If someone had said to me as an athlete that I would go on to be the Chair of the Board of Disability , I would have told them not to be silly. I never thought anything like that would happen to me, but now it has, I’m delighted to have the opportunity to put something back into sport when it has given me so much.
I think all athletes would agree that sport changes you. It gives you confidence and makes you into a planner. If you want to win the next big championship, how are you going to do that if you don’t have a plan? It makes you a great team player too. If you are in a team sport, then you have your team mates around you, but all those people you work with – support staff, medical staff, coaches and Performance Directors – they are part of your team too. You get to interact with the media and maybe even meet the Queen! And aren’t these all special skills to have?
It doesn’t matter if you are shooting the most accurate arrow, jumping the highest or crossing the line first – those sporting skills are only part of the ‘you’ that is an athlete. Along the way you also gain some other amazing transferable skills that can sometimes be really hard to see within yourself.
I guess I always thought I would give something back one day – and I was sure I’d do more coaching than I do – but I really didn’t think I’d end up in administration. I always thought it sounded boring! My best friend always says that “it is better trying to put out the fire from inside the tent rather than just throwing water at it from the outside” – which is an odd expression I know, but I hope you know what she means. It means I ended up being a person who can make a difference by being part of the solution, rather than one who wishes the system would change but never gets involved.
It’s odd the way it all started. I was athlete rep for our GB Para-Archery team, which really meant that I was the only one prepared to sit in the Performance Director’s office and ask all the awkward questions. One day she told me that World Archery were looking for a world athlete rep and asked if I would do it. I’d like to think it's because she thought I’d do a good job, but maybe she just wanted me to spend less time in her office! As athletes, we had some issues with rules at a world level and I thought that if I could get onto the committee then it would mean that the athletes had a voice. I decided to apply and was voted in by the athletes at the next World Championships. This meant that athletes with concerns could talk to me, I could talk to the committee and the athletes could have a say in changing things for the better. In fact, during my time with World Archery we have had a really positive change, with the introduction of women into a sport class where there had previously just been men. That change came about because I volunteered to do something and everyone worked as a team to make it happen.
Once I was involved with the committee I discovered something else - working with a team of committed individuals can be interesting and challenging and can really make a difference to people’s lives. Last year, having just retired through injury and not quite knowing what to do next, I applied to the Board of Disability and was delighted to be offered the role of Chair. Last year, as an organisation, DSW delivered over a million sporting opportunities for people with impairments. These things happen because a Board sits in a room somewhere and works as a team towards a bright future. Who knew that I’d find audit, risk and good governance interesting? Not me, for sure, but when you see how all these things link together to make a great organisation that can help people get fitter and more active, then how can you not want to be involved? Volunteers are there in all roles, from the people handing out the oranges at half time to those like me, who are part of the team helping to steer the ship, and we are all making a difference. I feel very privileged to be in this position and have found it both challenging and immensely rewarding – a bit like competing really! Who could have known, that retirement from sport would open such an exciting door to a new world…
Pippa Britton is a double Paralympian who competed on the GB archery team for 15 years, achieving podium places at almost every event she attended.
She is now Chair of the Board of Disability and a Board Member for UK Anti-Doping.
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