Boccia UK appoint two new independent non-executive directors

Boccia UK, the National Governing Body responsible for the World Class Programme (WCP) for the Paralympic sport of Boccia, announced today that it has appointed two new Independent Non-Executive Directors.

 Two positions were advertised, the first for a finance specialist to replace Abby Laybourne who will step down in June having completed two four-year terms and the second for a new position designed to ensure that there is elite athlete representation on the Board.

Andrew Maynard joins the Boccia UK board

 Andrew Maynard, who until recently was Head of Finance at UK Sport, and now works at Green Hydrogen company Protium, will take over from Laybourne after a handover period. Commenting on his appointment, Maynard said;

“I’m delighted to have been appointed to the Board of Boccia UK. While I have always had a passion for the Olympics and Paralympics, I gained a real appreciation of the dedication, talent and application required for success. through my time as Head of Finance at UK Sport. Boccia UK itself has been an exemplar of this at the Tokyo and Rio Paralympic Games, where success is represented not only through gold medals for David Smith but managing to send a full team to compete in incredibly difficult circumstances during the pandemic.  This role represents an opportunity to build on the fine work by Abby and the rest of the Board over the past eight years, and I can’t wait to get started.”

 The other position is believed to be the first of its kind among UK NGBs. Boccia UK Chair David Richmond explained the rationale for creating the role; “As a Board, we always aim to have the best interests of the Boccia athletes at the centre of our decision making. We have a close connection with the athletes on the WCP and ensure that we consult with them on all important matters, so this position isn’t about representing them per se. It is, in part, a recognition that none of the current Board has lived experience of being a high-performance athlete. This, coupled with a strong desire to play our part in helping the wider athlete cohort develop the skills needed to take on senior administrative positions within sport, led to our decision to create this role. We encouraged athletes who have competed at the highest level in either Olympic or Paralympic sport to apply and we believe that, by encouraging this diversity, our Board will be strengthened.”

 From a strong field, Charlie Hayter is the successful candidate for the Athlete Specialism role. Hayter, who has played professional club rugby as well as being part of the England 7s squad for the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games and was travelling reserve at the 2016 Olympic Games, said; “I’m delighted to take on this role and use some of the experience that I have learned on what it takes to succeed in a high-performance environment. I’m looking forward to learning more about the sport of Boccia but I already know that the WCP athletes display the same drive and determination that I’m familiar with. I’m also looking forward to developing skills outside of my current role with the RFU.”

The RFU’s Charlie Hayter joins the Boccia UK board

 Chair David Richmond congratulated both candidates; “We were pleased that there was so much interest in both these roles and we’re delighted to welcome Andrew and Charlie to our Board. We offer our heartfelt thanks to Abby Layborne who has given so much to Boccia UK from the very beginning of our journey and leaves the NGB in fantastic shape from a finance and risk perspective. We are a small but very ambitious NGB, both in terms of our success on court and also how we operate off it. These new appointments will help us as we drive towards realising our vision of being the leading Boccia nation.”

 The two new Independent Non-Executive Directors will join the rest of the Boccia UK Board, along with two athletes from the WCP at a Strategy Day at the end of April.