Bill Baggs was a man of many talents and principles. Some early history about Bill before BMX — he served for many years at local and district council level as a councillor for Hart and Hampshire County. His talent was spotted early in political circles due to his skills as a great listener and orator. This didn’t go unnoticed, and he was even shortlisted to become an MP, which he duly declined as his family always came first.
A successful businessman for 40+ years with his landscaping company that employed 25+ people at its height, he excelled in architectural drawings for landscaping, bringing to life the gardens of the future — including the building of many BMX tracks (American Adventure, Butlins, Brighton World Champs tracks) too!
Sport was always Bill’s release. He was Chairman and President of various sporting boards — football, cricket, tennis, golf, to name but a few — but it was Bill’s leadership qualities in the sport of BMX that singled him out. His passion for the sport was sacrosanct — the riders always came first.
Bill started his BMX involvement as early as 1983. He bemoaned to a berm marshal at a local race that didn’t see an infringement and was subsequently told, “If you can do better, you do it,” which he duly did. The BMX bug bit him from that moment on!
Bill was chairman at Club, Regional, and National level in the UK — and at the latter, he was chairman of BBMXA and of EBA. One of his main achievements was overseeing the difficult merger of UKBMX and BBMXA. Putting years of political infighting to one side, he found the common ground that allowed the sport to come under one organisation. This led to the sport being recognised officially and receiving subsequent Sports Council funding (now Sport England), and eventually British Cycling recognition after many years of isolation and non-inclusion.
He produced the sport’s blueprint — a five-year development programme from 1989 — which included funding for the sport, the training of officials (BCF commissaires that we have today), and the setting up and training for riders to become coaches with Tom Lynch. He was instrumental in getting the first official Great Britain National BMX Team off the ground, with funding for five riders to represent England at the 1995 World Championships in Colombia. Bill also helped secure the 1996 World Championships at Brighton and played a key role in supporting the UCI World Cup series the year before, in 1995.
Bill’s lasting legacy was his involvement at international level. Bill was a FIAC commissaire (the IOC arm of cycling), where he was involved in the early stages of bringing IBMXF and FIAC together under the UCI umbrella. He took part in many discussions during the early 1990s and played a key role in helping the sport of BMX become included in the Olympic Games. Bill’s contribution was recognised by the IOC and UCI, and he became the first official UCI commissaire for the UK for cycling — covering all disciplines, not just BMX.
After several years at the helm of the sport, Bill took a back seat and encouraged many to follow in his footsteps, including Phil Townsend and others who remain involved today. Bill stayed active with Farnham BMX Club until 2001, when he retired from the sport but continued to follow its progression with pride. He was immensely proud to see the sport’s crowning glory — BMX being included in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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