Athletes
About
President – Matt McDonough (president@val.org.au)
Matthew has over 20 years’ experience in athletics as a runner, trainer and administrator. A two time VRTA Athlete of the year, amongst his wins are the Stawell Herb Hedeman 1600m and Stawell 3200m. Matthew is also a former elite triathlete having won the Australia Duathlon Championship in 2005 and 2008. Matthew is a Certified Accountant and Fellow of the Association for Tertiary Education Management. He is currently Faculty General Manager at Deakin University having previously held senior financial roles in the public and private sector. Matthew brings a strong background in corporate governance, accounting and more recently education leadership.
Katie Moore
Katie has competed in both amateur and professional athletics for over 27 years, competing in VAL competitions since 1996 to current. Katie has achieved wins across the VAL, TAL, SAAL, and NSWAL over 70m to 400m, has medalled at Victorian State Championships and has made multiple National Championship finals.
Katie has a range of sports administration experience, having been the secretary of the Victorian Runners and Trainers Association Committee for 5 years and a member of the Ringwood Athletic Club Committee for 4 years. Professionally, she has over 20 years working in research and evaluation across the medical, education and health sectors, and understands the importance of evidence-based decision making. Katie has held a number of leadership positions and is currently the General Manager of Research and Partnerships at the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.
Katie will provide a strong female voice and is passionate about equity and decreasing and removing barriers to participation in our great sport.
Mathew Boyes
Mathew Boyes is a chartered accountant. He is a director of his own chartered accountancy and financial planning firm in Frankston. He currently holds membership with the Institute of Chartered Accountants and SPAA. He has over 15 years’ experience in working with SME and assisting them with their business, taxation and superannuation issues.
He has been involved in athletics at various levels since age of 7 and has been involved in VAL competition for over the last 20 years. He has made many finals over various distances and has won a few races over the years. His most recent win was the 2011 Maribyrnong Gift.
Dominic Condello
With over 30 years experience in the building industry, Dominic has been the Director of Moonee Ponds Plumbing and Bathrooms for the past 20 years. Dominic is a licensed Plumber and Builder and has completed The Diploma of Building from RMIT.
Dominic also been a technical regulator at the Victorian Building Authority, and taught English in Japan as well as previously been a senior coach at Aberfeldie FC.
Dominic came into the sport of athletics as a masters athlete and is trained by Max Warlow at the Essendon Athletics Club. Dominic holds a few state relay records and has competed for Australia at Masters level. In the VAL Dominic has previously won the Geelong Gift 100 Masters 2019, Maribrynong 300 Masters 2020, and the Castlemaine Gift 120 Masters 2020.
Craig Burnett
Craig ran with the VAL from the mid 70’s-late 80’s when a teaching stint in Rainbow saw him take up football umpiring in the Southern Malle Football League. He made a return to running in the 90’s, but knee injuries forced him into permanent retirement. These days he is an enthusiastic supporter of professional running and keen follower of his children Kirrily and Lonain. Craig is President of Athletics Bendigo an organisation that administers the summer track and winter cross country seasons for both senior and little athletes in Bendigo.
Craig has also been an advocate, tribunal member and Tribunal Chair for AFL Central Victoria for 20 years.
Craig has worked with the Department of Education for the past 40 years. He has spent the past 20 years as Principal of a number of schools in the Greater Bendigo area.
Craig has been able to build strong relationships with a wide range of communities in his professional life and his work in a number of sporting organisations.
Todd Ireland
Todd Ireland is a director of the family heating and air conditioning business Dual Heating & Air Conditioning P/L, that has been a long term sponsor of the VAL.
Todd has competed continuously in the VAL every year since 1987/88 season. Since the late 90’s he has also been a successful trainer with a large group of athletes that has seen him be the VRTA Trainer of the Year on four occasions.
As an athlete he is a 3 time Stawell Gift Finalist , to go along with his numerous Gift wins over the years. In 2015 he was inducted into the Stawell Gift Hall of Fame.
For a number of years now Todd has been both the President of the Victorian Runners and Trainers Association and also of the Northcote Athletic Club which host the Waverley Gift. This is his second stint on the VAL Board after previously being a director for around 10 years, as well as being the Vice President for a number of those.
David Griffin
A former footballer turned runner, David Griffin is the current General Manager of Emerging Brands at Munro Footwear Group. With a corporate leadership background he has held senior roles with brands such as Nike and Puma, and has worked in international markets.
Beyond the boardroom, David has published two books, produced multiple documentaries and is driven by a belief in the power of storytelling to inspire meaningful change. His creative work is grounded in a commitment to inclusion and diversity, with a particular focus on supporting First Peoples and underrepresented communities.
An avid runner, lifelong learner, and passionate change-maker, David continues the pursuit of one final personal goal: claiming an elusive Victorian Athletic League Masters sash.
Sonya Pollard
Since joining the Victorian Athletic League in 2004, Sonya has enjoyed competing both in Women’s and in Masters’ events. With success over distances ranging from 70m to 400m throughout the Leagues in South Australia, Tasmania, New South Wales and Victoria, as well as in Scotland, her most notable achievements include winning the Ballarat Women’s Gift and the Masters 300m at Stawell. Named as VRTA Female Athlete of the Year in 2006 was a further highlight. Also competing in Masters Athletics around Australia and overseas, Sonya has won medals across distances ranging from 60m to 800m and in Pentathlon events and relays.
Holding a Bachelor’s Degree with Honours in Linguistics and a Diploma of Education, Sonya later completed her Master’s Degree in Interpreting and Translation Studies. She has demonstrated leadership and administration experience, having been a teacher for over 30 years, including being Head of Languages and for 10 years, leading the Campus Administration team at one of Melbourne’s private schools and coaching sporting teams. Now semi-retired, she devotes most of her time to running and enjoys travelling to destinations where she can compete and use her foreign language skills.
Sonya brings to the VAL Board a passion for working with athletes of all ages and abilities, coaches and parents to achieve consistency amongst rules and procedures in place for competition. She has previously served on the VAL Women’s Advisory Committee which was active over a decade ago in promoting equity for Women’s events and had a brief stint in the role of handicapper for Junior and Novice events.
Blair Collins
TBA
Tim Cherry (VRTA Representative)
VAL PAST PRESIDENTS