Dedication to Anthony Hughes MBE

26th September 1959 – 30th December 2022

Photo: Ant (right) with the DSW National Team launching our strategy at the Senedd in 2019

There are both hundreds and no words to describe Anthony Hughes MBE. He managed to combine clear focus and meandering conversations, ferocity and compassion, total seriousness and comments with a cheeky sparkle in his eyes and a smile from the corner of his mouth. His passion was contagious, and he was dedicated to getting it right for people. He was something to everyone, and to many in this room this evening, that something was hugely significant.

Anthony William Hughes was many things and made a difference in many spheres – he was a tailor, a teacher, a dad and brother and partner, an athlete, a disability rights activist, a coach, and DSW’s Performance Manager. He
had an incredible talent for seeing the potential in people, even if they were merely standing at a bus stop. It is largely because of Ant that Disability Sport Wales exists – although back then we were called The Federation of Sports Associations for the Disabled Wales – he came in as Chair and in 1999 he became Performance Manager. From that moment on Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff became his second home, and he made every space his office (including his car in the car park).

There wasn’t anything Ant didn’t know about Para Sport. His ability to recall times, distances, heights, durations, PBs and World Records was extraordinary. Not just within the sport he called his own – Athletics – but every sport in which a Welsh athlete might compete, whether it was a para sport or could become one. He saw challenges and risks as early as he saw opportunities and potential, which meant that athletes were protected and championed.

He was part of the ParalympicsGB coaching staff at the Beijing, London, and Rio Paralympic Games and part of Team Wales at the Manchester, Delhi and Glasgow Commonwealth Games (as well as at multiple European and World Championships) and he led a long line of athletes to success in Athletics, Taekwondo, Swimming, Rowing, Archery, Sitting Volleyball, Boccia, and the list goes on. Seeing athletes compete was his obsession, he was fiercely proud of them all and dedicated his life to ensuring that they had what he believed were the right opportunities to become all they could be.

Ant had so many incredible adventures and stories to tell, and he shared them with those he loved and respected most. So much of Ant’s passion for sport overlapped into his family, with his sons, brothers and sister and his soulmate Gill; it wasn’t just something he would talk about with them, it was something they lived alongside him. We are absolutely delighted to have some of Ant’s family join us tonight.

It is still hard to think about a future without Ant, but what we know is that his legacy is strong. He taught and challenged us well; he held us accountable as a Nation and he meticulously focussed on what was possible for everyone. Knowing that he would want to see Wales continue to ‘punch above its weight’ where para sport is concerned, for the sport system to take stronger leadership roles for inclusion, and for every Welsh disabled person to be able make a genuine choice about sport, whether they do it, and if they do–which it will be, brings a huge weight of responsibility. But we will always be dedicated to that, and in that way, Ant will always be part of our team.

Thank you, Ant. In your words “the future is bright, the future is Welsh”.