About Cathy
Cathy is Director, Olympic Sport Venues at the NSW Office of Sport.
“Be an opportunist, keep wondering and learning. Think of your career and life learnings as circular not linear”.
Education
- Bachelor of Education (Primary)–University of NSW
- Bachelor of Science (Human Movement) – Wollongong University
- Diploma of Psychology – Western Sydney University
What does your work look like?
I oversee four Olympic Sport Venues in Western Sydney including Sydney International Equestrian Centre, Sydney International Shooting Centre, Penrith Whitewater Stadium and Sydney International Regatta Centre. I provide strategic leadership to the facility management and operations of the Venues. This includes ensuring the Venues are fit for purpose, compliant and well-maintained for international-level sports events and training. My role also involves developing other business opportunities to maximise the utilisation of the Venues and providing safe and inclusive spaces for people to be active and involved in sport at all levels.
How did you get to where you are today?
Throughout my career I have valued ongoing learning through study, mentoring and work experience. My career started in policy, programs and project management, primarily in public health, sports participation and high-performance sport. I’ve also done a lot of volunteering that led to great networks and I gained an awesome amount of experience. Don’t underestimate the power of volunteering! I made a career pivot into the area of policy and planning for sport infrastructure (focused on equity for women and girls) that led to a new career journey in facility management and planning. Throughout my career, I’ve taken opportunities to stretch my skills and capabilities by taking on new roles and I’ve always focused on building stakeholder relationships and positive people management.
What’s interesting about your job?
Working with diverse stakeholders and customers from planning and building new facilities and infrastructure to developing business opportunities at the venues is super interesting. It also includes non-sports events like music festivals and film shoots.
Why is your work important?
Provision of world-class venues plays an important role in supporting elite athletes deliver their best performances. There’s no prouder moment than watching athletes or teams get a personal best performance at one of the venues I manage or watching a young person compete for the first time. As important is the opportunity for the community to access these safe and inclusive spaces for day-to-day sport and active recreation.