Rob Thompson, CEO SportWest

Alex Mednis, Australian Sports Professional Association
Rob Thompson, SportWest
 

Bonus content

Each CEO has bonus content available to ASPA members that is not found in the book. The philosophies below are sourced directly from the interview, however each interview contained so much great content we had to put together an excerpt. Note that the content of the interview differs than the philosophies.

Interview

From almost two decades in Western Australian Cricket, sports consulting and now working as the CEO of SportWest (formerly the WA Sports Federation), Rob Thompson has been a lifelong supporter of sport that comes with a lifelong commitment to the industry.
 

Did you always know you were going to work in sport?

I always wanted to be in and around sport. I started in teaching, specialising in physical education over a decade when an opportunity presented itself in cricket. I was fortunate enough to be employed at the West Australian Cricket Association for 16 years.

16 years at Cricket! What was the biggest evolution over that time?

I was fortunate to be given some national exposure while there, and it was the national transitioning from totally voluntary committees and starting to introduce professional employees into some of the working parties and committees of cricket that was one of the most interesting changes. The WACA at that stage was pretty progressive. We were doing some things that were fairly innovative.

Was cricket your sport growing up?

I was in an active family with five kids. Mum and Dad did all the ferrying around. My sisters played netball, softball and a bit of tennis. My brothers and I played footy and cricket. My father maintained playing cricket until well into his forties. In fact, one of my earliest, most favourite memories is actually going to his cricket, waiting for someone not to turn up and being able to play cricket in the same team as my father.

Coming from Cricket to SportWest must’ve been a tough transition with respect to capacity

It was an interesting transition. The WACA had 50 odd staff and coming to SportWest we had 3. In the early days we really had to set out our expectations clearly. In bringing on project staff that might be supported by a government grant or some other kind of funding arrangement, we needed to have them buy into what SportWest was about. Having a flat and flexible structure certainly helped with that. 

And then there’s a skill shortage - how have you built those professional skills up?

One thing that I was encouraged to do when I was appointed to this role was to build the network both within sport and external to sport. And it's the external to sport that becomes interesting in that you can often tap into the fact that people that you're meeting in companies are parents or are active and have some connection to sport at some stage. It's a conversation piece that gets you started and that can lead to building a relationship and a commercial opportunity.

Really though for anyone jumping into a role, it’s trial and error for those first partnerships. In a larger organisation such as the WACA there are dedicated people who’ve learnt those roles and have the experience. In a smaller organisation, you’re learning and seeking guidance from others often external to your organisation.

It’s all about people, in the end, isn’t it? 

Yeah, it is. People skills and people management can transfer across so many experiences. While I was playing cricket, I was also coaching. Coaching is a great way to build people skills, and it adds a little layer that you can bring Into to management.

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