Melbourne: The Board of Hockey Australia has nominated Olympic gold medallist Danni Roche OAM for the position of President of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).
Roche represented Australia with distinction between 1987 and 1997, most notably as a member of the gold medal-winning Hockeyroos team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Following her retirement from the national hockey team, Roche served as a director of the Hockey Australia Board from 2004 to 2012, and represented Australia as vice-president of the Oceania Hockey Federation.
Roche currently serves on the boards of the St Kilda Football Club, the Australian Sports Commission and the State Sports Centres Trust of Victoria.
She has led a successful career in business, including as a director for UBS Wealth Management. She holds a Masters of Business Administration.
Candidates for positions on the AOC Executive Board, including for roles of president and vice-president, can be nominated by one of the National Sports Federations.
The ballot for the AOC presidency is scheduled to be held at the AOC’s Annual General Meeting on Saturday 6 May 2017.
John Coates has been an outstanding servant of Australian sport and the Olympic movement over the past 36 years, the last 26 of them as President of the AOC. The board of Hockey Australia honours his contribution.
Quote attributable to Melanie Woosnam, President, Hockey Australia:
“The board’s decision to endorse Danni’s nomination wasn’t taken lightly. Current AOC president, John Coates, has made a significant contribution to Australian sport and the Olympic movement over an extended period of time and we acknowledge and applaud this. However, we feel that at the start of a new Olympic cycle, the timing is right for sport in Australia to recalibrate, and feel that Danni can make a strategic and valuable contribution.”