MFC Coach Richard Emmerick Wins Sport NSW Distinguished Long Service Award

 

It gives MFC great pleasure to announce that the club's founding president and an important member of our coaching team has been awarded the Sport NSW Distinguished Long Service Award for his 25 years of service to both the club and the sport of fencing.

For those of our newer members who don't know Richard well you'll often find him down the stage end of the hall talking to the coaches and senior fencers helping to run our sessions. From there his quiet steady presence helps keep us grounded in what is usually a very high energy environment.

So what did Richard do to earn this prestigious award? I'm glad you asked! Below is very brief summary of what Richard has done in fencing, so far...

After a competitive career, he founded Mountains Fencing Club (MFC) in 1994, taking on the role of club president and sole coach. With Richard’s commitment and energy the club grew on a shoestring to become the vibrant organisation that it is today – an entirely volunteer run club committed to accessibility and inclusivity. The Club now has a large number of senior fencers who are trained and supported to assist in coaching, as well as five nationally accredited coaches. Now in his 70s, Richard continues to support and mentor the developing governance committee and serve on the coaching team. At the governance level, Richard has created a culture in which women are encouraged to take leadership positions. Due in large part to this culture the current Club president, secretary and treasurer are all women. Outside the Club Richard is actively involved in documenting the history of fencing, including recently presenting a paper at Australian Society of Sport Historians on the achievements of women in fencing.

In addition to his support of grassroots fencing at the Club, Richard served as NSW State Foil Coach and Assistant National Epee Coach, training individual fencers – including two national title winners and three who represented Australia – and managing teams at national events, including the Australian Under 23s at the Asian Championship in Kuwait. Richard has pursued technical excellence in his own coaching, becoming one of the first nationally accredited coaches in Australia, attending an FIE epee coaching course in Uzbekistan in 2017 and attaining Level II coach qualifications in both epee and foil.

A well deserved distinguished long service award indeed!

Huzzah for Richard! And huzzah for fencing!