Roller Hockey in England: A Call to Lead Through Purpose and Ethics

During the WSE European Championships U17 in 2025, the results of the English roller hockey team have set off my alarms once again. Scores like 0–13 against technically superior teams point to issues beyond tactical execution. It's an urgent call to re-evaluate how we understand training, leadership, and purpose in sport—specifically in England.

As a professional who interprets human behavior to unlock latent talent, I’ve been in contact with England’s hockey ecosystem for two years. Not from the stands, but from a practical and ethical standpoint. How can such a well-structured system produce athletes with glaring technical and strategic shortcomings?

The Structure Exists, but the Impact Doesn't Reach

England has the England Academy, a framework that provides:

• Monthly regional and national training sessions

• Intensive summer and winter camps

• Developmental trips to Portugal

• Technical training with experts

  
  

For any child in Catalonia or Spain, this would be a dream. Yet the lack of international results exposes a systemic flaw that goes far beyond logistics.

Where Does My Profile Resonate in This Reality?

• Disconnection between structure and organizational culture   Just like in companies where values aren’t reflected in daily practice, here clubs fail to reinforce what the academy proposes. The result: siloed players without tactical coherence or methodological continuity.

  
  

• Lack of individual tracking and development   From my perspective as a strategist of behavior-driven growth, this gap is critical. Without a clear development map for each player or feedback to coaches, potential is lost—and with it, targeted improvement.

  
  

• Insufficient tactical pedagogy   Training is not the same as teaching. Teaching involves context. As in the corporate world, talent alone isn’t enough—you have to apply it at the right time. That means training specifically for what you want to happen in a match.

  
  

• Confusion around excellence standards   Calling someone a “level 5” player without mastering basic techniques is like promoting someone in a company for popularity rather than competence. Evaluation systems must be rigorous and immune to favoritism or attendance politics.

Leadership Rooted in Passion and Ethical Commitment

I’m not drawn to this sport for medals or prestige. I’m drawn to it because it’s a human lab where the principles I believe in can take shape: strategic clarity, intergenerational mentoring, feedback with purpose, and coherent rules. England could cultivate a generation of players with advanced social and technical competencies—if adults would lead with dignity and commitment, not convenience or ego.

Proposal: Transform the System Through Vocational Leadership

• Co-design the training system with clubs and federation, aligning values and methods

• Map age-based profiles with technical and emotional development plans

• Certify coaches progressively with tactical and ethical focus

• Promote a culture of mentorship as a standard across age categories

• Professionalize refereeing with an educational focus at youth levels

• Use data for decisions: minutes played, effort, recovery, progress tracking

None of this requires millions—only adults willing to transform.

THE UNCOMFORTABLE, CRUEL, AND DIRECT TRUTH:

Many children training in England today are losing their opportunity to learn how to compete, to feel what team means, to grow. Not because they lack talent—but because the adults around them—coaches, referees, leaders—haven’t taken this seriously.

And if they don’t act soon, England won’t just lose matches. It will lose an entire generation that never knew what they could become.