Hish Fernando appointed Chair of Tenpin Bowling Australia

The Tenpin Bowling Australia (TBA) Board has met following the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and appointed Hish Fernando as Chair.

Appointed to the Board in 2019, Fernando has provided the Board with great insights from his corporate and business background whilst providing leadership through his role as the Chair of the Governance Committee for TBA and the Technology and Digital Transformation Advisory Board.

“It’s an honour to have been appointed by my fellow Directors to lead Tenpin Bowling Australia,” stated Fernando.

“We have a great board with existing, supportive Directors and some new Directors that will bring a different, balanced perspective. “Our CEO, who’s been through the transformation in recent years provides a safe set of hands to work with collaboratively into the years ahead.”

“When I first joined the board, I knew that this was one of the most inclusive sports in the world. No matter what age or ability, anyone can go bowling in a safe and social environment and this sport had so many untold stories. It also had an incredible opportunity to increase mobility and participation.”

Fernando commented on the great potential for the sport and industry through the development of innovative partnerships given the scale of tenpin bowling in Australia, and has been ‘hands-on’ in supporting our commercial teams to secure some of the new sponsors. He’s also a keen supporter in the adoption of technology to improving sports administration practices, and has built strong relationships with the Australian Sports Commission through the alignment to sports governance standards and contributed to their recent Director Courses on Culture.

“It’s a sport and activity enjoyed by over one million Australians every year.  I see great potential for the sport and industry to not only grow but to provide positive benefit to the local community, with the hope of one day having a bigger stage like the Commonwealth Games or the Olympic Games.” 

In addition to the appointment of Fernando as Chair, two new appointed Directors were confirmed by the Board.  Sid Shekar and Adeline Hough join the Board as the Appointed Directors. Shekar joins having been part of the Technology and Digital Transformation Committee in 2022-23. He is currently the Chief Information Officer for Scope (Aust) and was formerly an executive at NBN Co.  The Board has also appointed Sid Shekar as the Deputy Chair for 2023.Adeline Hough joins the Board with a people and culture background and is the current Head of People and Culture at Cancer Council Queensland.

Shekar and Hough join the member-elected Board Director in Ryan Edgar as new Directors.  Edgar presently works in Technology at Brisbane City Council and his addition strengthens the Technology aspirations of the board. Andrew Jacklin, who filled the appointed role for the IBCA was also appointed to the Casual vacancy that was open following the AGM.