After an extended and successful tenure as Chair and President of the British Volleyball Federation (BVF), Richard Callicott OBE will be stepping down from his position.
During his time in the role, Richard has been instrumental in promoting volleyball across a variety of disciplines, influencing UK Sport and other major partner organisations to make the sport accessible to people of all ages and abilities. Under his leadership, he also helped guide the British Volleyball Federation through a difficult period following the loss of funding post 2012 and continued to advocate for UK Sport's support of all national sports organisations.
Richard was first introduced to Volleyball by Ray Carman, the then Officials Secretary of the British Volleyball Association, at the City of Birmingham College of Education. After passing a short refereeing exam in 1967, he went on to established Warley Teachers, which then became Warley Phoenix and Haden Hill, and later renamed West Bromwich.
In 1969, Richard founded the Sandwell Volleyball Tournament, which at its peak, grew to become one of the largest in Europe with over 420 teams. It went on to win the International Olympic Committee’s ‘Sport for All’ award and was even acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s biggest volleyball tournament. In 2012, Richard was honoured with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his services to volleyball.
Richard has provided invaluable insight to BVF throughout his career in sports, including UKSport, British Paralympic Association (BPA), National Indoor Arena of Sport, and many more, alongside his numerous board and commission roles for the like of the Commonwealth Federations, WPV ethics committee, Sporting Equals, Black Country Active and Youth Charter for Sport.
Richard will remain as Honorary President of Volleyball England and continue to provide advice and support to the Commonwealth and the FIVB.
Nick Meacham, Non-Executive Director at British Volleyball said: “We owe Richard a huge debt of gratitude for what he has given us over the years. His passionate personality has been a shining light for our sport’s community and his wholehearted commitment has ensured the BVF has a strong and consistent voice in the world of sport.
“We would like to thank him enormously for his tireless work in promoting the sport across the UK and beyond. We wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”
For more information about the vacant chair position at the British Volleyball Federation, please visit click here.