In 2016, Reid Richard thought he had wrapped his wheelchair basketball career after he followed most of his teammates into retirement.

At that point, his playing career included a bronze medal with Team Saskatchewan at the 2011 Canada Games and a stint with the Canadian national team in 2013, as well as multiple years playing with the Regina Paratroopers Wheelchair Basketball Club.

It’s that experience and those skills that led to Richard being approached by the Saskatchewan Wheelchair Sports Association for a management position with the Paratroopers following a six-year hiatus from the sport.

After accepting the position, Richard realized that the team was without a coach and offered to transition to fill that role.

“It was something that I never really planned on…but you can’t really have a team without a coach, so I just kind of stepped into that role.’

Although it was not planned, it was something that Richard felt was the natural progression for his return to sport.

However, the familiarly of returning to wheelchair basketball did not mean it was easy.

Taking on the coaching role for the first time was met with some growing pains as Richard had to figure out how to best guide his new team and settle into the role.

“It definitely was a transition to go from being an athlete previously, to being a coach. Just the struggle of kind of separating where the athlete begins and where the coach begins. A lot of the times when I came back, they wanted me to play and coach, but I found it easier to just kind of decide to be one or the other, so I stepped away from the athlete role and into the coach role.”

Making that final step to fully immerse himself as a coach offered Richard the opportunity to give back to the sport that he had the pleasure of experiencing years before as an athlete.

Now, in the three years since becoming a coach, Richard has found more confidence in his coaching abilities.

“I’m trying to find my own style, trying to put things together from other people that I know and talking to them, figuring out what their experiences are, how they operate their practices and what has worked for them in the past.”

In part of finding his own style, Richard has gained knowledge in various areas and condensed that into his guiding philosophy.

“I’ve definitely gotten into more of a flow when it comes to coaching and the kind of style that I like to put forward,” shared Richard. “My philosophy is that everyone can play sports. It doesn’t matter what your disability is. If you show up to practice, we’re going to find something for you to do, find a way for you to be a part of the team.”

That welcoming atmosphere is the foundation on which Richard has built his own unique community.