Harnessing Talent Athlete

Denise Austin - International - Volleyball

Biography:

Denise was born in Lancashire and has played Beach Volleyball all over the world. She was a FIVB World Tour player from 1999 - 2003. In 2006 she was the top ranked British player.

Denise first started playing volleyball when a coach saw her watching a game at college when she was 16 and asked if she wanted to play. Denise says she quit every other sport she was playing and gave every spare minute to volleyball. She started beach volleyball when she was 21 in a local beach volleyball event and won 150 back in 1990. From there she travelled to Perth in Australia, where her parents had emigrated, and saw pro beach volleyball being played and she never looked back.

The first team Denise played for was North Devon College and in their second and third years won the BASIC Championships. In 1989, she retired from indoor to play beach volleyball. She now spends most of her time training at Croyde Beach where she works as a beach volleyball coach to the National Squads, while maintaining her position as the number one ranked player in the UK.

Denise says her proudest achievement was gaining 7th position in Portugal 2000 in an Olympic qualifying year with a full draw of the world's top players. Denise says: 'The best bit is that I did all of it myself. No one said you can play for England, gave me the money and the tracksuit and said off you go. Everything I achieved I did by my own hard work and sacrifice.'

In 2007, she was voted Defender of the year on the Volleyball England Beach Tour.

Click here to see her Competitive Record

Click here to see how Denise and DKH Legacy Trust are working together, and to find out about Denise's 'giving back to sport' activities