Ric Charlesworth

He was born on February 6, 1952 in Subiaco, Western Australia, to dentist parents. His father, Lester Charlesworth, represented Western Australian cricket from 1949–51.

He received his early education from the Christ Church Grammar School and graduated in 1969. He was coached by Ray House at the school and was promoted to the school's first XI at a young age.

He obtained his Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Western Australia in 1976.

Later on he majored in philosophy and history receiving his ‘Bachelor of Arts’ degree from the University of Western Australia.

From 1972 to 1979, he played 47 first-class cricket matches for Western Australian team. He was also a part of Sheffield Shield winning teams in 1972–73, 1976–77 and 1977–78.

From 1972 to 1988, he was a part of Australian hockey team and played 227 matches in his career. He was a member of five Olympic teams, and captained the team in 1980 and 1984 Olympics. He was also a member of four World Cup hockey teams. He was part of Australian hockey team that won the silver medal in 1976 Olympics and captained the hockey team that won the 1986 World Cup gold.

In 1983, he entered politics and became a Federal Member of Parliament for Perth, from Australian Labor Party, a position he held for 10 years before retiring in 1993.

He served as the head coach of the Australian Women's hockey team, the Hockeyroos, from 1993 to 2000. Under his coaching, the team won the Champion's Trophy in 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999; the Hockey World Cup in 1994 and 1998.

In 2001, his first book ‘The Coach - Managing for Success’ was published. It suggested interesting ideas about coaching philosophies to achieve success in any field.

He was conferred the title of ‘Western Australian Sportsman of the Year’ thrice in his career; in 1976, 1979 and 1987.

In 1986 World Cup, Australian Hockey team won the title and he was awarded Player of the Tournament for being the leading scorer for his team.

In recognition of his outstanding achievements on the pitch, he was awarded the Advance Australia Award in 1984 and an Order of Australia medal in 1987.

In 1987, he was inducted in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, the second person to achieve this award.

Under his reign as the coach of the Hockeyroos, the team became the gold medalists in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 1998 Commonwealth Games, and the 2000 Sydney Olympics.