As we continue to celebrate Women in Sport Week at IWA-Sport, we spoke with 6-time Paralympian and Women in Sport committee member, Patrice Dockery about her role. Dockery also shares what makes a good leader and the importance of having female leaders within sport.
As a member of the Women in Sport Committee, Patrice shares with IWA-Sport her thoughts on the group and gives insight to its role within IWA-Sport.
“I consider the Women in Sport Committee more as an advisory group rather than a committee. Currently our group is made up of a small number of people who all happen to be females. We are looking to expand the membership of our group which will include obtaining gender balance. In my opinion, inclusion and diversity are vital when a group like ours meets, as not only does it promote equality, it gives a platform where different opinions can be discussed and therefore the best outcome will be achieved for the female members of IWA-Sport. Our current group members bring a wealth of experience to the table at our meetings, which includes participating in Para-Sport and/or we have experience in working on the administrative side of Para-Sport.
“The purpose of our group, in my opinion is to support IWA-Sport as much as we can with the strategies and events that IWA-Sport have put and are putting in place. These are female member/player/athlete focussed and driven, which allows its female members to participate in physical activities and sporting activities at whatever level they chose to participate at, i.e. recreational, junior, senior, developmental, international and Paralympic.“
To have a voice in sport is important and helps make change happen for the better. Dockery explains why having a committee for Women in Sport is necessary and how differing opinions within the group creates engaging conversation to create a better outcome for IWA-Sport’s female members.
“A WiS group in my opinion is necessary to help promote physical activity amongst female IWA-Sport members. I feel physical activity is so important as it helps to contribute to support everyone’s mental and physical health. I feel each member of our group has a lot to offer through their own personal experience of being involved in Para-Sport. Some of our group member’s which includes myself have a disability so it is very interesting to hear about everyone’s experiences through their particular living experience lens. Each member of our group has something different to offer, which is fantastic.
“Our different opinions and suggestions, which are very much influenced by our own individual core values and by our life experiences make for very interesting, engaging and thought-provoking discussions. Which only in the end benefit and expand ideas and suggestions regarding the topics we discuss and hence the best outcome for all our IWA-Sport female participants is the result.“
There are many goals that the WiS Committee share but it all comes down to ensuring that IWA-Sport’s female members are encouraged to get physically active while having fun along the way.
“It is my view that our goal is to support IWA-Sport while they are encouraging all its female members to be physically active. When we are all physically active we reap the many health benefits of being fit and healthy. Life-long friendships can also be made and formed through being involved in sport and physical activities“, Patrice explains.
Patrice added how the group and being involved in Para-Sport helps develop relationships that make it more inclusive when there’s shared and similar experiences amongst each other.
“It is also my opinion there is the added benefit of being involved in a Para-Sport environment when you have a disability as we can share experiences, ideas, information and knowledge of living with our disabilities through our friendships and community. That can sometimes help us feel we are not alone in our situations. Sometimes just chatting with each other and knowing we are not alone with regard to obstacles or frustrations we might face in every day life can make things easier.“
With meetings taking place virtually throughout each year, the 6-time Paralympian shares what a typical meeting can look like for the WiS Committee.
“Our WiS group meet at a number of organised online meetings throughout the year. Generally what happens at our meetings is that the IWA-Sport Women in Sport Co-ordinator calls the meetings and puts together an agenda and this allows us to discuss topics relevant to female participation in IWA-Sport. Our current IWA-Sport Co-ordinator is Aoife Beggs. We discuss topics like eg. Her Moves Events, Annual Reports, WiS Strategies, up and coming female participation events eg. WiS Leadership Courses etc.
“Personally, I feel I can bring my experience and opinions of being involved in Para-Sport from a very young age as a junior athlete, developmental athlete, international athlete, Paralympic athlete and I am now a retired athlete who likes to keep fit physically and mentally as I know the health benefits being active gives you.“
She continues, “I suppose the best way I can contribute to any items we discuss at our meetings and which will hopefully benefit female members of IWA-Sport is the fact I have the experience of following and I’m continuing to follow the member/player/athlete pathway that IWA-Sport have in place. As a retired Paralympian I can now see the importance and many health benefits that physical activity can provide for everyone and not just the youth and international athletes.“
There’s always room for improvement in life and the same goes for female representation in Para Sport. Patrice explains that visibility is everything and those looking to be inspired should look to those already active.
““If she can’t see it, she can’t be it” – I think if all females no matter at what stage they are at, i.e. children, young up-and-coming athletes, persons who have just acquired their disabilities, current females who are active etc. If they don’t see others who are living similar situational lives like themselves being physically active and/or competing then they might not know that they can participate and be active too or that there are facilities in place for them to be active/train/compete.
“Our group can help female participation be more visible by supporting any female focussed events that IWA-Sport organise, we can give our suggestions on how to promote these events and we can provide some recommendations on how they might be run.“
With over 20 years of experience at the highest level in Para Sport, Patrice shared with us the importance of networking and collaborating, which helped to become a good leader.
“During my sporting career I learnt that networking and collaboration with coaches and other athletes that have similar goals to yourself is so important while you are training and competing. I learnt a lot from my competitors about how to train smart and this helps you reach your full potential and be the best athlete you can be to represent your country. Collaboration and working with others leads to an exchange of information which I think is vital when you are in a leadership role.“
She continues to share what makes a good leader and just how that carries over to everyday life.
“A good leader in sport in my opinion is a player/athlete that stays focussed on their goals and doesn’t let anything distract them from doing their very best to be the best they can be. They make personal sacrifices in order to achieve success. They are determined and committed. All of these qualities are transferable into everyday life.“
Ireland are strongly represented by female athletes in Para Sport, with seven of the nine IWA members that competed in Paris last summer being female. Along with Emerald Rollers, Ireland’s all-female Wheelchair Basketball team and four women on the Irish Wheelchair Rugby squad too. All with the ability lead, Patrice tells us why it’s important that there are women in leadership roles in all sports.
“I think it is very important that females take on leadership roles in sport. Current females players/athletes who are competing are already leading while they are training and competing, they are inspiring other females while doing this. All females can lead by being involved in other leadership roles eg. coaching, management and administration. Sport cannot function without these hugely important roles being carried out correctly.“
Competing all over the world, the now-retired Wheelchair Racer looks back on who she looked to for leadership and guidance throughout her illustrious career.
“While I was competing I looked to my fellow international competitors for leadership, Wheelchair Racing is a minority sport in Ireland. Countries like the USA, Australia and Switzerland have many Wheelchair Racing athletes and sports specific Wheelchair Racing coaches. Both Louise Sauvage (AUS) and Baroness Tanni-Grey Thompson (UK) were trail blazers in my sport and they both invited me to either train with them or compete against them in their respective countries and this in turn helped me reach my full potential as an athlete and thankfully resulted in me being able to represent Ireland with distinction.“
While Dockery sought guidance from those afar, it was also those at home, in particular her coach and best friend that helped her reach her full potential.
“I also looked to my coach Mairead Farquharson for leadership every single day of my Wheelchair Racing career. I was extremely fortunate that not only was Mairead my coach but she is my best friend. Mairead was a brilliant coach who coached many athletes at Paralympic level, she was dedicated and determined that every athlete she coached would reach their full potential.“
Over the years Patrice trained and competed alongside many Irish Para Athletes, all who provided a sense of leadership to the Swords native.
“I was also extremely privileged to have had many brilliant Irish female Paralympic medallists to look up to while I was competing – Kay McShane (RIP) Wheelchair Racing, Rosaleen Gallagher (RIP) Para Athletic field events and Siobhan Callanan Table Tennis to name but a few. Anne Ebbs (RIP) Irish Paralympic Table Tennis medallist, founder of Paralympics Ireland and former General Secretary of Paralympics Ireland was an amazing leader and support to me, Anne took me aside when she was Director of Sport in IWA and I was 16 years old and encouraged me to continue to train and compete hard when I came home from my first international senior track meet disappointed with my results. She told me I had not reached my full potential as an athlete yet and that I was not to be disappointed.“
She continued, “the following year at age of 17 years old I competed at my first Paralympic Games – Seoul 1988, where I came 4th in the final of the 100m.
“The saying “we stand on the shoulders of giants that have gone before us” applies to these amazing athletes – they all blazed a trail for young female athletes like me. They did this by gracefully “doing their do” no fuss – they just trained hard, fought for facilities for athletes with disabilities and competed like the warrior queens they were!
“I was also very fortunate to be racing at the same time as fantastic Irish Olympians Sonia O’Sullivan and Catherina McKiernan. I competed in events similar to them, what an era to be racing for Ireland in eh?
“What would I like to say to all of the females above and of course to many more of them out there – GO RAIBH MILE MAITH AGAT!!!! I certainly wouldn’t have had the sporting career that I was fortunate to have without the leadership of them all.“
When asked what the future looks like for women in Para Sport, Patrice reflected on the success of the Irish Paralympic team last September.
“I think the future for women in Para Sport in Ireland is looking very bright indeed.
“From a Paralympic point-of-view we just have to look at the Irish medallists from the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 – they were all won by female athletes. From a recreational and developmental point-of-view there are some great initiatives already in place and I am confident that IWA-Sport will continue to work hard to focus on getting even more female participants physically active.
“I hope in some small way I can contribute as a member of our WIS advisory group to help bring this to fruition. Let’s do this because we’ve got to!“
Want to become a leader in Para Sport like Patrice? You can see what upcoming coaching courses we have via our Events Calendar.
