Sue Dewing appointed general manager of Sturt - the first female to take charge in SANFL history
A WOMAN will take charge of Sturt Football Club this season in a first for the 137-year-old SANFL competition.
A WOMAN will take charge of Sturt Football Club this season in a first for the 137-year-old SANFL competition.
Sue Dewing has been appointed Sturt's general manager replacing Matthew Benson who left the club at the end of the 2013 season.
Ms Dewing is a former vice president of the Double Blues and is currently on the club's board.
She volunteered to take control of Sturt's sponsorship program last year and produced record results. She did so while completing her Masters in Business Administration.
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Officially, Ms Dewing's title is general manager of business operations, while Paul Sandercock is the general manager of football operations.
Ms Dewing will take charge of the financially troubled club's off-field operations.
Ms Dewing most recently worked as the director of catering and services for the famous Pebble
Beach Golf Resort in California USA.
Prior to that she managed the event sales team for Hilton Adelaide.
Sturt president Jason Kilic said Ms Dewing was a standout candidate for the role.
"The Board went through an extensive process interviewing a strong field of applicants for
the position of general manager business operations," Mr Kilic said.
"We are delighted that Ms Dewing and Mr Sandercock will be managing the club and look forward to working with them."
Sturt has not released its 2013 financial results yet, but the club made a $447,000 loss in 2012 and a $412,000 loss in 2011, threatening its survival last summer.
However, the club reported in October that it had raised $600,000 to date through its Debt Demolition campaign and aimed to halve its $2.2 million bank debt by the end of the year.
The club was also on the verge of clearing its debts with the Australian Taxation Office.