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Board Members

President

Alex Gavrilovic

Email: president@handballaustralia.org.au

Alex completed a Bachelor of Pharmacy Degree at Sydney University, graduating in 1978. In addition, Alex has completed TAFE Management Training courses in Team Leadership, Interview and Selection Skills, Project Management, Presentation Skills and Negotiation Skills.

Alex is currently employed as a Pharmaceutical Adviser, working for the NSW Department of Health, Pharmaceutical Services Branch.

Alex was employed as the Handball Competition Manager by the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games from 1997 to 2000 where his role included managing and organising all facets of the Handball competition for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.  It was as a result of this role that Alex established a sound working relationship with many key members of the International Handball Federation and other international and national sporting organisations.

In an honorary capacity Alex currently performs the role of Competition Manager for the New South Wales Handball Association and the Oceania Handball Federation where he is applying his skills to establish strategies to bring high profile international events to Australia and the Oceania region, such as the Handball Pacific Cup, in order to further raise the profile, stimulate development and create a source of funding for the sport. Alex has successfully managed many national and international events in the sport of handball, including Oceania and World Championship Qualifications and State and National Championships.

Alex has in the past variously held the positions of Secretary-General and Vice-President of the Australian Handball Federation and Secretary-General and President of the NSW Handball Association.

Among his projects, Alex has been involved in the development, management and implementation of the Coaching, Officiating and Statisticians’ accreditation courses in Australia.

Upon his election to the position of President, Australian Handball Federation (AHF), Alex said that it is both an honour and a privilege to lead the AHF as it strives to assert itself as a major sport in Australia.

Alex said that the AHF would strive, under his management, to adopt a much stronger role involving planning, management, control, communication, direction, reporting and performance evaluation for the sport of handball in Australia.
 

Secretary General

Lee Schofield

Email: sec-gen@handballaustralia.org.au

Player with the Australian Men’s Team at the 2000 Olympic Games
Player at the 1999 and 2003 World Championships
Head Coach of Australian Junior Handball Teams in 2005
Team Leader for Australian Women’s Team to 2005 World Championships

Away from handball Lee is a lawyer admitted to the High Court of Australia and the NSW Supreme Court.  He has previously worked as a specialist ‘sports lawyer’ and currently working as an in-house corporate lawyer for a Swedish aircraft leasing company.

Elected - Director of Strategic Planning and Policies

Stephen Harbort

Email : director1@handballaustralia.org.au

Stephen has assisted in the visioning and strategic planning for the AHF which includes assisting states to transform strategy into practice and to protect the AHF through improved governance, and ensuring appropriated policies and procedures are in place.

Stephen's involvement with the AHF commenced as a state delegate from Queensland in 1993. He was voted in as Secretary General in 1996 and became Senior Vice-President in 2004, and Director ( Strategic Planning and Policies ) in 2006. He is the current AHF delegate to the Oceania Handball Federation and the Australian Olympic Committee.

He started up handball n Bundaberg and Toowoomba and was a founding member of the Wide Bay region. Stephen was elected as President of the Queensland Team Handball Association in 1992, a position that he currently holds as well as being an active referee and coach when time permits.

Stephen's most memorable moments were with the Olympics in Sydney 2000 and the East Asian Games in 2001 as well as leading a Men's tour to Hungary in 1998. He also presented Australia's bid for the 2004 IHF World Congress at the 2002 Congress in St Petersburg, Russia.

Stephen organised and conducted the 2002 Oceania Men's Qualification Tournament and has coached the Queensland Under 18 women's team to a win at the National Junior Championships.

He has extensive experience as a General Manager in business and as a Chief Financial Officer in large organisations. As well as experience in dealing with Government bodies and strong leadership skills supported by a Master in Leadership. He also is a Company Director Associate.
 

Elected - Director of Coaching and Officiating

Bronwyn Thompson

Email : director2@handballaustralia.org.au

Bronwyn is the director currently responsible for overseeing the Coaching and Officiating portfolios.  Bronwyn began playing handball after seeing it at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.  She has been playing for five years and working in administration and officiating at State level for four years.  Previously she played representative level Water Polo.

Bronwyn holds a Master in Management (Arts Mgt), undergraduate qualifications in Journalism and media production and currently works in management for the NSW Department of Education and Training.

Director

Paul Smith

Email : director3@handballaustralia.org.au

Paul comes from a strong legal background and is currently a member of the Queensland Judiciary, serving as a member of the Land Court of Queensland.  He holds degrees in Law (1982) and Arts (1985) from the University of Queensland; was admitted as a Barrister in 1982; and received a Churchill Fellowship (1988).  Paul was also awarded an Australia Day Achievement Medallion in 1995.  He is a Fellow of the Austrian based Centre for International Legal Studies, and is a Harvard trained Mediator and Negotiator.  Paul is a published author and has written numerous legal articles and been a keynote speaker at conferences throughout the world.

Paul has also been recently appointed to take up a short-term posting as a Visiting Professor at Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia in 2008, teaching law. 

Paul has held a deep love of sport throughout his life.  He was a founding member of the very successful Western Suburbs Hockey Club, Ipswich, in 1969; and had a long association with the development of hockey, particularly in Ipswich.  He is a Life Member of the Ipswich Hockey Umpires Association and a past long term Vice President of Ipswich Hockey.  He played key roles in the multi $M redevelopment of Ipswich Hockey, and in 2001 was awarded a Queensland Hockey Association Award of Merit. 

Although a relative new-comer to Handball, as a keen sports follower Paul has watched and admired the skills in the game over many decades.  Even though he is now on the “wrong side” of 50, Paul highly enjoys playing social handball as a goalie, and he has a real passion for bringing the game to the youth of Australia.  He is founding President of Western Saints Handball Club, based in Ipswich and the Western Suburbs of Brisbane.  He serves on the Executive of QTHA, and was appointed as a Director of AHF in 2007.

Paul brings to the AHF a wealth of experience, not only in sports administration and the law, but also in dealing with government.  Prior to his judicial appointment, Paul held the very senior position of A/Deputy Director General, Premier’s Department, Queensland and was responsible for policy co-ordination across all areas of the Queensland Government.

Scott Fearnside is relatively new to the sport of Handball but brings with him over 35 years of Sports Administration in other sports such as tennis, cricket, netball, squash and school sports.

Away from sport, he is the Head of the Science Faculty at a selective Sydney High School and has been with the Department of Education and Training for about 30 years.

Apart from being both the President and Treasurer of the NSW Handball Association, Scott is also President of local cricket and tennis associations, President, Secretary and Registrar of Northern Districts Junior Cricket and Treasurer and Vice-President of NSW Hardcourt Tennis.

His ability as a Sports Administrator was recognised in 2000 when he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal and in 2004 with the Australian Government’s Sports Achievement Award. He is also a Fellow of the Australian Society of Sports Administrators. 

Scott’s aim in Handball is to try to elevate and to develop the profile of the sport of Handball.

Susan Wilson-Gahan

Queensland

Interest in Handball started through my children’s involvement and through teaching.

    Teacher of Health Education and Physical Education for 31 year in QLD, NSW, and overseas, in government and non-government schools, across all Year Levels, and in Special Education units. Also worked as an itinerant teacher of HPE in Special Schools. Positions held in schools include: Curriculum Manager; Curriculum Assistant; Head of Department; Year Level co-ordinator; Sports co-ordinator and Girls Supervisor.
Currently working for the Queensland Studies Authority in the Queensland Curriculum Assessment
Reporting Framework where I co-wrote the Health and Physical Education Essential Learnings and
am an Assessment bank writer.

Tutor final year Education degree students at Qld University of Technology

Relevant interests
- Director of Promotions Qld Team Handball Association.
- Member Australian Council Health Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER) and presenter at annual
  conferences.
- Member Sports Medicine Federation of Australia.
- Member Brisbane Metropolitan Touch Association.
- Member Springwood Masters Swimming Club.

Significant other things:
- Hold several qualifications in sports coaching and officiating, sports medicine and first aid including Level 2
  Coaching Principles, Level 2 Netball, Level 2 Track and Field, Level 2 Sports First Aid, gold and silver level
  qualifications in Latin American and Ballroom Dance.
- Held every executive position over a variety of sports and sporting organisations including Netball, Basketball,
  Water Polo, Athletics, Hockey and Swimming.
- Have secured funding for community and school, sport and recreation facilities and programs.
- Started four sporting associations from scratch.
- Master of Health Science.
- B.Ed - PE/H.Ed double major; second subject Junior Science.
- Dip Tch – PE – second subject/s English/ History.
- Dip Health Ed.
- Grad Dip Sp. Ed.
- Advanced Certificate of Applied Sports Medicine.
- Several awards for service to different sporting associations.

All nominated State Directors can be emailed on the address below. Please ensure your email is correctly addressed to one of the above State Directors:

statedirectors@handballaustralia.org.au

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