Sports Instructor

Aimee Brown

Childhood obesity has reached alarming proportions in Australia but, through Little Giants Sports, instructors Anna Hansen and JR Gonzalez are doing their part to tackle it.

In various Sydney locations, Hansen, 23, and Gonzalez, 24, hold regular classes with preschool and primary school children, teaching them the basics of sports including soccer, tennis, cricket, Aussie Rules football and netball.

Their aim is to instil good exercise habits at an early age and to foster the link between playing sport and having fun. “We’re not only teaching them sport and getting them active, we’re promoting a healthy lifestyle as well,” Hansen says. “We give the kids fruit during the break and teach them about their muscles and bones and the importance of stretching. We give them little certificates after each class for each sport they have learnt, just to make it a little bit more fun.”

They meet the children once a week and teach them a new sport every class. During the first half of the session, they are taught the basics. During the second half, they have the chance to put their new skills into practice by playing the sport. Gonzalez says that the children begin to blossom as they progress through the program. “They often start out quite shy,” he says. “But you see them develop and build relationships with the other children as they go along.”

Hansen and Gonzalez came up with the idea while studying at the Australian Catholic University in North Sydney. Hansen became concerned after studying the adverse impact of obesity among children and, with Gonzalez, resolved to do something positive about it. They set up the business after graduating, and it has quickly grown. In just six months they have doubled the number of classes and branched out into children’s parties, where they apply the same idea, but adapt it to whatever party theme the children request. “A popular one is a Nippers theme,” Hansen says.

“We’ll do sack races and some of the different competitions that lifesavers do. They love it and the parents love it too.”

HOW TO BE…
a sports instructor
You need to complete a degree in exercise science or a related field or a certificate in fitness through a registered training organisation. Contact Fitness Australia on 02 9460 6130 or at fitnessaustralia.com.au

By Aimee Brown, The Daily Telegraph, June 17,  2006.