AFL COMMUNITY FOOTBALL BOARD

Dec 2012 Member Bios

This document provides brief Bios of the inaugural members of the AFL Victoria Community Football Board.

AFL Victoria Community Football Board AFL Victoria Community Football Board

MEMBER BIOS

1. BACKGROUND As per the Terms of Reference previously issued, this group has been formed to provide guidance, advice and support to senior management of AFL Victoria in relation to the continued development of community football within Victoria. This Board will refer to the General Manager of AFL Victoria and will be a subcommittee of the current AFL Victoria Ltd Board. The inaugural members of the AFL Victoria Community Football Board are listed below along with a brief Bio on each person.

2. MEMBERS The terms of reference document previously distributed that the initial Board will be comprised as follows: - Independent members: 3 nominated by AFL Victoria. - Country members: 3 nominated by the current VCFL board. - Metropolitan members: 3 selected from nominations from the metropolitan Leagues.

2.1 Independent members: Danny Dale (Chair), Diana Taylor & Chris Johnson Danny Dale (Chair) Danny Dale is a former a senior partner with the Boston Consulting Group where he worked with a number of large corporations in , New Zealand, Asia and Canada on developing and implementing competitive business and IT strategies. His experience includes advising a leading AFL Club and the AFL on business strategy and corporate governance issues and also pro bono advice for various community based organisations including Cape York Indigenous Enterprise Partnerships (Jawun), Volunteering Australia and the Committee for . Danny played junior and senior football in what was then known as the Eastern Districts Football League. Danny has a Bachelor of Business (Accounting and IT), MBA and is married to Catriona. He now spends the majority of his time as full-time carer for their two young Auskickers, aged six and eight, and enjoying the highs and lows of writing his first novel. Diana Taylor Diana Taylor has extensive administration experience across all three tiers of Australian Football, with previous roles as President of the Western Region Football League, VFL Tribunal Member, VFL Appeal Board Member and Member of the AFL Victoria Development Advisory Board. Diana is currently a Director of the , a position she has held since 2010 and is Chair of AFL Victoria’s Fair Game: Respect Matters Reference Group. Diana is a qualified lawyer and company director whilst maintaining her role as Executive Director/General Manager of CT Management Group, a management consultancy business that supports Local Government nationally.

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Chris Johnson Chris Johnson had a distinguished football career over 13 years; playing the majority of his 264 AFL matches for Brisbane Lions having first played at Fitzroy. During his AFL career, Chris amassed a number of highlights including three premierships, All-Australian selection, inclusion into the Indigenous Team of the Century and captaincy of the Australian International Rules team. Following his retirement from playing AFL football, Chris took up an opportunity to enter the coaching box. His position as Development and then Assistant Coach of the Brisbane Lions helped develop his leadership skills. Returning to Melbourne, Chris pulled on the boots again to become a playing coach of the Avondale Heights Football Club in the Essendon District Football League. Chris is currently employed as an AFL Engagement and Talent Coordinator whilst Coaching Level One of the Australian Institute of Sport-AFL Academy.

2.2 Country members: Nicholas Rolfe, Brant Dunshea & Tony Mitchell Nicholas Rolfe Nicholas Rolfe has been the President of the Victorian Country Football League (VCFL) for the past 10 seasons and brings a wealth of community football knowledge having also previously played football and held executive roles at club level across the Murray River region. Nicholas has played an instrumental role in the integration of the VCFL and AFL Victoria and has always made decisions in the best interests of community football. Based in Echuca, Nicholas runs a successful legal practice where he is the principal partner mainly dealing in criminal cases in his capacity as a qualified solicitor. Nicholas is married to Louise and has two sons and a daughter who have all been involved in community sport. Brant Dunshea Brant brings considerable expertise having previously held the role of Chief Integrity Officer for Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) and more recently the Chairman of the Rules Committee for the VCFL where he has been a Director for the past four seasons. Brant also worked for the VCFL from 2006 – 2008 in the role of General Manager of Umpiring where he made considerable improvements to umpiring structures across country Victoria before moving back to HRV to take up the role of Chief Operating Officer. Brant is regarded as an industry expert in the efforts to stamp out performance enhancing drugs within his sport and has travelled the world to pass on his extensive knowledge in this area. Brant played U19 football at Essendon, has a Bachelor Degree in Legal Studies (Vic Uni) and completed a Graduate Diploma in Sports Law at Melbourne University. He currently resides on the Mornington Peninsula with his wife Catherine where he is actively involved in junior football with their young son. Tony Mitchell Tony Mitchell has been a Director of the VCFL for the last five seasons and, more recently, been the Chair of the Audit Committee. Having had a long career with the National Australia Bank in various roles, Tony is currently employed at ESP Group in Keysborough as Group General Manager, a company that holds several

Page 2 AFL Victoria Community Football Board national and international contracts for various manufacturing and housing projects. He also has previous experience in successful small business enterprises. Tony played and coached in the Yarra Valley Mountain District and Eastern Football Leagues, as well as a short stint at Essendon U19’s. He was also on the Board of the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League for 10 years, eight as Chairman before joining the VCFL Board. Tony is a Life Member of the Yarra Valley Mountain DFL and lives in the Yarra Valley with his wife Kathryn and three daughters.

2.3 Metropolitan members: Bruno Conti, Geoff Dempster & Roger Teale Bruno Conti Bruno Conti has worked in the Banking industry for 23 years where he has been involved in building, motivating and leading high performance teams. He also holds expertise in strategic planning, change management, stakeholder and people management. Bruno has recently been appointed as Chairman of the Australian Amateur Football Council after having served as Chairman of the Victorian Amateur Football Association from 2007 to 2012. Previously, he was the President of the North Old Boys Amateur Football Club from 1999 to 2003, the club where he played 230 games, won two Best and Fairest Awards, captained the Club for three years, represented the VAFA 16 times and was awarded All Australian Amateur honours on two occasions. He also represented Essendon and Collingwood reserves across 25 games in 1987/88. Geoff Dempster Geoff Dempster has lived a thriving career in the Ethical Pharmaceutical Industry, retiring after 40 years in the business undertaking a number of roles in State/National Management positions in Sales, Marketing and Specialist Liaison roles with both International and Australian companies. Geoff spent his formative years in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne before venturing to the Eastern suburbs where he took on many roles in both the junior and senior sporting areas, incorporating coaching and club management with athletic and football clubs over 14 years. During this time his roles included time as a Knox Junior Football League executive, incorporating a two year stint as President which saw initial discussions with the Eastern District Football League (now the EFL) with respect to a possible merger. Geoff was elected to the City of Knox council in 1986 and served as councillor for nine years on many and varied committees including Infrastructure, Finance and Staff Liaison and Development. He was elected Mayor of the city in 1991 and 1992. In 2010, Geoff was appointed to the Northern Football League and operated as Interim CEO during 2011 prior to the appointment of the new CEO and is currently chairing a subcommittee on Club Development. Roger Teale Roger Teale has enjoyed a long association with junior football, both at East Malvern Junior Football Club (EMJFC) and the South Metro Junior Football League (SMJFL - previously the Moorabbin Saints Junior Football League). He is the current Chairman of the South Metro Junior Football League and brings a wealth of senior management and property experience from his personal business endeavours.

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Roger has held a number of official duties at EMJFC including General Committee & Delegate, Vice President and President positions. As EMJFC President, he grew the membership and sponsorship base of the club and established a Youth Girls team and Colts team to make EMJFC one of Victoria’s largest and most successful junior football clubs. He was a member of the Waverly Junior Football Association Steering Committee that oversaw the demerger of the league and the positioning of the clubs into the Yarra Junior Football League and Moorabbin Saints Junior Football League.

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