Club Administration Success Testimonials

I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for your hard work and dedication over the past six months in customizing your product specifically to golf and your understanding of the varying operational and strategic thinking that applies to golf club administrations, from the tiniest of clubs in remote Victoria to our larger regional city clubs.

I firmly believe we now have a solution to guide our clubs in a very positive and proactive way that also addresses the specific issues of membership and participation, which plague our golf clubs at present, as well as the recurring concerns around governance, finance, volunteerism, grants and revenue generation, including sponsorship, fund-raising, and digital.

We now cannot wait to use the video content to reinforce our messaging. The experiences we have had with your team have been excellent. I would be more than happy to recommend the customization of your product to other state and national sporting organizations should you wish me to do so.

The SS &A Ovens & Murray Football Netball League engaged Terry's services to objectively and independently review the OMFNL on behalf of the clubs, with a view to identifying the key challenges faced by the 10 member clubs and the league itself.

The manner in which Terry has conducted the review process has been exemplary, with his passion for community sport clearly evident to all stakeholders involved in the review.

As General Manager for the league I've found Terry to be highly engaging, passionate and professional in his approach and have been impressed by the level of detail showcased in the review findings and the recommended actions for our clubs and the OMFNL moving into the future.

The Southern Football Netball League (SFNL) engaged TDS to provide support and solutions to our Division 3 Clubs in season 2016 and will continue into 2017. As we know community clubs are constantly under significant pressure. Volunteers are challenged, can often burn-out and many clubs are constantly under financial pressure.

The TDS program was engaged by SFNL to help educate, support and give clear direction to our clubs in areas such as setting up efficient Committee structures, Governance and Compliance, Financial Management, Membership growth, Capital Grants, Sponsorship generation, Fundraising, Volunteer engagement, Digital innovation and Coach Management.

The TDS program provides a very helpful resource for our clubs, starting with a simple health assessment followed up by a tailored plan specific to the individual club, and then supported by on-line education, many downloadable templates and direct support should the club require it.

Continual community club development is critical for sustainability. Regular communication along with the TDS program support and solutions provides the best chance of this. The TDS support has been fantastic for our participating clubs.

The SFNL and the Clubs have established a very good relationship with the TDS team through regular email and telephone support. The club feedback since rolling TDS out in May 2016 has been highly complementary of the TDS product and our clubs have been extremely pleased to be involved.

I worked with Terry Dillon from 2005 to 2011 at the Hawks where Terry was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and I was the General Manager of Football Operations. In 2005 we were a club struggling for both on and off field success.

The years 2005-2011 was a period of significant positive transition. Terry's support to football program, to me personally and his work as COO played a key part in the Hawks transformation to now be regarded as one of the strongest in the competition – both financially and in terms of premiership successes.

Terry combined his time of working at the elite AFL level with helping out Community Clubs. Terry has an enormous passion for Community Clubs. In particular he knows how to best manage a committee of volunteers to share the workload, set up systems to deliver success, and most importantly – to make the books balance. There is nothing more important than to ensure a club survives, and thrives, into the future, and that its officers have the knowledge and comfort that things are done well.

Terry Dillon worked for the Hawthorn Football Club (twice) over 8 years holding CFO, COO and acting CEO positions.

While I was President Terry epitomised what we were doing at Hawthorn. We sought to be a community club ,working with schools ,hospitals , junior Football Clubs and in "our" region ,the South and East of Melbourne . We used volunteers, footballers and staff to build our relationships. Terry was in our program, up to his eyeballs.

He worked long and hard ,way beyond the hours he was employed and was respected by all.

I have known Terry Dillon since 2005 when he joined me as firstly my CFO, then subsequently as COO, at Hawthorn FC when I was CEO.

Terry and I struck up a professional and personal rapport that I believe was pivotal to the off field business turnaround of the Hawthorn FC which underpinned the on field success delivered by Coach, Alastair Clarkson and Captain, Sam Mitchell in leading the Club to its 10th Premiership success in the 2008 Grand Final.

All up I worked with Terry for just under 5 years at Hawthorn and I retain the highest level of respect for his professionalism, knowledge and passion for sports administration at both the elite professional and community grass roots level. I have not come across any one in my time in sport who so comfortably is able to jump the divide between the elite side of the game back to the community level and bring to the table his expertise and passion seamlessly.

I have worked closely with Terry Dillon in my time as a sports administrator both at the Southern Basketball Association and in my current role as CEO of Melbourne United Basketball Club. Terry has outstanding knowledge and genuine passion for the development of grass roots sports. He completely understands the significance and impact that community based sports can have when managed professionally and with strong governance. Terry has helped guide and advise me on many projects using his experiences in both the most senior levels of AFL and his involvement with community clubs spanning over 20 years. I have built a genuine professional relationship with him and continue to draw on his experience to this day.

It is with great pleasure that I write a personal reference for Terry. I have known and worked with Terry for over twenty five years in a number of different capacities.

We have worked together at a Grass Roots community football club now for fifteen years and Terry's qualities have shone through in that time in his capacity as an office bearer, volunteer and master strategist.

Terry exhibits an unshakeable focus on the success of organisations. He has a clear vision on the "big picture" and has a great detailed mind. Therefore his high skill set has enabled him to be at executive level in more than one organisation. He manages people well and expects high performance within each person's capabilities. He has the ability to stretch capacity and to build capacity from the ground up so that it is embedded into the organisation.

Terry is a great communicator and manages tasks very much like a program manager. He ensures that all possibilities are explored and is willing to be adaptable so that complex tasks and projects are completed. Terry has been an integral part of a team that has enabled our community based football/netball club to improve our facilities and decision making to a very sophisticated level.

Over the last 12months I have got to know Terry Dillon very well. As the Chairperson of the Templestowe FC Executive Committee for long term planning, Terry assisted the Executive with providing the tools and educating the club on how to solidify our goals and plans for the next 3-5years.

Terry's initial presentation and then ongoing advice and guidance has provided and assisted the club to set a clearer vision for where we want to be in five years' time and how we may plan to get there.

Also helping us with managing, planning and measuring the today (2015) better as well. Terry's approach was inclusive and thoughtful, building on his vast knowledge and experience:

In the AFL

Most latterly as COO / acting CEO at St Kilda FC and over 16 years' at 2 other AFL clubs; Collingwood and Hawthorn in various roles ranging from: CFO, COO and acting CEO positions.

At a local Football club level

Terry is ex-player, life member and Executive of the Cora Lynn FC (a very small community club) out of West Gippsland that plays in the Ellinbank & District FL

Terry is extremely passionate about his local football club, the Cora Lynn FC and he has been the driving force behind the huge success story of Cora Lynn both on and off the field over the last decade where the clubs future was on the line and now setting the standard for others to follow.

Since his initial presentation and guidance Terry has continually made himself available to assist with any points of clarity or advice the club may need. Most recently, Terry presented to the broader Templestowe FC community at our bi-monthly Business Networking Breakfasts attended by over 35 local businesses and sponsors.

He presented on a topic very close to all community clubs hearts – Understanding of the value local clubs in the community, how more hands make everyone's jobs easier and how local business support is paramount to the strength and success of good community clubs.

A few years back, when I was the President of the Dingley Football Club, we were struggling to “keep our head above water financially” and I asked our committee to consider doing things in a different way to ensure the sustainability of our club. At the time, the head coach and I went a visited Terry Dillon, who was the Chief Operating Officer of the Hawthorn Football Club. Terry provided us with a number of avenues in which we could improve the club, and most of these we took on board and indeed many of them have come to fruition and really turned the club around.