Richard Brickley OBE MBE has been recognised with the UK Coaching Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding service to participants with disabilities enjoying and benefitting from the physical, social and psychological opportunities provided by physical activity and sport. Richard has truly provided a lifetime of service to physical activity and sport coaching for participants with disabilities.
Achievement over a sustained period with a number of athletes
He is a true believer that coaching can transform the lives of people with disabilities and that coaches craft their skills, knowledge and expertise within their Governing Bodies. Hence to support coaches working with participants with disabilities, inclusion needs to be embedded in all aspects of all coach education and development.
For over 40 years Richard has tirelessly devoted himself to ensure people with disabilities have the opportunity to benefit in sport and physical activity regardless of their age, stage and ability. He is passionate and unwavering in his desire to ensure the physical, psychological and social benefits of physical activity and sport are available for people with a disability. He has been committed and motivated and feels privileged in developing sport through coaching for people with disabilities at a local, national and international level and is arguably the leading authority in disability sport in the UK.
He has inspired so many to take up sport and reach their full potential, and he has been there to sustain their interest.
Passionate and committed to the world of disability sport, his influence spans every facet of disability sport from coaching to classifying, from events to strategy and policy. His input into disability sport cannot be overstated – his drive and ambition for sporting opportunities has touched the lives of thousands of athletes, enriching their lives physically and socially. His planning and preparation are exceptional and he has worked long hours to ensure that everything runs smoothly and that the maximum number of athletes reaps the rewards of involvement. He is a perfectionist, always making time for anybody who has an interest in seeking his advice on any issue. For years he has been the father figure within Scottish Disability Sport and so many of the current coaches, athletes, and volunteers have flourished under his guidance and stewardship.
Richard has been at seven Paralympic Games, Stoke Mandeville and New York in 1984, and Seoul in 1988 as an athletics coach for the team. At a local level Richard has been instrumental in so many young people and adults embarking on the fun and enjoyment sport has to bring, as well as being a major contributor to the development of many of the Scottish Paralympians most recently Derek Rae and Owen Miller (gold medallist) amongst others who performed with success in the Paralympics Tokyo 2020. Whilst not coaching either athlete per se he was instrumental in ensuring a coach was found to meet the needs of the two athletes.
Dedication to person-centred coaching throughout the coach’s career
Richard was a key contributor to the development of the Activity Inclusion Model which is a cornerstone of Inclusive Coaching in Scotland and is being adopted at a UK level through SDS’s sister organisations. The Activity Inclusion Model provides a simple overview of inclusion in its many forms, with the most important concept being the participant at the centre of inclusion for sport for people with a disability.
Activity inclusion Model video
In his practice, Richard always puts the participant at the centre of his thinking and coaching.
Wider impact the coach has had on their participants and their communities
Richard was possibly never happier than coaching participants with disabilities but also recognised the wider impact he could have through the development of inclusive coaching across physical activity and sport. Therefore, he has been vital in creating learning across sports to make coaches more confident and competent in the inclusion of participants with disabilities.
Richard has been a visionary leader and a great ambassador for the disability sports movement and coaching. His passion for Coaching, Education and Training was acknowledged when he was asked to become the inaugural chair of the UK Coaching, Learning and Leadership Group, which was formed in 2007. The group was established to advise the UK Coaching Framework on disability sport and the inclusion of children, athletes and players with a physical, sensory or learning disability. For the first time in coaching history, such a group had been formed to demonstrate the influence coaching, training and education could have on future generations and support a changing a culture of inclusion. Richard with his usual flair accepted the challenge and produced policy papers and implemented positive projects and programmes within coaching over the next three years at a UK level. (The group still exists to this day in an updated format). He only stood down as chair of the UK group in order to set up a similar organisation in relation to Scotland.
The impact of the groups has been to corral leading experts in coaching and disability to set the vision for coaching and learning within Scotland and contributing the SDS dimension to key documents. Richard has been relentless in establishing a learning environment which is inclusive of people with a disability which is not just a shared philosophy but also put into practice.
Examples of innovative practice
Each new challenge excites Richard to develop solutions which will truly support children, young people and athletes to become involved in sport. He has been a major contributor to the development of cutting edge courses with sport specific governing bodies where he is working with SGBs to promote inclusion through sport and embed the golden thread of disability through qualifications and continuous professional development opportunities.
Examples of programmes or legacies
He was an instrumental part of building the Introduction to Inclusive Practice eLearning Model, supporting many workshops to move on line through virtual classrooms and developing materials for a blended learning approach. Richard was always willing to share and enable learning so others could benefit.