Tim Frick was born in Aldershot, England on November 23, 1952.[1] He moved to Sudbury, Ontario, Canada with his family when he was 4, and then to Parksville, BC. Canada at age 12.
In 1990, Frick became head coach of the Canadian women's national team.[4] He was only expecting to stay for a year,[1] but what followed was an extraordinary run of success for the national team. They won three consecutive Summer Paralympic Games gold medals at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta and the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, and four consecutive World Wheelchair Basketball Championship titles in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006.[4] He was also assistant coach of Team BC men's and women’s wheelchair basketball teams in 1996, and then became head coach of the Douglas College Royals and the BC Breakers in 1997.[4]
After retiring as a coach in 2009, Frick became a sportscaster, providing webcast commentary for the Women's U25 World Wheelchair Basketball Championship that Canada hosted in 2011, and the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship that was held in Toronto in June 2014.[5]
One of his many hobbies include, woodworking and Sea Kayaking the Salish Sea of the Southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia.
Awards and honours
Frick has won numerous awards, including the Canada 125 Medal in 1992, the Order of British Columbia medal in 1999, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013. He was inducted into the Wheelchair Basketball Canada Hall of Fame in 2012, the Basketball BC Hall of fame and the Canadian Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2013, and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. He was also inducted into the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the women's team in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2007. He won the Coaching Association of Canada’s Coaching Excellence Award seven times, in 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2004 and 2006, and received the Coaching Association of Canada's Jack Donohue Coach of the Year Award in 2008, and its Geoff Gowan Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.[4] In 2016, Frick was inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame.[6]
The "Tim Frick Paralympic Coach Excellence Award" was created in his honour by the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC). A biannual award presented to a Paralympic Games coach, it is voted for by the CPC Coaches Council, and announced at the CPC Congress banquet following the Summer or Winter Paralympic Games.[7] It was awarded to Jerry Tonello, the Canadian men's wheelchair basketball coach, in 2012.[8]