the order for the day!

With hockey not being played at a competitive level in local schools, it is through Colin and his personal efforts that hockey has a very bright future at Newry Olympic.