Karl Dickson is a distinguished rugby figure, known for his dual careers as a professional player and referee. He played for Harlequins and earned caps with England, significantly contributing to Harlequins’ 2012 Premiership win. Transitioning to officiating, Karl has served as a top-tier Rugby Union referee, officiating key matches including the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final and final.
Karl’s journey from player to referee offers unparalleled insights into high-performance sports. His experiences in leadership, decision-making, and maintaining performance under pressure make him an inspiring and motivational speaker.
Karl educates your audience on what it’s really like to be a high performing athlete, but from a different perspective. Managing the professional game of Rugby comes with unimaginable strains; be it time away from family, social media abuse, face to face abuse, adapting to the development of the game, maintaining peak fitness and in Karl’s case, reffing against former friends and teammates. He likes to give a truer account of what a professional rugby ref looks like and help people understand the unseen/unthought of side to it.
He also has a big emphasis on teamwork and can talk about this from both his time as a player, and a ref.