Boots and all | Goodbye, Anna Richards, wherever it is you’ve gone and for whatever reason
Departure of the highly acclaimed coach of the Hong Kong women’s sevens team and the surrounding mystery leaves a lot of questions unanswered
It’s two months since the Hong Kong Rugby Union inconspicuously informed the public of the departure of Anna Richards.
A brief article on its website – hardly a hub for news – said Richards had told players and management she would not be continuing in her role as coach of the women’s sevens team past the December end date of her contract.
Of course, the obligatory “thanks for your efforts” was also there, but hardly genuine recognition for the 53-year-old’s work here.
According to the union, its roundabout way of announcing the departure of Richards falls in line with the Hong Kong Sports Institute’s policy of not announcing the departure of employees.
No doubt the fact the sevens programmes are part of the SI ensures there are some hurdles for the union to jump, but for an organisation that sends out press releases about everything and anything, this method of delivery – or non-delivery – came across as very strange.
