Riddle appointed Hockey South Australia CEO

It is with great pleasure that Hockey SA advise that after a very robust and competitive recruitment process, Geoff Riddle has been appointed as Hockey SA’s new Chief Executive Officer.

Geoff has deep experience in leading community sports competitions, schools, and disability programs. Most recently as Operations Manager of SANFL Juniors, where he grew participation to 13,000~ participants, 700 teams, and 60 clubs. In this capacity, Geoff also supported clubs and associations by providing training, education, and governance to develop volunteers and services.

His grass roots experience in developing strong equity and inclusion programs, particularly with youth and vulnerable community groups, is another important strength he will bring to Hockey SA.

Geoff demonstrated energy, innovation, and an appetite to bring new ideas and learn through the recruitment process. He articulated a vision for Hockey in South Australia that was underpinned by strong commercial acumen and community engagement skills from one of South Australia’s largest sporting organisations. Geoff is a person who invests in building relationships and has a strong people approach. He is looking forward to continuing to build our local team and to meet our members and stakeholders. Geoff will formally commence in his role on Monday 6th December 2021.

We would like to thank outgoing CEO Andrew Skillern for his significant contribution over the past nearly two years. Andrew has guided the association through COVID impacted seasons, rolled out the schools’ roadshow program, commenced competition and event reviews, built government relations, delivered a State-wide Facility Master Plan, and delivered strong financial management and operational support to HSA. Andrew will remain in a voluntary advisory role to support the on-boarding of the new CEO and will remain across the operational activities until the Hockey SA offices close on 17th December.

The Board is very excited about Geoff’s appointment and leading our association into the future ambitions of the strategic plan, Stronger Together. The combination of Geoff’s expertise in our core business of providing community sport and vision for what is possible with Hockey One, puts us in good hands to deliver our strategic plan.

Anne Collins, Chair of the Board
Hockey SA