British Wheelchair Basketball appoints former GB Rower and Olympian Tom Solesbury as Chair of its Performance Advisory Group (PAG).
Tom succeeds current PAG Chair Martin Morton, and will take up the role with immediate effect.
Bringing to the role extensive experience from his international sporting career as well as expertise from his legal profession, Tom will no doubt provide significant insight drawn from his experience working for a broad sports client base which includes National Governing Bodies and Sporting Organisations.
Tom joins the Performance Advisory group at a pivotal moment in British Wheelchair Basketball’s history. British Wheelchair Basketball announced its intention to relocate the Elite Training Centre to EIS in Sheffield earlier in 2017; with the move scheduled to be completed by September.
The primary role of the Performance Advisory Group is to provide an independent function which checks and challenges the effective implementation of BWB’s Performance Plan against targets; working collaboratively with the Performance Director on delivery whilst also providing advice and recommendations to BWB’s Executive Board.
Tom has serious ambitions for the Performance Programme and GB Teams’ success, and commented on his appointment:
“It is an exciting time to be appointed as Chair of British Wheelchair Basketball’s Performance Advisory Group. The GB Teams have achieved phenomenal success during the Rio Cycle and it is a privilege to be in such an influential position to steer the programme and the teams through to Tokyo.
“My first love is performance sport; I have six years’ experience of competing at the highest level of competition. I understand that the next three years will be tough, but know that we will need to constantly push boundaries to achieve success.
“I have no doubt that the GB programme and teams are amongst the best in the world – our challenge during the Tokyo cycle is to make them number one; a journey I am personally looking forward to.”
Paul Hudson, Chair of British Wheelchair Basketball is confident that Tom will bring a unique set of skills to the role of Performance Advisory Group Chair commenting:
“I am delighted to welcome Tom Solesbury to the role of Performance Advisory Group Chair. Our GB teams have experienced unprecedented success over the last four years, and have been at the fore delivering some truly historic moments for this sport.
“I believe that Tom will be able to lead our Performance Advisory Group to help our Performance Programme and GB teams realise their ambitions over the next three years.”