Games Organising Committee

The Games Organising Committee (GOC) role is to oversee the development and management of the 2012 Australian Deaf Games. Here is a short biography of each GOC member, outlining what they will be doing in the lead up to the 2012 Australian Deaf Games.

Phil Harper - Games Chairman

Phil joined the DSA Board in January 2008. His most recent portfolio responsibilities have been 'Governance' and '2009 Taipei Deaflympics.' He has a long interest in deaf sports being a participant at past Australian Deaf Games (tennis and basketball) and played basketball with the Eastern Grizzlies and more recently having fun with the Melbourne Deaf Cricket club.
He enjoys running having completed the Melbourne marathon and 2 half marathons and bushwalking. He is keen to work on reducing his golf handicap and is a member of the Victorian Deaf Golf Club but his latest craze in playing AFL Super Rules playing with the 0ver 45's Frankston 'Gummysharks' has become a priority!
He has two part time positions; one is with the Australian Communication Exchange as their Community Liaison Manager and the other as Video Relay Interpreting (VRI) Promotions Co-ordinator at Vicdeaf. He is a member of the Victorian Government's Victorian Disability Advisory Council and the World Federation of the Deaf Expert Panel in Technology and Accessibility.
Phil was a Director of the Melbourne 2005 Deaflympics Board and chaired the ‘Sports and Venues’ sub-committee.
He is married to Carla Anderson and has 4 children who are all still at home and do a good job of breaking the weekly food budget.
“I look forward to working with a wonderful group of people on the GOC and together we aim to make the 2012 ADG a wonderful and memorable experience for all participants.”

Melinda Phillips – Administration

Melinda Phillips has joined the 2012 Australian Deaf Games Organizing Committee in December to manage the Administration portfolio, taking over from Erica Dawson who stepped down in December.

Melinda was born in Adelaide & has lived in Melbourne for four years now.  She is currently working full time at AGL & is also the current Vice-President for Deaf Netball Victoria.

Coming from a Deaf family, Melinda has travelled with her family to support her father & brother competing in Squash at several Games including Brisbane (1987/1988), Hobart (1991/1992), Adelaide (1993/1994), Canberra (1996/1997) and the Gold Coast (2008).  Melinda has herself participated in Netball in Canberra and Squash at the recent Games in Gold Coast.

We welcome Melinda to the team!

Bryn Davies – Finance

Bryn Davies is the Finance Coordinator for the 2012ADG. He brings a wealth of financial administration experience in the public sector and banking industries as well as recently completed qualification in Certificate III - Financial Services and is looking forward to the challenge of ensuring the 2012ADG are delivered on budget (without the addition of any more grey hairs).

Bryn is married to the lovely Sarah who together raise their daughter, Ainsley. Bryn enjoys dabbling in DIY projects around his home, having retired from a long and rich basketball career which culminated in playing for Australia at the Melbourne 2005 Deaflympics. He occasionally enjoys a hit of golf and some activities that doesn't involve running out of breath!

Recently Bryn entered into a bet with the Deaf ‘Queen of the Pool’, Cindy-Lu Fitzpatrick OAM to be involved as a water polo player at the Games. It remains to be seen whether Bryn will hold up his end of the deal but if there are any interested Victorian players for the 2012ADG, please contact him to set up a team!

Meg Aumann (DSRV) - Ceremonies & Entertainment Coordinator

As a Coordinator of DSRV, I am representing DSRV on the role of Ceremonies & Entertainment for the 2012ADG. DSRV is the state peak body in sports and recreation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Victorians.

I also work at Vicdeaf as Human Resources Officer. I have a strong background in sports, in particular netball as a player and an administrator for Deaf Netball Victoria and Deaf Netball Australia. On behalf of DSRV, I look forward to make 2012ADG a great Games experience for all!

Paula Thornton – Volunteers Coordinator

Paula is a Deaf native signer and a 3rd generation in a Deaf family. She has lived and worked in 6 different cities around Australia and UK. Her entire career life has been heavily involved in Deaf Community sector for last 14 years in various positions. Paula currently works at Deaf Children Australia supporting Deaf children as the Youth Online Coordinator. Paula has also worked as a Coordinator of Volunteers for Melbourne Deaflympics 2005, and is looking forward to sharing her experiences and skills to ensure that the Australian Deaf Games in Geelong will be a successful event.

Penny Gillett - Medical Services Coordinator

Penny is well known for her physiotherapy and pilates work both within and outside of the deaf community. She is delighted to see Medical Services continue to be recognised as an important component of deaf sporting events, and has particular interests in injury prevention.

Penny has worked for DSA at the past two Deaflympics in her role as Australian Team Physiotherapist in Melbourne 2005 and Taipei 2009. She was physiotherapist to the bronze medal winning Australian Deaf Tennis Team at the World Deaf Tennis Championships in Austria 2003. Penny ran a successful physiotherapy clinic at the Sydney 2003ADG, and regularly writes health articles for DSRV’s eNews. She has worked at a number of high profile events including 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, 2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne, and the annual IAAF Melbourne Athletics Grand Prix.

Penny holds a tutoring role at Monash University’s School of Physiotherapy, while recently opening her own Physiotherapy practice in Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs!

Craig Dodson - Sponsorship & VIPs Coordinator, Marketing and Media

Craig's professional background includes a degree in Sports Management from the University of Canberra and 10 years experience working for a number of organisations within the sports industry including Basketball Australia, Sport Industry Australia, NSW Department of Sport and Recreation, Hume City Council and specialist sports consulting business Sponsorship Solutions.

Most recently Craig was employed as Senior Project Officer in the sports business unit at the Victorian Government Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development.

Originally from Wagga Wagga Craig is a passionate sports follower and has been a former first grade cricketer. These days Craig is happy chasing a golf ball (unsuccessfully!) and following his beloved Sydney Swans.

Nicole Gook - Interpreters Coordinator

Nicole owns and administers Auslan Services and is a qualified interpreter with many years experience working and participating in the deaf community.

Gary Kerridge – Accommodation and Transport

Gary Kerridge is the National Disability Coordination Officer (NDCO) for regional Victoria, based at the University of Ballarat. He has extensive experience in working with deaf and hearing impaired people, people with physical and neurological disabilities, people who are blind or vision impaired and people with intellectual disabilities. Gary is a former president of Deaf Sport Recreation Victoria.

Irena Farinacci - Sports

Sports plays a major part in Irena's life having grown up competing in a variety of disciplines including tennis, soccer, cricket and basketball.

Irena was the Acting Manager at Deaf Sports Australia before taking on the role as Sports Development Officer. She also worked as the National Sports Coordinator during 1997-2001 and again as Project Officer in 2003 for DSA. She also worked as a Sport Liaison Officer for the 2002 World Masters Games in Melbourne. Irena has also been involved with Deaf Basketball Australia, Deaf Sport Recreation Victoria and Deaf Basketball Victoria in many capacities.

As an athlete, Irena has represented Australia in basketball three times - at the 1997 and 2005 Deaflympic Games and at the 2007 World Deaf Basketball Championships.

As the Sports Development Officer, Irena is keen to see an increase in participation from grassroot levels, an effective pathways program and a high level national and international sports and youth talent co-ordination program.

Lauren Johns - Venues

Lauren has been involved with the Deaf sporting community since 1977. Initial involvement began when she coached Geelong athlete Sharon Gargan, who competed in 100, 200 and 400 metre events and won medals in all three events at the World Games for the Deaf (now re-named the Deaflympics) Bucharest, Rumania.   Later, she also became Joanne Lambert's Coach.

1985 – WGD - Los Angeles, USA - Coach/Manager Australian Athletic Team

1989 – WGD – Christchurch, New Zealand – Coach Australian Athletic Team

1992 – ASIA/PACIFIC GAMES – Seoul, Korea- Masseuse/Trainer Australian Soccer Team

1993 – WGD – Sofia, Bulgaria- Coach/Manager Australian Athletic Team

1996 – ASIA/PACIFIC GAMES – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Masseuse/Trainer Australian Soccer/Athletic Team

1997 – WGD – Copenhagen, Denmark – Coach/Manager Athletic Team

2001 – DEAFLYMPICS – Rome, Italy – Coach/Manager Athletic Team

2005 – DEAFLYMPICS – Melbourne, Australia – Coach/Manager Athletic Team

26/11/2006 – Life Membership of Deaf Sports Australia

Lauren has also attended Australian Deaf Games in Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide, Sydney and assisted deaf athletes in Athletics, Basketball, Netball, Soccer, Tennis at these events.

Lauren is a masseuse by profession, is passionate about all sports, and has been a Division (1) Basketballer, A Grade Netballer, A Grade Softballer, and played Tennis and Squash, but her first love is Athletics, a sport in which she competed as a very competent all-round athlete, and was a Level 2 Coach/and former AIS Satellite Coach (Sprints/Hurdles/Relays) in Geelong.  She is also a passionate AFL Football fan, and follows the Geelong Cats.

Kathy Fitzmaurice - Geelong Deaf Social Group Representative

Since moving to live in Geelong I was asked by the Geelong Deaf Social Group to represent the club and the deaf community of Geelong working with the Australian Deaf Games Organising Committee.

Kathy mentioned that she is honoured to be a part of the preparations for the Australian Deaf Games 2012 and is thrilled that the Games will be held in the beautiful city of Geelong. Kathy has extensive experience in the deafness sector both as an employee and as a volunteer.  She was a Team Leader for the 2005 Deaflympic Games that was held in Melbourne.

Kathy is married with three adult children and enjoy watching sports. She also participates in golf and tennis socially, and enjoys the outdoors such as bush walking and bike riding.