SOFTBALL VICTORIA BOARD

PRESIDENT: Sharni Arthur

Board Position: Director

Date Elected: September 2020

Description of Background / Expertise:

As a secondary school teacher for almost 20 years, Ms. Arthur has had significant involvement in school sport.

As a secondary school division sports coordinator for School Sport Victoria for the past 5 years, Ms Arthur is actively involved in promoting participation in school sport and will be a valuable asset for Victorian softball in this space.

Interest and/or Involvement in the Sport:

Passionate about all components of softball, Ms. Arthur has been involved as both a player and coach for over 30 years and is still involved today.

Her experienced softball journey includes playing and coaching at club, association and state levels.

Sharni is also a member of the Softball Victoria State Teams Committee 

CHAIR: Matt Forbes

Board Position: Director

Date Elected: April 2023

Description of Background / Expertise:

Matt is a professionally qualified accountant with twenty years of audit and financial advisory experience, including planning, completing and reviewing statutory audit work, reporting to clients on results and internal control and governance recommendations, and preparing and reporting client company financial accounts at year-end. Matt has proven abilities in financial and business advice, client relationships, business development and team leadership. He is currently a Partner in Bentleys Victoria’s Audit & Assurance Division, a position he has held since September 2023.

Matt holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and is a Chartered Accountant with both CA ANZ and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Interest / involvement in Sport 

Matt is an avid sports fan, who looks to volunteer in community sports whenever he can. Matt is currently a member of Richmond Football Club, Melbourne Storm, Melbourne City Football Club and the Melbourne Stars, and plays soccer on a regular basis. He is also a keen runner and completed the London Marathon in April 2019 and the Melbourne Half Marathon in November 2022, amongst many others.

Michelle Clyne

Board Position: Director

Date Elected: April 2018

Description of Background / Expertise:

Michelle has more than 20 years experience working in sports media management at the Australian Football League and the St Kilda Football Club.

Michelle is the AFL Publicity and Promotions Manager and the AFL Women’s Media Manager. Her expertise includes media planning, project management, media releases, social media planning and implementation, crisis management, match day media, events and sponsorship announcements.

Has a Master’s in Business (Sports Management), a Graduate Diploma in Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Involvement in the Sport:

A softballer with the Northwood Falcons in the Waverley Softball Association for two decades, she has also played Melbourne Softball Association slowpitch with the same team during this time and regularly plays in Masters tournaments.

Prior to this was a provisional state league netballer.

Member of the AFL Victoria Women’s Advisory Board 2015-2016.

Northwood Falcons committee member 2013-present.

Media Liaison at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Sub-Committee Involvement: 

Finance and Governance Committee

Kieran McMillan

Board Position: Director

Date Elected: November 2021

Description of Background / Expertise:

Kieran brings 16 years of experience working within the sports industry at international, national and state levels. This started as a local sport development officer in NZ and he has since progressed to senior management within one of Australia’s largest sporting organisations, Cricket Australia.

The main focus of his career has been community sport - supporting clubs and growing participation.  Kieran also brings experience and expertise in digital technology, high performance coaching, commercial, government relations and strategy.

Kieran has a legal degree from the University of Sydney and recently completed an executive education program with MIT Sloan in Digital Business Strategy.

Involvement in the Sport:

Kieran has participated and volunteered in club sport all his life, predominantly cricket, soccer, squash and athletics.  He is passionate about the power of community sport and affording more kids the opportunity to get the same benefits he received from his local clubs.

Kieran played softball whilst at school and, as a proud Kiwi, he's also been a keen follower of NZ Softball teams the Black Sox and White Sox.  When completing a high performance coaching accreditation in NZ, he was fortunate to learn from former NZ men’s softball coach Don Tricker who was inspirational in leading a more compassionate and people-focussed approach to coaching.

Katherine Gourley

Board Position: Director

Date Elected: April 2023

Description of Background / Expertise:

Katherine has several years experience working in the sporting sector, with a focus on grassroots participation and engagement of underrepresented cohorts. In her current role as Women and Girls Participation Coordinator at Basketball Victoria she works to increase the opportunities for women and girls in roles both on and off the field.

She is skilled at project management, strategic planning, governance, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and grant writing. Katherine has a range of tertiary qualifications, including competition of the AICD Foundations of Directorship (Sport), and a Mini MBA in Marketing.

Interest and/or Involvement in the Sport:

Katherine played softball for the Melbourne University Softball Club (MUSC) in the Melbourne Softball Association (MSA) for the past decade. She also played slowpitch with MSA for a number of years, and has represented the association at three State Championships.

MUSC committee member 2017-2022 - club President between 2019 and 2022.

Under her leadership, MUSC hosted the first ever Softball Pride Cup in 2019, and the club continues to lead the way for inclusive practice within MSA.

VIEW DETAILS OF VACANT BOARD POSITIONS HERE