Wimbledon winner’s Cardiff coach makes sporting history

Nation Cymru staff

A Welsh coach who has worked with newly crowned Wimbledon champion Yui Kamiji has become the first Welsh person inducted into the World Tennis Wheelchair Hall of Champions.

Cardiff-born Geraint Richards was honoured during a special ceremony at Devonshire Park as part of the Lexus Eastbourne Open.

Launched to mark the sport’s 50th anniversary, the Hall of Champions recognises the players, coaches, administrators and organisations that have helped wheelchair tennis develop into a global Paralympic sport. The sport’s international tour has grown from just 11 tournaments in 1992 to more than 160 events across over 40 countries today.

Geraint’s journey in Paralympic sport began at Lisvane Tennis Club in north Cardiff in the late 1990s. As manager of the Welsh National Tennis Centre, he introduced a wheelchair-tennis club and created opportunities for players with learning disabilities. Appointed Great Britain’s National Junior Wheelchair Tennis Coach in 2005, he led the junior team to its first World Team Cup title the following year and was named International Wheelchair Tennis Association Coach of the Year in 2009.

He later became performance director of the Great Britain Wheelchair Tennis Programme, overseeing one of the most successful periods in British history. Under his leadership, Great Britain won six medals at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, while British players claimed 28 Grand Slam titles over five dominant years.

Geraint said: “I don’t think I’ll ever receive more meaningful recognition than being inducted into the World Tennis Wheelchair Hall of Champions at Eastbourne, Along with GB players, coaches, pioneers and organisations I feel very honoured and proud.

“Thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey and thank you to those who have let me be part of their journey. There’s still so much more to do so let’s crack on.”

Geraint has worked with some of wheelchair tennis’s most celebrated players where he oversaw the programme supporting British Grand Slam champion and four-time Paralympic medallist Jordanne Whiley, as well as Rio 2016 medallists Gordon Reid, Alfie Hewett, Andy Lapthorne, Lucy Shuker and Jamie Burdekin. He later worked as personal coach to Japanese star Yui Kamiji.

Geraint has helped develop wheelchair tennis internationally, introducing disabled children and adults to the sport in countries where opportunities were previously limited, and continues to help develop wheelchair tennis internationally through his work with organisations including World Tennis and the Johan Cruyff Foundation. Today, Geraint works with the Newport Live Junior Wheelchair Tennis Programme, and still works with the current Welsh No. 1, Kevin Lewis.

Geraint’s induction into the World Tennis Wheelchair Hall of Champions recognises his commitment to creating opportunities for disabled people to play, develop and thrive through tennis.

---

Get more trusted Welsh news

Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News to see more of our journalism.