Sport NSW Adds New Directors

Published Tue 30 May 2017

Sport NSW has filled the two vacancies on its Board with the appointment of Elisa Holmes and Chris Hall to one-year terms as Independent Directors.

The vacancies came about after two former Independent Directors, Fay Calderone and Katherine O’Regan, elected not to continue at the conclusion of their terms.

The Sport NSW Board ran a thorough process, which saw 30 people express an interest in a Director position, before finalising the appointments at a Board meeting last week.

Mr Hall is the Chief Executive Officer of Primary Communication and until recently was the Chief of Staff of the Minister for Sport, Stuart Ayres. Ms Holmes is a Barrister in Sydney, specialising in the areas of commercial law, equity and sports law.

In announcing the new appointments Sport NSW Chairperson Joseph La Posta said the Board were humbled by the calibre of applicant expressing an interest in becoming involved with Sport NSW.

“We were truly taken aback by both the level of interest and the rich and diverse backgrounds of those people wanting to contribute to our organisation and sport in NSW more broadly. I would like to sincerely thank everyone who was part of this process,” Mr La Posta said.

“We are excited to be adding Elisa Holmes and Chris Hall to our Board. They bring outstanding experience and very different skill sets and there is no doubt they will provide unique and dynamic input to our organisation.”

The Sport NSW Board consists of ten Directors, with seven elected by the membership and three independents who are appointed by the Board.


New Sport NSW Directors

Chris Hall – CEO, Primary Communication

Chris was the longest serving Chief of Staff in the State Government across the portfolios of Sport, Fair Trading, Police, Emergency Services, Western Sydney, Trade, Tourism and Major Events for almost six years. This experience means Chris brings a unique perspective across all strategic and operational communication needs as well as Government Relations.

Over the past 17 years besides his work in the State Government Chris was the Government Relations Director for the NSW Minerals Council and had worked at Primary Communication where he is now CEO. He has also staffed for a Federal Member of Parliament and developed and managed campaigns across Sydney.

Chris has participated in a wide variety of sports from Basketball to Rowing and Football to AFL 9’s. Nowadays his passion for sport is mostly as a spectator, including the AFL’s GWS Giants, the NBL’s Sydney Kings, the Australian Wallabies and the Australian Cricket team.

Elisa Holmes – Barrister

Elisa is a barrister, practicing primarily in commercial law. She has practised as a barrister for 14 years, including eight years in London and over five years in Sydney, where she is a barrister at Eleven Wentworth.

Elisa is also a leading sports lawyer, and has advised and represented many sporting associations, clubs and athletes in a wide range of sports. She was the Australian Olympic Committee’s Team Advocate for the London Olympics, was an Arbitrator of the UK Sports Resolution Panel, and is the Chair of the North Eastern Australian Football League Tribunal. She has chaired and otherwise sat on many sporting tribunals and judiciaries, and is an honourary member of Surf Lifesaving Sydney. She is a member of the Port Adelaide Football Club Eastern Advisory Board, and travels far and wide to support the Power!

Her own sporting background is in netball and rowing in particular, although she has participated in many other sports at a social and / or junior level.

Elisa also sits on the Adelaide Law School Advisory board, and was a director of the Directors Guild of Great Britain in the UK.
 
Elisa has been described in a professional context as “enthusiastic and clever” and as having “an approachable and charming manner with the steel of a gritty and determined advocate”, as well as having been “instructed in several significant cases” and instilling “confidence as she provides acute legal thinking and … an elegant style in court”. These are attributes she hopes to bring to Sport NSW.