New Head Coach named for Boccia UK

Boccia UK has today named Rikki Bingham as it’s first ever Head Coach who  will steer the sport through to the LA Paralympics in its quest to become the world leading boccia nation.

In a switch of sports, Bingham moves from Archery GB where she held the senior role of Olympic Performance Manager during the Paris 2024 cycle. She has coached Paralympic archers since 2014, becoming the programme lead coach in the Tokyo cycle. Notable Paralympic highlights include guiding Jessica Stretton to gold at Rio at the age of 16 and Phoebe Paterson Pine to gold in Tokyo.

rikki bingham named boccia uk’s head coach

Previously, she was a highly accomplished archer herself, having won silver medals at World and European Championships. 

Bingham, who starts the new role in April, says she is looking forward to the challenge ahead:

“There is so much potential with the Great Britain boccia squad and the vision of becoming the world’s leading boccia nation is absolutely achievable. To be a part of that journey – along with highly experienced coaches, talented athletes and exceptional practitioners - is very exciting.

“It’s not very often that coaches have the opportunity to change sports and that’s something that really attracted me to the role. Archery and boccia have many similarities in the way that athletes are required to remain calm and execute shots under pressure and tactical decision making is also paramount. But I’m looking forward to looking at the sport with fresh eyes and new ideas.”

Performance Director Greg Baker said:

“We’re really looking forward to working with Rikki, integrating her into the team and with our stakeholders, as we strive to reach our goals in the Los Angeles cycle.

“She has extensive experience in working with Paralympic athletes and guiding them to medals at major events. Her coaching and leadership skills are first-class and we’re excited that she’s bringing technical and tactical abilities from archery that will certainly translate into boccia and help our athletes move forward. Recruiting a Head Coach was a big priority for the LA cycle so that we could grow our already highly experienced and successful coaching team to maximise our potential and we’re looking forward to our next chapter.”

The Head Coach role attracted significant interest from the UK and internationally with a high number of exceptional candidates, which Baker said “demonstrated the sport’s growth globally”.