About The Program
The Hockey Queensland Development Program supports the personal and professional development of Hockey Queensland members, with the 2025 program focusing on those in officiating roles.
The program pairs mentees with more experienced mentors who are willing to provide guidance, support and feedback for the mentee to achieve their developmental goals for their mentoring relationship. The mentor may help the mentee achieve or work toward personal or career goals, introduce the mentee to new ways of thinking, challenge a mentee’s limiting assumptions, share valuable life lessons, and much more.
During the mentoring journey, mentees will have the opportunity to pursue specific hockey development areas, which are in relation to their role with the support of their mentor, such as officiating, governance, interpretation of rules, regulations, seeding and developing draws, management tools for on field decisions and communication with co-umpires.
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What Do We Mean By Mentoring?
mentor: (noun) an experienced and trusted adviser.
Mentorship is a developmental relationship in which one person, usually more experienced or senior, takes time to assist the career, professional or personal development of someone else, who is known as a mentee. Mentoring is most often a one-on-one relationship but is sometimes done in groups.
A mentoring relationship is one that is built on trust, in which there is an exchange of knowledge, experience and goodwill.
Some examples of what our mentors may assist with:
- Act as a source of information and insight
- Suggest relevant options regarding career development or strategies for achieving
professional goals - Recommend possible resources to improve specific skills
- Help the mentee solve professional challenges in their working life
- Discuss issues of professional ethics
- Discuss workplace related issues and options for how these may be addressed
Why Is Mentoring Important?
The Hockey Queensland Development Program is an important component for developing and sustaining satisfying professional careers for Hockey Queensland members.
Participants in mentoring programs report a number of benefits from their participation: improved confidence, self-awareness, clearer career direction, better communication skills, listening skills, feedback skills, more assertive communication, and enhanced management skills.
Benefits of the Program
For mentees, some of the common benefits of the program include:
- Furthering your hockey officiating development
- Obtaining experienced guidance and support
- Exploring issues and concerns in a supportive and confidential relationship
- Learning from the experience of others
- Exploring your career development plan
- Receiving feedback and developmental guidance
- Networking and learning about effective networking
The program does not just benefit the mentees. Mentors find tremendous learning and development opportunities of their own. Some of the benefits that are frequently reported for mentors include:
- Contributing back to the profession, and gaining personal satisfaction by making a difference
for someone else - Learning and developing mentoring skills and enriching leadership and interpersonal skills
- Gaining intellectual challenge by working on issues outside day-to-day experience
- Discover fresh perspectives that may assist with their own work
- Increasing profile and expanding professional networks
This program is not about the mentor finding a job for the mentee or a guarantee of promotion. It is also not the mentor’s role to take on people leadership responsibilities on behalf of the reporting manager.
Who Can Apply?
To join as a mentee, you must:
- Be a Hockey Queensland member
- Be in an Umpire or Technical Official role
- Have a current level of experience of Foundation Support, Foundation Lead, Development Lead, Advanced Lead
- Have the time to commit to the program
- Have a desire to learn
- Actively seek and respond to feedback
To join as a mentor, you must:
- Be a Hockey Queensland member
- Be in an Umpire or Technical Official role
- Have a current level of experience of Development Lead, Advanced Lead, Performance or
Facilitator - Have the time to commit to the program
- Have a desire to learn
- Actively seek and respond to feedback
Both mentees and mentors must also be willing to complete the online training provided, review the support resources available and engage completely in the relationship process, connecting with your mentee/mentor at least monthly.
Application Process
Mentees and mentors will be asked to complete a short application form to assess their eligibility for the program and to collect details about what they are looking for in a mentoring partner.
Mentees will be asked questions about their background, and what they would like to achieve by working with a mentor. Mentors will be asked about the areas in which they feel comfortable
mentoring. Please give as much information as you reasonably can as it will assist the matching process.
You will be advised if there is a suitable match by late March 2025.
What's Involved?
The Hockey Queensland Development Program is a 7-month program, March 2025 to October 2025.
Mentors and mentees will be matched according to application details and are required to attend three events; Program Launch, Progress Review; and Program Close, all of which will be delivered live in Brisbane (with the option to attend virtually).
During the program, mentors and mentees will be expected to be in contact at least monthly.
Mentees and first-time mentors will also be expected to complete the Art of Mentoring online training module to prepare them for their mentoring relationship. Acceptance into the program is conditional upon your commitment to completion of the training.
The online mentoring platform will provide your mentoring partner’s details, the option to communicate with the Program Manager, and access the training and resources.
During the program, you will receive frequent communications from the Program Manager, giving you helpful tips and information about mentoring and access to other relevant materials available for supporting mentees and mentors.
During the mentoring journey, mentees will have the opportunity to pursue key hockey development areas with the support of their mentor, including officiating, governance, interpretation of rules, regulations, seeding and developing draws.
During and at the end of the program, you will be invited to provide feedback about your experience.