Madeleine Hogan

Three-time Paralympian & Change Our Game Ambassador

Three-time Paralympian Madeleine Hogan was a feature of international Para-athletics competitions for just under a decade.
She first represented Australia as a 19-year-old at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Holding her own in the field of 12, she beat her personal best by almost four metres to win the Australian Para-athletics team’s first medal of the Games, a bronze in the women’s javelin F42-46.

Over the next three years, Madeleine worked tirelessly with five-time Paralympian John Eden to improve her strength and technique, culminating in winning the women’s javelin F46 world title at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. She did not know it at the time, but in two cruel twists of fate, those World Championships would be her last.

Madeleine won a bronze medal in the women’s javelin F46 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, but the four years that followed were plagued by injury. She missed the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France, after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, and six days before the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, Qatar, she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee.

She considered retiring, but ultimately decided she wanted to try to achieve selection to a third Paralympic Team. Madeleine is nothing if not determined, and posted a ‘B’ qualifying standard just two months out from the cut-off date for qualification for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, where she placed fifth in the women’s javelin F46.
Madeleine announced her retirement from Para-athletics in May 2017.

Madeleine is a proud Change Our Game Ambassador and works with closely with the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation to boost opportunities in sport for women and girls, both on and off the playing arena.

Carol Fox

President of Women Sport Australia

With over 40 years of activity in Australian Sport , Carols extensive experience ranges from grassroots level to elite levels as an athlete, coach, manager, sports administrator, university lecturer, mentor and leadership workshop facilitator. As President of Women Sport Australia (WSA) since 2015, Carol and the board have contributed to the successful increased exposure of women in sport, advocating for equality in all areas.

Carol has worked with thousands of people in her roles as an Executive Coach, Conference Speaker and Facilitator in the Personal & Professional Development Industry collaborating with all levels of Sport, Government, Not for Profit and Corporate Clients teaching concepts from her book – “Confident Communication for Leaders”.

 A trailblazer  in surf lifesaving, Carol was Victoria’s first female Surf Lifesaving Professional Lifeguard, and she was also proud to race alongside men in surf lifesaving events events due to the lack of opportunity for women at the time.
Her Master’s thesis: “Women’s Perceived Barriers to Elite Coaching Positions in Australian Sport” was used by the Australian Sports Commission when determining policies for women in sport in the 90’s.

Current roles include  Vic Uni women in sport ambassador, Chair-  standing committee women& girls on competition for football victoria, and  a mentor in the AFL she can coach program.

Nia Stamatopoulos

Melbourne City midfielder & 4th youngest player in W-League history

Born in Melbourne to second generation Greek Australian parents, Nia started playing youth football with Greek club Northcote City. Her impressive performances in attacking midfield made the 12 year-old be chosen to represent the Victorian National Training Centre. A number of milestones soon followed such as representing the Australian U-17 team and signing her first senior contract with W-League side Melbourne City in 2018.

When she was selected to play for Melbourne City against Canberra United in October 2018, the 15 year-old became the fourth youngest player in W-League history and the youngest in Club history to make her debut. Looking back at her first season as a senior footballer, Nia says that playing for Melbourne City and her country has been a dream come true.

Individual Achievements:
– Played for the NTC Senior Squad in the National Premier League Women’s in Victoria
– Selected to go to the NTC Challenge (National Tournament) held in Canberra (31^st May – 3^rd June 2018) as an underage player
– Identified at the NTC Challenge by National Team Coaches
– Selected to go to 5 Junior Matildas (Australian Squad) Camps
– Selected in the final Junior Matildas Squad to be taken to Kyrgyzstan for the 2019 AFC U16 Women’s Championship Qualifiers
– Selected to be part of the leadership group for the competition in Kyrgyzstan
– Named in the starting line-up for all 4 matches
– Captained the Junior Matildas side against Kyrgyzstan
– Contracted for the season with Melbourne City FC
– Named in the starting line-up for the first W-League match of the 2018-19 season v Canberra United
– Became the fourth youngest player in W-League history and the youngest in Melbourne City FC history to make her debut at the age of 15
– Selected in the final Junior Matildas Squad to be taken to Laos for the 2019 AFC U16 Women’s Championship Round 2 Qualifiers
– Named in starting line-up verse Iran and Vietnam (2 out of 3 Matches)
– Selected to be part of the leadership group for the competition in Laos

Level of competition in 2018

National
NTC Challenge held in Canberra May-Jun 2018

International
As part of the Junior Matildas at the 2019 AFC U16 Women’s Championship Qualifiers Kyrgyzstan
As part of the Junior Matildas at the 2019 AFC U16 Women’s Championship Qualifiers Round 2 Laos

Liz Watson

Melbourne Vixens & Australian Diamonds Vice-Captain

Liz Watson has cemented herself as one of the best netballers in the country.
Having a standout season after moving to wing attack from her usual centre position in 2017, Watson has led the entire competition for goal assists and feeds in the last two seasons. Making a rapid rise since being a late call-up to the team in 2014, Watson has gone from strength to strength since making her debut. Winning a premiership in her first season of elite netball, Watson now knows what it takes to claim the elusive premiership and has the drive for more. Now a key member of the Samsung Australian Diamonds team, Watson has established herself as a starting midcourter for the Diamonds.

Individual Awards and Achievements:

2014 Melbourne Vixens debut
2014 Melbourne Vixens Premiership
2014 Melbourne Vixens Rookie of the Year
2016 Australian Diamonds debut
2017 Melbourne Vixens Co-Vice-Captain
2017 rebel Rookie of the Year
2017 Sharelle McMahon Medallist
2017,18 Suncorp Super Netball Wing Attack (WA) of the Year
2018 Commonwealth Games Silver Medal
2018 Sharelle McMahon Medallist
2018 Liz Ellis Diamond Award
2018 International Player of the Year Award

Dr Bridie O’Donnell

Director of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation
Victorian State Government

Dr Bridie O’Donnell graduated Valedictorian from the University of Queensland Medical School and won the J R S Lahz Prize for the Most Outstanding Intern in Brisbane in 1999. As a junior doctor, she competed first in rowing, winning State Championships and National Championships, and then in Ironman Triathlon. In 2006, Bridie finished Ironman Austria, Ironman Hawaii and rode a bike course record at Busselton Ironman. In 2007, Dr O’Donnell transferred to road cycling and won Australian Championships, Oceania Championships, raced in the AIS National team in Europe and professional European teams from 2008-2012 and represented Australia at three Road World Championships.
Dr O’Donnell returned to full time work in 2013, starting at Epworth HealthCheck and teaching doctor-patient communication at Deakin University Medical School. In 2014, Bridie took on an inaugural role as a breast physician at the Epworth Breast Service.

From 2013-2016, she managed and raced for a women’s cycling team in Australia, coordinating commercial sponsors, team owners, riders and race organisers to successes and race wins over four seasons. She is the ‘Medical Expert’ Network Ten’s The Project, and frequently commentates bike racing on SBS for National and World Road Cycling Championships. In 2016, she broke the UCI Women’s Hour World Record, riding 46.882km at sea level at the Adelaide SuperDrome.
In 2017 Bridie was appointed the inaugural head of the Victorian Government’s Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, and in 2018 her story ‘Life and Death – a cycling memoir’ was published.

Steven Alessio (MC)

Former Essendon Football Club player

Steven Alessio is a former Essendon Football Club footballer of Italian descent. He was recruited after walking into the clubhouse and asking for a trial. Following his recruitment, he spent another 14 years at Essendon, winning a Premiership and best finals player honours during their 2011 finals campaign. He was given the number 27 guernsey, made famous by Essendon Champion Ruckman Simon Madden. Steven played in the 2000 Premiership team and retired at the end of the 2003 season, after 184 games and averaging over a goal a game during his entire career. Steve continued working in the AFL industry spending nearly 10 years at the AFL Players Association after his retirement. His work included the establishment of the World Class Player Development program, assisting AFL Footballers today with their transition in and out of the sport. Steven was also named as the starting Ruckman in the VFL/AFL Italian Team of the Century in 2007 alongside legends of the game such as Ron Barassi, Ian Stewart, Mark Ricciuto and the Serge & Stephen Silvagni.

Tony Pignata

CEO of Perth Glory Football Club

After graduating with a degree in Finance from Monash University, he worked in the Investment Banking Industry for 20 years before being appointed CEO of Football Federation Victoria in the mid-2000s. New Zealand was his next port of call as he was named the inaugural CEO of Wellington Phoenix in 2007 and he then returned to Australia in 2012 to take up the equivalent post at Sydney FC, a role he was to fill for five years. During his first year with the Sky Blues, Pignata was instrumental in securing one of the highest-profile signings in Australian football history in the form of Italian World Cup winner and Juventus legend, Alessandro Del Piero. Sydney FC would go on to claim both the Premiership and Championship before their long-serving CEO returned in 2017 to his native Melbourne where he subsequently continued his studies in Sports Management and Law, while also working in the football media for Football National Radio. In May 2018 he was appointed as Chief Executive Office of Perth Glory Football Club competing in the A-League (football) competition where he helped build the commercial side of the business and helped build a winning culture at the club culminating in Perth winning the Premiers Plate, its first A-League trophy.