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AFL Barwon Staff

Edward Wilson

Regional General Manager

Michael Limb

Head of Football

Mick was a primary school teacher for 20 years, mainly in Phys Ed and in his latter teaching years as a School Principal. During those years he also drove interstate and Central Australia coach tours.

He then started a business providing recent issue magazines for various companies across Australia for use in their waiting rooms.

Mick commenced at Football Geelong in 2003 as Junior Football Manager, and the following year he also became Senior Football Operations Manager.

He played two years at St Kilda FC in U19s and Reserve Grade, then two years with Sandringham and the next two years at Frankston in the VFA. Having moved around through teaching, he then played two years at Apollo Bay, two years at Mornington, three years at Frankston YCW and two years as Captain Coach at Branxholme Wallacedale. He also played District Cricket with Fitzroy and Prahran. At Queenscliff FNC, he coached Under 18s for seven years and Reserves for one year as well as serving three years as club President.

Sophie Allison

Head of Netball

Sophie joined the AFL Barwon team in 2021 after moving from Bendigo and completing her studies in Exercise and Sport Science at Deakin University (2019). During her studies, Sophie completed placement at Barwon Sports Academy, while also volunteering her time locally as a Junior Netball Coach. Having played netball most of her life, Sophie has a sound understanding of the Football-Netball landscape.

During her time in Geelong, Sophie has developed a thorough understanding of the region through her participation in both netball as a Player & Junior Coach, and more recently, her first season of Female Football.

Sean Atkinson

Commercial Partnerships & Communications Manager

Sean has been involved in community sport for over 15 years in voluntary and employed administration roles. Geelong born, he has grown up in the region playing football and cricket.

Having commenced his career at AFL Barwon in 2013 as Junior Football Coordinator, Sean has spent time over his 8-year tenure at AFL Barwon as Football Manager, Netball Manager and was Interim Region General Manager in 2021.

He spent six months in 2022 at Hockey Victoria before returning to AFL Barwon in August 2022. He has also had roles in talent identification at the Geelong Cats and Geelong Falcons.

Sean has completed a Bachelor Degree in Business (Sports Management) and a Masters Degree in Management (Sports Management), both at La Trobe University.

Sharon Skene

Accounts & Finance Manager

Sharon joined AFL Barwon in March 2022 in a part-time capacity in Accounts and Finances. Sharon has lived in Geelong most of her life, also spending a brief amount of time in Sydney and Melbourne. Her previous work experience includes Duty Free, Ticketmaster, Australian Grand Prix Corp, and Tennis Australia (worked Australian Open).

A former basketball and netball player in her younger years, Sharon has passion for sport, and is especially passionate about football. Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Business, Major in Accounting, and is CPA qualified.

Tim Secombe

Club Development Lead

Bringing a wealth of experience, Tim has spent the last two decades in various management roles at Bendigo Bank. In addition to his professional career, he has dedicated nearly 20 years to volunteer positions within community Football and Netball Clubs. Most recently, he acted as Vice President at Leopold Football & Netball Club, providing him with valuable insights into the needs of community clubs.

Jock Hillgrove

Director of Football Umpiring

Jason “Jock” Hillgrove has been involved in umpiring for over 30 years. He is a life member of Geelong Umpires, umpiring nearly 250 games, and has made a greater impact in the coaching and development of umpires in Victoria, NSW and ACT.

Before his time at AFL Barwon, Jock was with AFL NSW/ACT–Canberra for 5 years as Umpire Development Manager serving the areas of the ACT, South and Far South Coast of NSW and gaining experience at all levels of the game.

Bringing experience, passion and enthusiasm to the Barwon region, Jock has been AFL Barwon's Director of Umpiring for over 9 years.

Jock completed his AFL Umpire High Performance and Coaching Certificate in 2016 and has also served as a Geelong Umpires Board of Director, Umpire Coach, and Umpire. 

Simon Riddoch

Senior Football Coordinator

Simon's football background includes 16 seasons playing Senior Football in the GFNL competition at North Shore FNC, including 8 Senior & 1 Reserve premierships in his 330 Senior games of football. He is a North Shore FNC Life Member and Hall of Fame inductee.

Simon has a vast coaching experience that ranges from Auskick to Senior level football. He has coached 10 years at the Geelong FNL Senior level in roles varying from Senior Head Coach to Line Coaching at multiple clubs. Simon has also coached at VFL Development level and has spent some time in APS football. 

Not only being well-rounded in the football space, Simon has also played and coached Senior & Junior Cricket in the Geelong region for over 15 years.

Simon's professional career has found him with over 30 years of experience in Management across a diverse range of roles within the Airline Industry.

Lachlan McClounan

Junior Football Coordinator

Lachlan was appointed under a business traineeship at AFL Barwon in July 2021. Since completing VCE in 2017, Lachlan has worked in hospitality and maintenance. In 2020, he briefly worked as an Umpire Development Officer with AFL Barwon, helping deliver an AFL umpiring course to school students in the Geelong Region. In July 2021, Lachlan completed a Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping.  He has previously played football for the Bannockburn Football Club.

Paris Rowe

Female Football Coordinator

Paris comes to AFL Barwon having career employment experiences working in a variety of sporting roles across both Football and Cricket in South Australia.

After successfully completing her Bachelor Sport Health and Physical Activity at Flinders University, Paris commenced an internship at SANFL Club South Adelaide where she eventually moved into a full-time role in the high-performance department. Following this, Paris worked for the South Australia Cricket Association in both participation and events roles.

Chloe Prout

Netball Coordinator

Chloe joined the AFL Barwon team in August 2022 after moving to Geelong from Canberra.

Chloe graduated from the University of Canberra in 2020 with a Bachelor of Sport Management/Event & Tourism Management. During her studies she completed internships at the Australian Institute of Sport and Canberra Cavalry, and more recently held volunteer roles at the Canberra Cavalry and on her netball team's Club Committee.

Chloe has played community sport all her life, settling on netball when she moved to Canberra at age 8.  She looks forward to getting to know the region through her role and participation in the Football-Netball landscape.

Rachael Kirtley

Netball Umpiring Coordinator

Rachael started at AFL Barwon as an intern in June 2022, assisting operationally in both the Netball and Football sectors. In October 2022, she completed her Bachelor of Sport Development at Deakin University, and began working full time with AFL Barwon. Prior to AFL Barwon, Rachael was working as a personal trainer as she completed her studies.

Growing up in Geelong, Rachael has been involved playing, coaching and umpiring netball locally, and also recently began playing football in the region. She has a strong passion for supporting females’ involvement in sport as a player, official or volunteer.

With experience as a participant and through various volunteer roles, Rachael aims to utilise her skillset to identify areas of opportunity in the netball umpiring pathway and ensure development and retention of umpires involved in our region.

 

William Ross

Football Umpiring Development Coordinator

Camryn Sheehan

Media & Communications Coordinator

Camryn began at AFL Barwon in April 2023 after previously working in the Golf industry as an Events Coordinator and Digital Marketing Assistant. With a love for creativity, Camryn’s expertise lies within content creation, event management, and marketing coordination. 

Completing her university studies in 2021, Camryn studied a Bachelor of Applied Business (Entertainment Management), specialising in marketing and events, alongside a Bachelor of Music Performance (Songwriting). 

In her spare time, Camryn is a professional singer and enjoys songwriting and performing her original music, as well as teaching private music lessons to school-aged students. 

With a well-rounded background and a combination of skills, Camryn hoped to use her expertise in media and communications to enhance AFL Barwon's brand presence, engage the community, and create impactful connections within the Barwon region.