The UNIQLO Interview: Geraint Richards | ITF
Article 28 Nov 2023

The UNIQLO Interview: Geraint Richards

Ross McLean

28 Nov 2023

When considering individuals who have made a sizeable impact on Paralympic sport from the ground up then Geraint Richards is a name that will feature prominently in most conversations of that nature.

After all, he built a coaching portfolio that took him from a tennis club in Lisvane, Cardiff to masterminding and overseeing the astonishing performance of Great Britain at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

When it comes to wheelchair tennis, Richards has influenced both the developmental and performance space with distinction, but he has seemingly done so with a refreshing level of self-awareness and indeed self-deprecating humour.

During a captivating half-hour conversation, it became abundantly clear that Richards has a few tales up his sleeve. One story from the time he accompanied future junior world No. 2 Louise Hunt to the Johan Cruyff Foundation Junior Masters reflects his down-to-earth demeanour.

“I was told I was going to the south of France but when we landed on the runway I was thinking, ‘what is all that white stuff?’,” Richards told itftennis.com. “Louise pointed out that it was snow and that we were indeed in the south of France, but at the base of the Pyrenees.

“There were 4000 people at the event but spot the British coach in shorts and a t-shirt. They had to take me to a supermarket to buy some trousers. People were wetting themselves and couldn’t believe it.”

A decade later Richards, in his role as Performance Director for Great Britain Wheelchair Tennis, was there in the shadow of Christ the Redeemer in Rio as Great Britain produced a stunning Paralympic performance.

At those Games, Great Britain claimed six wheelchair tennis medals – more than any other nation – as Gordon Reid, Alfie Hewett, Andy Lapthorne, Lucy Shuker, Jordanne Whiley and Jamie Burdekin all made the podium.

“Just having the opportunity to steer a performance programme was special,” said Richards. “I was very lucky. I had a huge budget but that brought its own pressures with people saying, ‘if you can’t do it with this, you will never be able to do it’.

“But we put a professional structure in place and I was really, really proud of what we achieved. What we did in Rio, not in our wildest dreams could we have imagined we would bring home a haul of medals like that.

“Great Britain also won the wheelchair tennis category of the European Tennis Trophy that year. The Netherlands had won it every year since its inception but in 2015 we came joint top with them and in 2016 we won it outright.

“When I first went to the LTA, I was told to follow the best and find out what they were doing and how they were doing it. That was obviously the Dutch so we studied them and, for a short time, overtook them.”

For Richards, the road to the Paralympic summit began at Lisvane Tennis Club in north Cardiff in the late 1990s. Within a blink of an eye, he was offered the manager’s role at the Welsh National Tennis Centre – a role he fulfilled alongside his work in Lisvane.

The new incumbent at the Welsh National Tennis Centre immediately introduced a wheelchair tennis club and the Cardiff and Vale Tennis Stars – the only standalone club in the UK for people with learning disabilities.

Richards became increasingly involved with para sport and in 2006 he was appointed National Junior Coach for wheelchair tennis, while a year later he guided Great Britain’s juniors to World Team Cup glory for the first time.

“I didn’t actually apply for this role because I was so busy at Lisvane and the Welsh National Tennis Centre,” added Richards wryly. “The next thing I knew, I got an email saying my interview was on such a date. I thought to myself, ‘there is a good chance I will get this’.”

This role preceded his position as Performance Director for Great Britain Wheelchair Tennis and for the first time he became intertwined with the Johan Cruyff Foundation and the ITF wheelchair tennis competition structure.

During this period Richards devoted a significant amount of time to sporting development projects for people with disabilities in countries across the globe. Indeed, he visited to Moldova, Albania, Serbia, Romania, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Mauritius, Brazil, Morocco and Latvia.

“I travelled to many parts of the world where wheelchair tennis was not as developed as it might be,” said Richards. “Moldova was the first place I went, and I remember one parent coming up to me and saying, ‘you have changed my son’s life’.

“To have that impact, to see the smiles on people’s faces and to show people a sport they can play which they never thought they would be able to is amazing. In some countries there is a stigma to having a disability, so it was quite liberating for them to find sport.

“Comparing this to the performance aspect of my career. When those individuals were winning Grand Slams and gold medals, you have this ecstasy and thrill, and you feel happy for them and proud of the part you have played.

“But seeing smiles on the faces of kids because they are saying ‘thank you’ is in a different league – a totally different league. I would swap all the gold medals in the world for helping more kids.”

Such a sentiment brings the story to the modern day. Since leaving his role as Performance Director for Great Britain Wheelchair Tennis in 2017, Richards has established GJR Performance Solutions Ltd.

Through this enterprise, Richards aims to facilitate corporate team building using his experiences within wheelchair tennis, while at the same time highlighting the diverse strengths and skills of a particular workforce.

In addition, he works part-time for the Johan Cruyff Foundation and for the best part of five years has overseen the installation of Special Cruyff Courts across the UK, while he also leads the organisation’s development programmes in China and Malaysia.

Whatever and wherever the project, it is fair to say that the intended recipients will most certainly benefit from the knowledge, experience and expertise of Richards – an individual with a proven track record, and no little humour.