A background with St John Ambulance, a lifelong hockey family connection, a cardiac arrest at her rowing club and the time afforded by Covid-lockdowns – all the ingredients that came together for Anna Pim’s ground-breaking at the Heart of the Game project.

The Irish underage international’s initiative has already trained over 300 kids to perform potential life-saving CPR and the knowledge of how to use a defibrillator. 

It has led to the 19-year-old being recognised as one of the BBC’s Unsung Heroes at the 2022 Sports Personality of the Year awards, a Sport Northern Ireland Sportmaker of the Year winner and, most recently, the EuroHockey Youth Leader Festival prize winner in August.

Explaining the inspiration for the project, she talked about how the confluence of different experiences in her young life dovetailed to produce the idea.

“I was a cadet with St John Ambulance for seven years.” she explains. 

“There was an incident when I was 13 at my rowing club; one of my fellow rowers had a cardiac arrest. That is where the whole project came from. As my love is hockey, I concentrated my training throughout the clubs within the Ulster Hockey family and centred around the Under 13 age group. 

“The question I asked myself was would I have had the confidence and knowledge to save the rower’s life? Thankfully, people around that day were able to perform CPR and use the defibrillator and thankfully he survived. 

“My memories of that day, my love for hockey combined with St John Ambulance – lockdown was the primetime to pull it all together to make a difference in the community.  It is so important to give back and have influence on people’s lives.”

In the UK and Ireland, there are over 33,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year. With a survival rate of less than 1 in 10 people “at the Heart of the Game” has the power to drive change and save more lives.

“I sourced the CPR and AED equipment from St John Ambulance required to train youth members from clubs across the province of Ulster. Momentum grew with the support of Belfast City Airport’s community funding and fabulous support from Ulster Hockey, my initiative began. Dr Shirley McCay – Ireland’s most capped female sportsperson – and Olympic pentathlon legend Lady Mary Peters came on board as my ambassadors.

“The hockey family in Ireland is so small, you recognise faces wherever you go and the contacts you make are invaluable. I cannot thank those who have supported me throughout my initiative enough. They have been instrumental in raising the awareness.

“I have also raised vital funds to provide St John Ambulance with AED trainers and mannequins for their Cadet Divisions within the hockey club areas. This, in turn, increases the number of people trained within these communities.

“Although there are more defibrillators within clubs and communities, not a lot of people know how to use them. My aim was to give people the confidence and knowledge in case of a cardiac emergency.”

Anna managed to travel the length and breadth of Ulster, providing CPR and AED training alongside sitting her AS Level exams and captaining her country for the Under 18’s.

The initiative was on hold for the past year as she completed her A Level’s, was deputy head girl at her school, Methodist College Belfast and selected for the Irish Under-21 hockey squad.

“As I sat down during lockdown at the age 16 with my mum, I never thought my initiative would gain as much traction and awareness. It is incredible and I have learnt so much along the way.”

To that end, she says the accolades that have come her way have shone a welcome extra light on the project.

“It was great to be recognised for the work that I had done, this provided an even bigger platform for me to raise the awareness on the importance of learning CPR and AED use.”

“Hockey Ireland nominated me join the EuroHockey Youth Festival in Germany in August, for my work on at the Heart of the Game.

“Honestly, it was incredible,” she said of her time in Mönchengladbach and Düsseldorf.

“The days were packed with various activities such as team building, communications, coaching and officiating workshops. I played on the pitch and watched some of the opening games. I made many friendships and connections during my time in Germany. 

“It was fantastic to hear of all the inspirational work that goes on in hockey in orther countries.

“The trip also gave me an insight to where other countries are with their hockey development. Talking to other Youth Leaders it was evident that some other countries such as  Denmark and Sweden are  finding it hard to even field a national team.

“I was very honoured to be representing Ireland and be able to present at the Heart of the Game to the 35th General Assembly of the European Hockey Federation.”

Anna had to open her A Level results on her own while over in Germany, the morning of her presentation the the General Assembly.  Her A*AA grades meant Anna was offered a place at Bristol University.

Anna has combined her love for sport, business and leadership to create an educational programme for the sporting community throughout Ireland. Her passion for the at the Heart of the Game sees Anna deferring that spot. 

** We wish Anna the very best of luck with her venture, you can contact Anna on www.attheheartofthegame.co.uk.