Invictus Games preview - seeing players rediscovering themselves is so rewarding, says Osborne

Having been involved in the multi-sport movement for more than a decade, the GB Sitting Coach is fully appreciative that there is much more than this particular competition than simply winning. 

For the 2025 edition in Vancouver and Whistler whic,h starts next week (8th to 16th Feburary), just as in London back in 2014, the journey his players will have been on will be just as important as the end results they produce out on the court.

Whether their hardships as recovering military personnel have been physical and mental, each and every player has encountered tough times at one point or another, and is using sitting volleyball to help them get back to a better place. 

“It’s such a rewarding experience and seeing what the players get out of it is why I do it, especially seeing where they have come from,” said Richard. 

“As injured and/or sick personnel, many of these people have been struggling and are looking for a means to kickstart their recovery. 

“It's great for the players to start a journey and be part of something. It's amazing to see how far they can go with just a little bit of guidance. 

“Some of them were very timid at the start and now you can see they have really come out of their shells and formed strong bonds with each other. 

“It's really amazing to see and it's really all about them rediscovering themselves.” 

The lead-in to this year’s Invictus began last year with initial trials where athletes could try their hand at a range of sports, which is what is called the engage phase. 

From there, a cohort of athletes were selected to go forward to train in sports that were of interest to them during the progress phase. 

From an initial 128 athletes who put themselves forward for sitting volleyball, a final squad of 12 has eventually been selected to represent the UK in Canada. 

Five training camps (initially at the RBL’s Lilleshall Battleback Centre) have been held over the last few months – two sessions per camp on four of the weekends – followed by a multi-sport training camp at Loughborough University to set expectations and take care of logistics. 

Richard added: “Training has been a challenge, especially because we have only had nine days to take a group of people who have never really played the game before and mould them into one that is going to play competitively. 

Richard said: “A big complication is that a lot of the players are doing other sports as well as sitting volleyball at Invictus and there has been no occasion where we have had all 12 players available to train at the same time. 

“At any given session, we have only had four to 10 players available because others are away training elsewhere in another sport. Ideally you want all 12 players there so you can have a six versus six session. We haven't had that luxury, and it's made it really challenging to work on certain things. 

“But, despite that, a good barometer of the progress that we have made was in the recent Sitting Grand Prix in which an Invictus team took part as a guest team. 

“In November, we played a friendly against the Lincoln Imps, who are a very established GP team and have some very good players. 

“I don't think it's an understatement to say that we got walloped, but then you look at when we played them in this most recent GP in January, though the eventual result was still the same, we managed to take a set off them, which shows the improvement.” 

With court time limited, players have been asked to factor in some practice in their own time, away from team training. 

Another way of increasing exposure to the game has been to encourage team members to join existing sitting volleyball clubs in their area, which several of them have done. 

“It's really down to getting the players to do as much as they can at home,” said Richard. “We have sent out some challenges on the WhatsApp group and we have also sent out some drills on a Facebook page. 

“We have also been able to get some of the players into clubs where they can train, with Ben Lukowski, Scott Robertson, Chris Platts and Natalie Lewis all doing this.  

“Hopefully, all those players will stay on with those teams after the Invictus Games and continue to enjoy playing for them.” 

While Richard applauds the improvements made by all of the UK squad, there are three players whose efforts have particularly stood out in the build-up. 

“Scott (Robertson) played for me in Dusseldorf (The Invictus Games of 2023), so he has had some experience, but I don't think he would still class himself as an experienced sitting player. 

“But certainly in the build up to these games, he has led by example. He’s been fantastic and kept all the team motivated. He’s been a shining example to the others as captain. 

“Natalie Lewis is another strong player, who brings bundles of energy to the team, as well as a real steely determination and focus. She’s a real pocket Dynamo. 

“I could also say the same about Maggie Ainsworth. She's of Polish descendency and the sport of volleyball is massive in Poland. 

“She was one who didn't think that she would be able to play a team sport anymore, and yet she has been able to play a sport that she loves. She is very committed to training, and the development we have seen from her is massive.” 

Richard was awarded an MBE last year for his services to disability sport on a number of levels. 

His Invictus journey started back in London in 2014 when the event was first introduced and has enjoyed an eventful time of things ever since.  

Richard said: “I have been involved since the very start of Invictus. In London I was asked to go along and work with nations that didn't have their own coach in their training camps. I work with teams like New Zealand and Australia and also Georgia, which was the start of working with them for several games in a row. 

“I stayed with them for Florida where they got bronze and Toronto, where they took gold, which was fantastic. I also went out to Georgia and mentored a standing volleyball coach, who then took the team on, before joining up with Tema UK for 2018. 

"The personnel this time is different from last time – they are different characters. This team has got a lot more people who had to deal with mental issues, including FND.  

“Because of this, it can take players longer to process information and in a dynamic environment such as sitting volleyball, where everything is quick, that can have its challenges. 

“When the games first took place, teams like the UK had established sitting players that had taken part in Paralympics. But these days, there are far fewer amputees, and there are more players with mental rather than physical impairments.” 

The 2025 edition of the Invictus Games is the second time it will be held in Canada, having been staged in Toronto in 2017. 

Poland are the reigning champions from 2023, with Colombia having claimed the silver medal and Georgia beating the UK to bronze. 

Richard says it is hard to predict from games to games how each nation will do, but says there is often a contrast in the levels of preparation. 

“It’s really mixed,” he said. “At one end, you have the unconquered teams made up of players from different nations that cannot get a full team together. Players quite often have little or no training time together, maybe an hour at best. 

“At the other end of the spectrum, you have teams like Georgia, Poland and Colombia, who are training and have played together a lot together. 

“I was speaking to their coaches recently and Georgia are training three times a week. The Poles are training once or twice every two weeks. The Colombia team have been playing together for years domestically. 

“I think for the UK it's a case of being somewhere in between. But for me, the main thing about Invictus is not about winning medals, it's about the recovery. 

“A gold medal for me is seeing someone that uses sport to overcome an injury or sickness. Someone who finds a sport they love. Someone performs at the best level that they can. And someone who will stay involved with that sport moving forward.” 

The format of the sitting volleyball tournament at the Invictus Games has been designed to fit in with a one-day format. 

There are four pools of five teams, with each playing only two group matches. The four group winners will then advance to the knock-out semi-finals. 

 The UK team has been drawn against Afghanistan unconquered and hosts Canada. 

On their chances of UK success, Richard said: “It depends on how the other results go, but the likelihood is that to top the group you will need to win both of your games in a convincing fashion. As only the top team goes through to the knock-out semi-finals, if you don't finish in the top two, then that is it. 

“It is the second to last event of the games, and a lot of the athletes who are involved in other sports are going to be fatigued at the end of a long week. 

“Injury is definitely a risk and could be a problem, but we do have fantastic medical and physio personnel to help. It's just about trying to make sure the players can stay as healthy as possible.” 

The UK’s Invictus Games team fly out to Canada on 6th February, with the opening ceremony on 8th February and the sitting volleyball tournament a week later on 15th February, with training sessions on12th and 14th of February. 

Find out more about the Invictus Games by clicking here. 

Images by Natalie Lewis

 

UK squad 

Maggie Ainsworth, Adam Davies, Pete Lauder, Natalie Lewis, Ben Lukowski, Mac McLaren, Chris Platts, Scott Robertson (captain), James Saltmarsh, John Whitman, Kemsley Whittlesea.