Dear Southern District Cricket Club member,

The management committee has been working hard behind the scenes to make sure the Southern District Cricket Club and cricket in the southern region thrives into the future. It is, therefore, with great pleasure that we announce Nigel Smart has been appointed to a casual vacancy on the management committee. Nigel will step into the vacant president’s role, with immediate effect, and will nominate for that position at the upcoming Annual General Meeting, to be held before the first week of July.

Nigel’s accomplishments on the football field will be well known to many of you but you may not know he is a foundation player and member of the Southern District Cricket Club. Nigel brings excellent leadership credentials and has an in depth understanding of what it takes for sporting clubs to be successful on and off the field. He holds an MBA from the University of Adelaide and was a board member of the Adelaide Football Club from 2005 to 2012, including deputy Chairman from 2009. He became Chief Operating Officer of the Adelaide Football Club in 2013 to 2020, where he was instrumental in generating significant off-field commercial, community and charitable outcomes.

Nigel said ”It’s a privilege and honour to serve the Southern District Cricket Club once again and I am looking forward to driving future success on and off the field. We have an excellent management committee, and I will endeavour to meet as many passionate stakeholders involved throughout the club across players, coaches, sponsors, parents, volunteers and stingray cricket fans. We have many plans to bring the club together and to provide the necessary resources and facilities required to drive outcomes in a high-performance sporting organisation. On a particular note, having been an instrumental driver of the successful Adelaide Crows AFLW team, I’m really looking forward to supporting our Southern Districts Women’s Cricket strategy and success into the future”.

Nigel has the skills, experience and professional networks to lead the club during the next phase of our evolution and we are incredibly excited that he has agreed to join the club. Also joining Nigel on the Management Committee is former player Martin Clifton. Marty has had a long association with Southern Districts and with sport in the Southern area. Marty will actively use his sporting networks to bring the many cricketing clubs and industry stakeholders in the south together leading to shared and beneficial outcomes for all.

Please join us in welcoming Nigel and Marty back to the Stingrays. There will be further announcements coming soon, so stay tuned.

Go Stingrays!