INTERVIEW TIM HOLLINGSWORTH
THE NEWLY-APPOINTED CEO OF THE BRITISH PARALYMPIC ASSOCIATION TALKS TO KAREN MAXWELL ABOUT HOW LONDON 2012 IS PRESENTING AN UNPARALLELED OPPORTUNITY FOR THE PARALYMPIC MOVEMENT TO INSPIRE CHANGE
palpable. “This year heralds the home- coming of the Paralympic Games,” he enthuses. “Britain is the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement and the Lon- don 2012 Games are offering a truly unique platform on which to launch a turbo-charge of activity.” Powerful words for a man who’s been
T
at the helm of the British Paralympic Association (BPA) for just 12 months, but coming from a corporate communica- tions background he’s already identified a myriad of opportunities that lay ahead for this powerful brand. “This year’s Games offers an incredible
opportunity to promote the movement and catapult Paralympic sport to a much wider audience,” he says.
he Paralympic Movement is coming back to its roots in September this year and Tim Hollingsworth’s excitement is
COMING INTO THE FOLD Hollingsworth believes his journey into sport administration has quite literally been defined by London 2012. Armed with a background in corporate com- munications at media companies such as Granada TV, he joined UK Sport as direc- tor of policy and communications three months before London won the bid to host the Games in Singapore in 2005, and says he recognised the move into sport as “an incredible opportunity to be a part of the Games”. He spent seven years at the elite sport
funding organisation – becoming COO in 2010. The BPA CEO position became avail- able when Phil Lane left after 10 years in the role, during which time ParalympicsGB finished second in the medal table at both the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Games. Hollingsworth took the opportunity and vows to capitalise on these achievements.
Tim Hollingsworth has big ambitions for the BPA
TEAM LEADER Coming on board just a year before the start of the London 2012 Games, he ad- mits to embarking on a steep learning curve but says his knowledge of both the sporting landscape and the Paralympic Movement got him quickly on track. His focus so far has been on three key
areas of the charitable organisation: repositioning the brand; preparing the team for success at this year’s Paralympic Games; and ensuring the future of Para- lympic sport post 2012. “When I joined the organisation, there
was some confusion around the roles of the BPA and ParalympicsGB,” he explains. “The BPA has a wider remit, whereas ParalympicsGB is the team of the Games. In my mind it was crucial to identify the power of these two brands, so in January of this year we formally reverted back to being the BPA – as the organisation that is responsible for the Paralympic Move- ment in this country.” With a core staff of just 24 at the BPA,
come Games-time Hollingsworth says the number of people within the Paralympic team will rise to almost 600, once the full complement of athletes and officials have been selected, and he admits that there’s lots to do in terms of making sure that this team is best prepared. “We’re fortunate to have some very
David Weir (right) won two gold medals at Beijing 2008 in the T54 800m and 1,500m 18 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital
talented and very willing people on board,” he says. “Tim Reddish [BPA chair]
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