VAFA Board

The VAFA Board comprises 11 members plus the VAFA CEO. Each member of the Board belongs to a designated sub-committee. The Board meets regularly with VAFA Members invited to attend the Annual General Meeting in December and pre-season Members Meeting in March.

View the VAFA Board Charter

The list of current VAFA Board Members is listed below.

Paul Newton

President

Paul has had a close connection with the VAFA community over many years.

Paul’s passion of the VAFA stems from a combination of his playing days at Collegians, followed by a 12-year term at Old Carey where his children played, with nine years as President.  Beyond that, Paul has previously  spent 18 months on the VAFA Board during2018-2019 before stepping down, having a sea change and serving as the Commercial Manager for the Old Xavierians.

Paul was elected VAFA President at the 2023 Annual General Meeting.

E: [email protected]

Anthony Amad

Anthony first played at Marcellin OCFC in 1978. Playing over 200 games and served on the committee for 10 years as both the Vice President and the Fundraising Manager.

Anthony was elected as a VAFA board member in 2006 after serving as a representative selector since 1999.

He has served on the Football, Marketing and General Committees and his primary focus is the Big V Club, an annual gathering of former representative players. He is a current member of the Commercial subcommittee.

Ivan Delac

Ivan Delac joins the VAFA Board after 9 years as President of the Glen Eira Football Club.  Having spent the better part of a decade rebuilding the foundations of Glen Eira through a merger, implementing that club’s inaugural Women’s Team and an U19’s pathway partnership with McKinnon Secondary College.

Educated at Xavier College and ACU with a Bachelor of Business, Ivan brings a commercial acumen as a senior manager for Microsoft.

Ivan’s success at Glen Eira AFC came from securing more than $500K in local, state, and federal government grants, other fundraising, and sponsorship initiatives as well as a detailed knowledge and understanding of long term strategic and succession planning.  While experiencing a horrid start as President of Glen Eira in 2013, overcoming a 708-day draught between senior men’s wins:  Glen Eira has now grown to five teams and delivered five club Premierships, culminating in Glen Eira winning the VAFA Club Championship in 2021.

Ivan served for 2 years as a member of the Divisional Clubs Advisory Group,  developing a solid grounding on all matters of football operations and rules planning.

Ivan chairs the Commercial subcommittee.

Sarah Delbosc

Sarah joined the VAFA Board as a leader in women’s football. As a foundation player, inaugural two-time premiership captain, two-time best and fairest and Vice President of the Hawthorn Amateur Football Club. Sarah was integral in shaping the club’s women’s program over the last five years.

She has been immersed in the VAFA since the Women’s competition began. Passionate about its growth beyond clubland, Sarah became a member of the VAFA Women’s Advisory group and VAFA Women’s Coaching Academy to broaden her reach and impact on the sport for a new generation of female footballers. With a strong voice for advocating for change as well as recognising the proud history of the competition.

Sarah has a unique skill set with extensive experience in leadership and organisational development, culture and transformation and large-scale project management as a senior learning solution designer at PWC. A highly regarded facilitator and coach, she is committed to creating environments for leaders at all levels to articulate and execute a purpose-led and commercial vision, effectively challenge assumptions and thrive in complex environments.

Educated at Loreto and ACU with Bachelors of Exercise Science and studies in Psychology, Sarah is also an accredited practitioner in a wide range of learning diagnostics and psychometric tools.

Sarah’s experience in the not-for-profit sector as a Director on the Pangea Global Health Education Board, ambassador of the Royal Melbourne Hospital Neuroscience Foundation, and creator of the Getting a head of Brain Cancer fundraising initiative, demonstrates her capacity and passion for making a difference in the community.

Sarah is a member of the Football subcommittee, overseeing Women’s football, and is a member of the Governance subcommittee.

Vicki Durston

Vicki Durston is currently a member of the Executive team at Breast Cancer Network Australia as a Director of Policy, Advocacy and Member Support. She is a registered nurse by profession and has 30 years’ health sector experience spanning 20 years in health leadership and management across public, private, and not for profit sectors.

Vicki is highly committed to deliver measurable results for organisations and communities through effective strategic planning, governance, policy development, financial management and key stakeholder engagement.

She is a committed, enthusiastic football administrator as a former president of St Peters Football Club coming up through the ranks of assistant secretary, and secretary. Vicki’s passion for Australian rules football is ongoing, in areas of community engagement, working to understand member club’s needs, club sustainability, diversity and growth and the implementation of female participation.

Vicki is part of the Football subcommittee with a newly created portfolio overseeing the Women’s competition and is also Chair of the Governance subcommittee.

Tim Habel

Tim joined the VAFA Board when elected at the 2021 AGM.

Tim served on UHSVU Committee for over five years including two different terms as Secretary and one as Vice President. He also was Coach / Assistant Coach of UHSVU VAFA U18 for multiple years and Assistant Coach of UHSVU Women’s team 2019.

He was also an inaugural member of VAFA Women’s Football Advisory Group.

Tim played cricket for over 20 years for Williamstown Colts including multiple periods of Service on the Committee including as Treasurer as well as Coaching Juniors.

He is also Co-Founder of the group “Grassroots Women’s Sport” and is a strong supporter of diversity and collaboration.Tim served as Treasurer for multiple years for the Not-for-Profit Community Health Service “Westgate Community Health Services”

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia and has over 35 years of experience in the Finance Sector, including Finance, Actuarial, Marketing and other roles with NAB, AXA, MLC, AIA, AMP and others, both in direct and consultancy roles.

Tim is our current Chair of the Community subcommittee.

Nicole Hall

Nicole is a Director of Operations with over 25 years executive leadership experience in professional services, specifically STEM.  Nicole is committed to developing and delivering strategic plans, designing and embedding corporate governance, financial management and developing key stakeholder relationships.

In addition, Nicole is a passionate Australian rules football supporter and administrator. Nicole brings to the board experience at the grassroots level having been involved with the establishment of the MCC Women’s Football Club from its inception and most recently holding the positions of Vice President and President.  Nicole’s particular areas of interest include sports governance, the growth and sustainability of the women’s competition, club sustainability and community engagement and partnerships.

Nicole holds a Bachelor of Business and a post graduate qualification in psychology and is a current member of the VAFA Community Sub-Committee.

Martin Kelliher

Martin has been involved at De La Salle in various roles including serving as the club’s first general manager. He was voted onto the VAFA Board at the 2023 AGM on a two-year term.