Page 51 - RADC Bulletin 2021

strong contention for GB representation at the Winter Paralympic Games in 2022, and me to my current standing as a World Cup race coach. Watching them progress in their skiing, but most importantly in their recovery process, has been enormously rewarding and worth the sacrifice of being away from my family for months at a time.
At the start of my journey in this role,
I was determined to engage in my own self-development to ensure that the
charity beneficiaries could receive the best leadership, coaching and care I could deliver, so I enrolled in an MSc in Performance Coaching through the University of Stirling. The course was sport-based and included extremely talented coaches from all over
the world and I quickly realised that the leadership and climate-based modules
were where my passion lay and of most relevance to my context of working with
vulnerable adults. My dissertation examined the motivational climate created by the coach in the context of a military sport recovery program, with its resultant impact on athlete well-being and it is currently under peer-review for publication. Its findings demonstrate unequivocally that
the climate we create by our leadership can most certainly impact the well or ill-being of others and when our starting point is with those whose mental health is already compromised, negative effects from a controlling environment can be devastating. What struck me most was its relevance to working within any team, just as applicable to previous dental or military teams I’ve worked in, and I believe it will positively guide my own leadership actions in the future.
I would encourage you to watch out for the mono-skiers at the Paralympic Games in
Beijing in March 2022. These elite athletes have been fortunate and skilled enough
to reach the tip of the AFPST iceberg and there is no question that the Corps’ support has been directly responsible for their inspirational success. They represent hope and pride for so many of our wounded veterans and serving military personal at
a time when arguably they need it most. Their success is more than just skiing, it represents the belief to so many others that they can achieve things they might have thought impossible if only they dare to dream. I am deeply thankful for having been given the opportunity to have had a direct impact on the lives of so many veterans
and on a personal note, thank you RADC,
for supporting me in the most humbling, rewarding and worthwhile endeavour I could ever imagine being part of.
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