Australian Beach Volleyball Olympians Coaching Little Champions at Coram's Fields

On the anniversary of London’s riots, 3rd time Australian Olympian, Tamsin Hinchley and her Coach, 4 time Olympian Steve Anderson joined London Youth’s “Getting Ready for the Games and Beyond Program” at Coram’s fields to deliver practical volleyball sessions and motivational workshop to London’s youth, aged from 8 to 19.

London Youth’s objective is to increase the number of typically inactive young people playing sport and to build the long-term capacity of community-based youth organisations to deliver diverse and accessible sports programmes.

During this session, Steve Anderson delivered an inspirational speech focused on the Champion mindset, a session designed for young people to develop the Champion mindset, habits, tools and skills that will allow them to use their gifts, purpose and passions to create a fulfilling and successful life. These insights were taken from the Champions Map, a program he originally designed for his athletes, that has now been adopted by charities and corporates. "On paper", Steve came from the wrong place, started too late and wasn't qualified to achieve many if not all of the things that he has today. Steve is the first African American coach in Beach Volleyball to compete in 4 Olympic Games. He is also the first African American coach to have coached his teams to Olympic Gold and Bronze Medals as well as 23 International Medals including 8 at the Federation de International Volleyball (FIVB) World Championships.

Steve believes that if this time together, through community participation and involvement, contributes to helping a child more effectively address issues such as bullying, gangs or social isolation then we have contributed to our team’s mission of Olympic legacy.

The London Youth vision aligns with the Modern Muse vision and Tamsin and I had the opportunity to spend some valuable team coaching the young girls' Youth program. Tamsin also undertook a Q+A with young people and parents. They signed autographs and presented a number of awards to young people who stood out for them during their visit based not just on ability but also their attitude. They also participated in family and group photos.

Tamsin and Steve also met with local media including Sky News and Al Jazeera's Children's program to draw attention to the current funding challenges of Coram's Fields and other London Youth programs. Coram's Fields is alleged to have lost almost 60% of their funding in the recent coalition budget cuts and their sports program will have to close at the end of the year if they don't receive new funding. One children's sports program costs only 1000 GBP for an eight month program. Without their sports pitches or sports programs, life will be difficult for many of these young disadvantaged children who rely on Coram's Fields as a safe place to spend time in their local community, to build friendships, to learn new skills and to grow and develop so that they too can build meaningful and fulfilling lives and contribute to others. One Coram's Fields group of youth have already raised funds to visit Gambia to inspire other disadvantaged youth through their love of tag rugby.

After our day on site, we sent out social media and text message to all of our international networks to ask them to TEXT Donate CFPP12 £(Insert donation in numbers only) to 70070 to help keep these programs running.

It's inspiring to hear an Olympic Athlete say that their journey is not just about participating in London 2012 as an elite athlete or winning a medal, it is about leaving a lasting legacy in London. Tamsin's hope is that through this time together at Coram’s Fields, it is just the catalyst for young people to share and develop the Olympic values of respect, friendship, courage, determination and equality.

Rosie Ferguson Chief Executive, London Youth was delighted that the Olympic athletes are taking the time to meet young Londoners, and to see effective youth work in action at Coram’s Fields. Young people in London have been inspired by the Olympics, and London Youth’s Getting Ready for the Games programme has helped over five thousand young people participate in sports and learn coaching and leadership skills. It is really important now that the games leave a lasting legacy to fund youth sport at grass roots level in the future, so that London Youth and Coram’s Fields can continue to inspire a new generation of sports people.

Steve Anderson's next mission is to connect the Team GB Beach Volleyball team program with London Youth so that grass roots opportunities can exist for future athletes and a long term legacy will remain after they return home next week.

The Coram’s Fields visit marks the first day of the Australian Olympian’s London 2012 Legacy 7 day Philanthropy program where they will be donating their time for charity, corporate leadership and community engagement. These initiatives include ModernMuse, AMREF, LA Fitness, Amnesty International, Medecins Sans Frontieres, a Global Bank and London Youth.

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About Coram’s Fields
Coram's Fields is a unique seven acre playground and park for children and young people living in or visiting London. It includes a Youth Centre, Children's Centre, Community Nursery, Sports Programme, a city farm and a cafe which is open from March until October. The park is open all year round from 9am until dusk and is free and open to children and young people under 16. No adult can enter Coram's Fields without a child and our friendly on-site staff ensures that everyone can enjoy their visit. Coram's Fields is in the heart of London between King's Cross and Holborn. Coram's Fields is a charity offering activities for children and young people as a result of donations and fundraising activities. Please note that Coram's Fields is not part of the Coram group of charities which includes the Thomas Coram Centre. Full details can be found here: www.coramsfields.org.uk

About London Youth
London Youth is a network of 400 community organisations serving 75,000 young people and their families in neighbourhoods across the capital. We want everyone growing up in and around London to enjoy access to high quality youth work – structured, developmental activities, someone to talk to and a positive peer-group – all within a safe, stimulating and supportive environment. London Youth’s mission is to help young people be the best they can be. Its vision is of a great world city in which every young person, whatever their background, is valued and challenged to do just that. We do this in London through an ever evolving range of contemporary programmes covering youth action and youth leadership, sports development, employability, the environment, tackling youth crime, youth work training, the London Youth Quality Mark (our quality assurance scheme accredited by City & Guilds), and at our two outdoor residential centres, Woodrow High House and Hindleap Warren, which also host Activenture, our residential adventure weeks for young people with disabilities. Full details of London Youth’s work can be found on the website: www.londonyouth.org

About Steve Anderson
Steve Anderson has coached his teams four times to Olympic Gold and Bronze Medals as well as 23 International Medals including 8 at the Federation de International Volleyball (FIVB) World Championships. Today he has just completed his journey leading 5 times Olympian, Natalie Cook (gender equity and gay rights champion) and 3 times Olympian, Tamsin Hinchley (working mother champion) at London 2012. Steve coached Natalie Cook to a bronze in Atlanta and gold in Sydney. In addition Steve has coached over 100 Professional Athletes from 13 different countries, 16 of which have represented their country at the Olympic Games. Steve received the 2001 Australian Volleyball National Coach of the Year award and his team was awarded the 1990-2000 FIVB International Team of the Decade and 2001 Queensland Sports Team of the Year. Steve is the first African American ever to coach Beach Volleyball at an Olympic level and the first African American to have coached in 4 Olympic Games: London 2012, Athens 2004, Sydney 2000, and Atlanta 1996. Steve also works with the African Scouts, a joint venture with Brisbane City Council Sport and Recreation, the Queensland Volleyball Association, Scouts Queensland and the African Cultural Association to which Steve is a Board Member and provides leadership training and a vehicle for Assisting Ethnic Youth with maintaining their esteem while assimilating into Australian culture.

About Tamsin Hinchley
Tamsin Hinchley (née Barnett), born 10 March 1980 in Adelaide is an Australian volleyball player who has competed in 3 Olympic Games. Growing up on a small farm outside Ballarat, Hinchley was an accomplished rower at high school, winning silver in the schoolgirls open four at the 1997 Australian Championships, the same year that she played in her first indoor volleyball nationals.

An Australian Institute of Sport Scholarship holder, she also competed in the Asian Women's Indoor Volleyball Championships (2001 and 2003) and the World University Games (2003). She was selected as Australia's Player of the Year and Player’s Player of the Year in 2002 and competed for Team Caja d’Avila in 2003 that placed fourth in both the Spanish National League First Division and CEV European Club Championships. Between 1998 and 2005, she also played over 250 internationals including the World Championships. Hinchley paired up with Natalie Cook in 2005, winning the National Titles and then going on to take out the 2007 Seoul Open - their third World Tour event together. Hinchley was named the 2007 Most Improved Player on the FIVB World Tour. Hinchley and Cook competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, going down in the quarter-finals to finish fifth. In 2009, Hinchley married and had a baby boy Arley. In the lead up to London, Hinchley's husband and son lived in Melbourne, whilst Hinchley trained in Adelaide and spent a lot of time on tour. Cook and Hinchley won the Continental Cup in China to book their spot in London 2012. More details can be found here: http://london2012.olympics.com.au/athlete/tamsin-hinchley-barnett