The Hockey New Zealand ‘Whole of Hockey Business Plan’ identifies a desire for a regional talent program to operate in each of the eight geographical regions recognised by Hockey New Zealand. The intent for each regional talent program is that it will provide coaching, development, player case management and specialist services for age group representative and national players who are part of the national junior and senior high performance programmes while training locally.

Hockey Academy South is the regional talent program servicing the Canterbury region. This incorporates five hockey associations, specifically Canterbury, Malvern, Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury and West Coast.

The intent of Hockey Academy South is to deliver the outcomes identified as desired by Hockey New Zealand for a regional talent program. In addition, it is desired that a program can be established that will enable elite athletes to be able to remain in the South Island, rather than the current perception that at some point all elite athletes must relocate to the Auckland region to access national team opportunities.