PRESS RELEASE: Olympic hockey star Helen Richardson signs up with A-Star Sports to help build the 2012 Legacy

One of the UK’s most dynamic sports coaching companies is helping to ensure that the legacy of the London 2012 Olympics, the most successful Games in modern times, is being passed on to the next generation.

A-Star Sports, which has franchises across Britain, has signed up GB hockey star and Olympic bronze medallist Helen Richardson as an ambassa

dor who will meet and inspire the children who come to the firm’s classes and holiday clubs.

Her first appearance will be at Cheshire County Sports Club in Chester, one of the company’s regular venues, on October 26 where Helen will join with young children on the road to enjoying sport for life through a wide variety of fun and developmental activities.

A-Star Sports co-founder Sharon Bassett said: “Helen’s courageous and tenacious spirit in the hockey arena contributed hugely to Team GB’s tremendous achievements – what a fantastic medal tally – and the optimism and sheer pride that resulted from them.

“She is a wonderful personality who leads by example and will help our youngsters take their participation in the sports of their choice to a new level. I am sure Helen’s involvement will encourage more girls to become active in sport.”

A-Star Sports, which is less than a year old, offers multi-sports coaching for children from two years old to 10, teaching them to play individually, in games with a partner or in teams.

It already has 11 territories throughout the UK and the franchise, which is a Provisional Member of the bfa, is projecting the establishment of 40 territories in the UK within the next three to four years and has identified an ultimate potential of 240 centres. It has just been included in the 2012 Startups 100.

At the event in Chester on the 26th, the go-ahead company will join with Helen and the existing franchise owners in providing positive role models and making sports fun for the participants, giving them access to a wide range of sports in keeping with the theme of the Olympic legacy.

Helen grew up playing a variety of sports before focusing solely on hockey. With Steffi Graf as her sporting idol, she enjoys playing tennis and is also a keen golfer.

The 30-year-old (note: 31 on Sept 23) from Nottingham became the youngest person to represent Team GB at the 2000 Olympic Games when she was 18. She is recognised as one of the best players in the World having been named in the FIH World All Stars Team three years in succession from 2009 to 2011. She was part of the GB team that won silver in the 2012 Champions trophy and not surprisingly cites her greatest achievement as winning the Bronze medal at London 2012, thereby realising a life long dream to be an Olympic medallist.

She said: “I am delighted to be teaming up with A-Star Sports to help make sure that children in future are able to benefit from a comprehensive sporting education. Sport and competition are essential elements in young lives.

“I have been impressed with the enthusiasm and dedication that the A-Star Sports coaching teams bring to their classes and the emphasis that sport can be fun as well as physically and mentally rewarding.

“I think that the fantastic performances that we saw during our wonderful summer of sport – especially the inspirational Paralympics – have really made people sit up and take notice and it is up to us now to keep the momentum going.”

Helen, like the co-founders of A-Star Sports, is especially keen to generate interest in sport among girls, who were identified in research by the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation as being less active in a number of sports than they should be.

Sharon said: “Helen and her team mates showed how fast, dramatic and exciting sports like hockey could be, and we would like to see more girls share in that experience. The Olympics have been terrific for profiling sports which don’t usually get much attention.

“The excitement and drama of London 2012 has brought into sharp focus what has always been our sporting mission – to make sport fun and enjoyable as well as promoting a healthy, happy lifestyle for Britain’s sporting stars of the future.”

For further information, contact Sharon Bassett at A-Star Sports. T: 07932 182148 W: www.a-starsports.co.uk.