True Sport Advisory Group

Aalia Merchant

Aalia Merchant is the Team Leader - Sport and Recreation at the City of Joondalup. Aalia oversees management of the City’s sporting venues and provides club development support and programming for the 110 sporting clubs based within the City, that reflect the needs of the local community.

Brent Hedley

Brent Hedley is an accomplished sports administrator dedicated to leveraging football to strengthen and support communities across Western Australia. As the Executive Manager Country Football, Facilities & Affiliates at the West Australian Football Commission, Brent manages the development, administration, and strategic planning for community football and facilities throughout WA.

Brent holds expertise and postgraduate qualifications in program and service design, delivery, and evaluation, with a strong focus on education, health, and social impact. Prior to his current role, Brent served as the inaugural Executive Officer at the Football Futures Foundation and Head of Mental Health & Wellbeing at the AFL Players Association.

Conor Mahady

Conor has over 18 years of experience in the disabled sports and recreation sector and is the CEO of the WA Disabled Sports Association. Conor holds qualifications in education, science, and governance and is passionate about the positive outcomes sport and recreation can provide for all members of the community.  

Jo Davies

Jo Davies has over 30 years experience working and volunteering in the sport and recreation industry at local, state, national and international levels in both Government and the not-for profit sector. Jo is currently General Manager, Community Cricket at the WA Cricket Association and in her voluntary capacity a Director at the East Perth Football Club and Perth Racing. 

Jo Smith

Jo Smith is Netball WA’s Stakeholder and Operations Manager and has over 30 years of service to netball in WA both as a volunteer and employee. She has been involved in many areas of the sport, including administration, coaching and development.

In her 15 years as an administrator at Netball WA she has held various positions. As the Stakeholder & Operations Manager Jo also manages the community team governance and compliance area, sitting on various working groups including the Netball Australia Integrity Working Group.

Jo is passionate about the role sport plays in providing safe, inclusive and fair environments for all communities.

Rachel Burrows

Rachel is a highly accomplished senior executive with a proven track record in sporting sector leadership, governance, and strategic growth.  With over 20 years’ experience in both high-performance (involved in x3 Olympic cycles with GBR) and participation sporting associations, Rachel utilises her passion for sport development, to ensure a positive, inclusive, and safe environment for all participants of sport.  As the Football West Integrity & Governance Manager and a trusted advisor, Rachel is committed to safeguarding the values of sport.

Renay Gamble

Renay is the General Manager People & Culture at Perth Racing and has over 20 years’ experience leading organisational transformation and optimising culture. Renay has a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) from the University of Western Australia and a Diploma of Business Governance from the Institute of Community Directors Australia.

Rob Kennedy

Rob has 20+ years of experience in the sporting industry across Tennis, Badminton, Cricket, and AFL. As Executive Officer at Badminton WA, he focuses on the strategic growth and development of the sport across Western Australia, working with key stakeholders to drive participation, engagement, child safety, and long-term financial sustainability for both clubs and the organisation. Committed to making badminton accessible to all, he champions inclusivity and ensures it remains a Sport for All.  

Robyn Kuhl

Currently CEO of Volleyball WA, Robyn has volunteered and professionally worked in the sporting industry since she was very young. Robyn believes Sport and Recreation are fundamental to our daily lives, providing safe environments to not only keep us physically healthy, but just as importantly supporting our wellbeing personally and collectively, socially, mentally and indeed spiritually too.

Sarah Du Plessis

Leading the community team at Rugby WA, Sarah du Plessis, GM, Community, brings more than eight years of experience across Surf Life Saving, Tennis, Football, and Rugby. Dedicated to fostering inclusive sports environments, she collaborates with national, state, and government bodies in WA to drive high performance, development, and positive policy changes within the community non-for profit sport sector. Sarah's previous work in football has seen her drive investment and advocate for policy changes to promote gender equity, enriching a multi-faceted approach to community sports development.

Shayley McGurk Davy

Shayley began her career in 2001 at the Australian Institute of Sport, Hockey Program, administering two high performance programs, and two successful Olympic cycles. After nine years of high-performance administration and athlete support, Shayley shifted her focus to community sport, and commenced her role at Hockey WA. Having learnt the rudiments of sports administration, she moved into leading the Game, Community Development, Pathways and Performance program for HWA. Shayley is passionate about balancing the exciting challenges and opportunities of sport participation and athlete development.

Tom Bottrell

Currently the Director of Sport for Associated & Catholic Colleges (ACC), Tom has held Executive leadership roles with Foxtel and Bunzl, combined with a lifetime involvement in WA football which led to 8 years as a CEO in the WAFL, before commencing as an Executive Manager at the West Australian Football Commission; managing Country Football, Affiliated Leagues and the WAFC’s Facilities Strategy. Tom was the inaugural Stephen Michael Foundation CEO, before stepping into the role of Board member in 2021 and taking on the role of Chairman in November 2022.