Raelene Castle

ONZM
Castle in 2015
Born (1970-09-30) 30 September 1970 (age 53)
Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian, British, New Zealand
OccupationSports executive
Years active2001−present
Parent(s)Bruce Castle (father)
Marlene Castle (mother)

Raelene Castle ONZM (born 30 September 1970) is a sports executive who has worked in Australia and New Zealand. She was chief executive officer of Rugby Australia from 2017 to 2020, before becoming chief executive officer of Sport New Zealand.

Early life and family

Castle was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, on 30 September 1970, the daughter of Bruce and Marlene Castle.[1] Both of her parents represented New Zealand internationally in sports: her father as a rugby league footballer and her mother as a lawn bowler.[1] The family returned to New Zealand when Castle was six months old.[1]

Career

From 2007 to 2013, Castle was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Netball New Zealand.[2] In 2013, she was appointed CEO of Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, becoming the first female CEO of a club in the National Rugby League.[3] At the end of the 2017 season, she was replaced by Rugby League World Cup boss Andrew Hill.[4]

In December 2017, Castle was appointed as CEO of Rugby Australia,[5] and served in that role until her resignation in April 2020.[6][7] In December 2020, Castle took up a role as CEO of Sport New Zealand[8] following contract work on Sport New Zealand's Strengthen and Adapt project.[9][10]

Honours

In the 2015 New Year Honours, Castle was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to sport and business.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c King, Madonna (7 December 2014). "Raelene Castle: game changer". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  2. ^ "New Zealander Raelene Castle appointed new Bulldogs CEO". sunshine coast daily. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Bulldogs appoint castle". daily telegraph. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  4. ^ "Bulldogs appoint veteran rugby league administrator to replace Raelene Castle". Stuff.co.nz. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  5. ^ O'Halloran, Kate (13 December 2017). "Rugby Australia choose best person for job but Castle's appointment still symbolic". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Raelene Castle defended by Rugby Australia after stepping down as chief executive". ABC News. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Raelene Castle steps down as CEO of Rugby Australia". The Guardian. Australian Associated Press. 23 April 2020. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  8. ^ "Raelene Castle, Chief Executive". Sport New Zealand. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  9. ^ McFadden, Suzanne (4 November 2020). "New Sport NZ boss Raelene Castle brings her battle scars". Newsroom. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Financial support for the sector due to COVID-19 Tautoko ā-pūtea". Sport New Zealand. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  11. ^ "New Year honours list 2015". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
Preceded byBill Pulver Australian Rugby Union CEO 2017–2020 Succeeded byRob Clarke (interim)
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