Richard Ian Charlesworth AO (born 6 February 1952) is an Australian sports coach and former politician. He played first-class cricket for Western Australia and international field hockey for the Kookaburras (the Australian national team), winning a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics and winning the World Cup in 1986. Charlesworth served as a federal member of parliament from 1983 to 1993, representing the Labor Party. After leaving politics, he was appointed coach of the Hockeyroos (the national women's field hockey team), leading them to Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2000. Charlesworth later coached the Kookaburras from 2009 to 2014, and has also worked in consulting roles with the New Zealand national cricket team, the Australian Institute of Sport, and the Fremantle Football Club (an Australian football team).

Ric Charlesworth
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Perth
In office
5 March 1983 – 8 February 1993
Preceded byRoss McLean
Succeeded byStephen Smith
Personal details
Born
Richard Ian Charlesworth

(1952-02-06) 6 February 1952 (age 72)[1]
Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
SpouseCarmen Charlesworth
ChildrenHugo, Oscar, Elizabeth (Libby)
Alma materUniversity of Western Australia
OccupationHockey player
Cricket information
BattingLeft-handed
RoleOpening Batsman
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1969–1970, 1976–1982West Perth
1970–1976University Cricket Club
Career statistics
Competition FC
Matches 47
Runs scored 2327
Batting average 30.22
100s/50s 1/16
Top score 101*
Balls bowled 8
Wickets 0
Bowling average -
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling
Catches/stumpings 34
Source: [1]
Field hockey career
Youth career
Christ Church Grammar School
Senior career
Years Team
UWA Hockey Club
National team
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1972–1988 Australia (Kookaburras) 227 (85)
Medal record
Men's Field Hockey
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1976 Montréal Team Competition
World Hockey Cup
Gold medal – first place 1986 London Team Competition
Bronze medal – third place 1978 Buenos Aires Team Competition
Bronze medal – third place 1982 Bombay Team Competition

Biography

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Born in Subiaco, Western Australia,[2] Charlesworth attended Christ Church Grammar School[2] until he graduated in 1969. In 1976, he completed a medical degree (MB, BS) from the University of Western Australia School of Medicine.[3] In 2002, he received an honorary Doctorate of Science at the University of Western Australia and completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in philosophy and history also at the University of Western Australia.[4]

His father Lester Charlesworth, a dentist, represented Western Australia in cricket between 1949 and 1951.[2][3]

Cricket

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In 1969 Charlesworth captained the Western Australian State under 19 cricket team before going on to play A grade Club cricket for West Perth (1969–1970, 1976–82) and University Cricket Club (1970–76). He played in 47 first-class matches for Western Australia from 1972 until 1979,[5] making 2,327 runs at an average of 30.22. He was a member of Sheffield Shield winning teams in 1972–73, 1976–77, 1977–78, and was a squad member in the winning season of 1974–75.[6]

Hockey

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Player

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Charlesworth was coached by Ray House at Christ Church Grammar School, where he was promoted to the school's first XI at an early age. He was a member of the PSA Hockey Cup (now known as the Ray House Hockey Cup) winning teams of 1966–67.

He played in and captained the Western Australia hockey team and the Australia men's field hockey team the Kookaburras. He was selected to represent Australia in five Olympic hockey teams, 1972, 1976, 1980 (captain) (Moscow Olympics were boycotted), 1984 (captain), and 1988, winning Silver at the 1976, Montreal Olympic Games. He was a member of the national team which competed in various other international tournaments including winning the World Hockey Cup in London in 1986 where he was named player of the Tournament. He retired from playing after representing Australia at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. He played 227 games for his country and scored 85 goals.

Charlesworth was inducted into the Australian Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008,[7] the second person to achieve this award.

In 1980, while playing for The University of Western Australia Mens Hockey Club, Charlesworth also won the Olympian's Medal, an annual award presented to the player judged by umpires to be the fairest and best in men's first division competition in Western Australia. In addition, the female equivalent of this award, the Charlesworth Medal, is named in his honour.

Coach

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From 1993 to 2000 Charlesworth was head coach of the Australian Women's hockey team, the Hockeyroos. During this time they won the Champion's Trophy in 1993 (Amsterdam), 1995 (Mar del Plata), 1997 (Berlin) and 1999 (Brisbane), the World Hockey Cup in 1994 (Dublin) and 1998 (Netherlands) and were gold medallists in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and Sydney Olympics in 2000 and 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.[6]

Prior to his appointment as technical adviser to the men's and women's Indian hockey teams, he was the high-performance manager for the New Zealand cricket team.[8] He was selected to act as an advisor to the newly formed hockey selection committee formed by the Indian Olympic Association.[9]

Charlesworth has been a mentor coach to several national team coaches with the Australian Institute of Sport and a performance consultant with the Fremantle Football Club.[6]

In 2009, Charlesworth was appointed coach of the Australian men's national hockey team, the Kookaburras. The team went on to win the 2009 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy in Melbourne, Australia; the 2010 Hockey World Cup in New Delhi, India; the 2010 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy in Mönchengladbach, Germany; the 2010 Commonwealth Games Men's Hockey Gold Medal in Delhi, India and the 2011 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy in Auckland. After coaching the Kookaburras to success at the 2014 Hockey World Cup in Netherlands, he resigned.[10]

Politics

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Charlesworth was elected as the Federal Member for Perth in 1983, representing the Australian Labor Party, and was a member of parliament for 10 years until retiring in 1993.[11]

Charlesworth said one reason for retiring from Parliament was that he never became a minister.[12]

Administration

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Charlesworth was a member of the Australian Sports Commission Board 1994–97 and Western Australian Institute of Sport Board 1984–1992, 2001–2005.[3]

Books

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He has written three books: The Coach – Managing for Success, Staying at the Top and Shakespeare the Coach.[6]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ "Family Notices". The West Australian. Perth. 9 February 1952. p. 20. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2011 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ a b c "Ric Charlesworth". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Sygall, David (23 January 2011). "Why Ric's the man to coach cricketers". Sun Herald. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  4. ^ "Ric Charlesworth". Claxton Speakers International. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  5. ^ "Olympians Who Played First-Class Cricket". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Dr Richard Charlesworth". Sport Australia Hall of Fame website. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Hockey Australia > About Us > Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Hockey needs India, says Ric". The Telegraph. Calcutta. 24 October 2007. Archived from the original on 29 January 2008. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  9. ^ Indian Olympic Association acts tough, suspends IHF[usurped]. The Hindu (2008-04-29)
  10. ^ "Ric Charlesworth makes early exit from Kookaburras hockey coaching role". Australia: ABC News. 19 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  11. ^ "Biography for CHARLESWORTH, Dr Richard Ian, AM". ParlInfo. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  12. ^ Middleton, Karen (11 March 1993). "MPs quit in frustration". The Age. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i West, Lawrence. "Charlesworth to stand down". Hockey Australia News. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  14. ^ "Member of the Order of Australia (AM) entry for CHARLESWORTH, Richard Ian". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 8 June 1987. Retrieved 13 March 2017. In recognition of service to the sport of hockey
  15. ^ "Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) entry for CHARLESWORTH, Richard Ian". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017. For distinguished service to sport, particularly field hockey, through coaching and mentoring roles for men's and women's national teams, as a high performance consultant and technical advisor, and to the Parliament of Australia.
  16. ^ It's an Honour: Australian Sports Medal Archived 5 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Itsanhonour.gov.au. Retrieved on 2012-05-02.
  17. ^ "State Finalist Australian of the Year 2011 – Dr Richard Charlesworth AM". Australian of the Year website. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  18. ^ Polkinghorne, David (12 November 2014). "Charlesworth to help build road to Rio". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 24 November 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
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Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Member for Perth
1983–1993
Succeeded by