Board of Directors
Julie McDonald – President
Julie holds a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Accounting & Business law, Diploma of International Marketing & Economics, and is a member of CPA Australia Ltd. Julie has held Accountancy positions, and will bring strong accounting and audit and risk management skills to our organisation. Julie also has strong ties to sport, specifically Badminton, having represented Australia and played internationally, coached, and chaired several committees.
Julie is a BWF Level 1 Certified Coach and has career highlights that include:
- Four-time Australian Singles Winner, two Doubles and one Mixed Doubles
- Commonwealth Games Bronze medalist in 1982 (Brisbane) and 1986 (Edinburgh)
- Winner of numerous international tournaments in Denmark, England and France
- Winner of the Australian Silver Bowl International (Now called the Australian Badminton Open) in Singles and Doubles
Rayoni Nelson OLY
Rayoni Nelson was appointed to the board in September 2021. Rayoni represented Australia at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She represented South Australia at many national championships and represented Australia at the 1998, 2002 Uber Cup and represented Australia at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. With over 20 years of experience working across government, sport, health, education and transport sectors, Rayoni’s career has included management roles in a broad range of areas including sport, physical activity, active transport, road safety, customer service and communications, including a focus on strategy development and implementation. Rayoni has a Bachelor of Management from the University of South Australia and Masters in Sport Management from Deakin University. Her professional experiences include as CEO of School Sport Victoria, as part of the Department of Education, Manager of Physical Activity, Sport and Healthy Eating at VicHealth and is currently the Head of Program Strategy and Research at the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation and is on the Board of Vicsport and the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth).
Peejade Cheng
Peejade is a Chartered Accountant and tax specialist with over 20 years of professional experience in major advisory firms and the transport and logistics industry.
An enthusiast of the sport he has represented Victoria at the junior level and competed in international tournaments. Peejade also has significant leadership experience within the badminton community, including a notable 15-year tenure on the Board of Badminton Victoria (BV) before joining Badminton Australia.
“I am committed to elevating badminton within the competitive Australian sporting landscape. With my professional background and understanding of the sport at community and state levels, I look forward to working with all stakeholders to drive its growth.”
Steven Sam
Steven has held executive leadership roles in other engineering firms, most notably as the Head of Engineering for Scentre Group responsible for the design, development, delivery and operational support of Westfield Shopping Centre’s 41 assets across Australia and New Zealand.
Steven’s passion for badminton started over 30 years ago as a keen junior player in NZ and is still actively participating in all levels of competitions including veterans.
Paul Reining
Paul is a highly respected director and corporate advisor, and a sought-after mentor for business owners in Australia. His executive career extends over 25 years, having occupied multiple CEO and/or CFO roles, including Aussie successes Catch Group and 2XU, and executive roles in high profile listed organisations JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX) and Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ). His specialty, as both a leader of businesses and those that he works closely with today, is building high performance teams to achieve high performance results. Paul commenced his professional career at Big 4 advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers within their Entrepreneurial & Business Services team, and in recent years returned to his consulting roots as the founding CEO of Accension, a group of experts committed to unlocking the full potential of emerging and high growth businesses. Paul discovered badminton at the age of 13 and in his junior years was a Pennant player at Mountain Districts Badminton Association. These days Paul has rediscovered his love for playing the sport and enjoys a hit down at the Ocean Grove Badminton Club. He is excited to “give back” to a sport that has provided him so much enjoyment over the years.
“I’m passionate about promoting the growth, success, and popularity of Badminton in Australia where there is such a culture and love of sport in general, and therefore so many competing choices at the grass roots. I’m committed to supporting Badminton Australia’s members, players and officials as well as providing leadership, governance, mentoring and support to all participants and administrators of the sport.”
Aditi Biswas
Aditi is currently the Head of Service & Support AU at the FNZ Group. She is a MBA qualified Executive with over 15 years’ experience across Relationship Management, Partner Alliances and Product Management within Technology Start-Up, Investment Banking and Financial Services industries. As Head of Service & Support at FNZ, Aditi holds a leadership role with primary responsibility for delivery of a responsive and effective Production Support and Service Delivery function across all Australian clients. Aditi is also an Ex-International Badminton Player and multiple national title holder; having represented India as a part of the National Badminton team and is now a Badminton World Federation accredited High Performance Coach.
“I applied for the Board position as I believe that I could bring all of my collective experience in the Corporate world, as an International Badminton player, a BWF coach and now mother of two sports loving girls to oversee the governance of Badminton Australia in Australia. As a Board member, I’m especially interested in the development of high-performance pathways to enable Australian Badminton players to compete effectively on the world stage and in helping improve the popularity and participation of Badminton in Australia.”
Badminton Australia Staff
Tjitte Weistra – Chief Executive Officer
Chief Executive Officer Tjitte (TJ) Weistra has a comprehensive background in badminton, both on and off the court.
After more than 30 years of involvement as a professional player, coach and administrator, TJ has gathered significant international experience in leadership, strategy, high-performance, grassroots participation, event management, communications and stakeholder relations.
His vision is to support the Australian badminton community in an open and transparent way, build strong relationships with the states and territories, and see the sport grow across all areas.
Anna Ronald – Financial Controller
Anna has more more than 20 years of accounting experience within the sports and not-for-profit sectors in both Australia and the UK. Anna’s financial expertise in sport includes working in cricket, rowing and baseball, in addition to managing her own practice.
Anna’s qualifications include a Bsc (Hons) in Applied Accounting, as well as being a CPA Public Practitioner and Registered Tax Agent.
Sonia Gouveia – National Participation and Para Manager
Sonia is our National Participation and Para Manager. Sonia is responsible for the program development, management of continued participation growth into the future, including all abilities, disability and inclusion programs. Sonia also oversees the Para High Performance Program.
Sonia’s first taste of badminton was at 15, and quickly realised she had found ‘her sport’. With an unwavering dedication to continuous improvement, she went on to compete at Uni, and local leagues. She coached, volunteered at badminton clubs in various roles and became an accredited line judge which opened up the door to being part of amazing national and international tournaments including Commonwealth Games and Olympics.
Sonia is an LGBTQ+ ally and can be contacted on sonia.gouveia@badminton.org.au for a confidential and informal chat about LGBTQ+ inclusivity in badminton.
Lauren Collis – Shuttle Smash Coordinator
In this pivotal role, Lauren leads the delivery of Shuttle Smash, Badminton Australia’s introductory participation program, with a particular focus on reaching currently underrepresented communities. This includes people with disabilities, new migrants, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, women and girls, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Anthony Pinda – Event & Communications Manager
Working directly with the Events Coordinator, Anthony manages Badminton Australia’s national events, including the National Championships and any other Falcons selection events that may occur. He also oversees all communications across the website, social media and other platforms.
Peter Roberts – Events Coordinator
Peter is the Events Coordinator, managing Badminton Australia’s national events, including the National Championships and any other Falcons selection events that may occur.
Tzaddi Davies – Database & Member Services Manager
Tzaddi’s role involves using his expertise to lead system improvements, manage complex projects and build strong stakeholder relationships with members across the Australian badminton community.
Josh Neil – National Performance Manager
Olivia Knowles – Para Performance Manager
As National Para Performance Manager, Olivia focuses on building strong relationships with para-athletes and performance staff, fostering an environment where each athlete feels supported, challenged, and empowered to reach their full potential—both on and off the court. The position plays a key role in developing a high-performance culture that prioritises individual growth, team collaboration, and long-term athlete development.
Leanne Choo – National Senior Coach
Leanne Choo manages the National Senior program in the role of National Senior Coach, and works closely with the players who are part of the National Senior Program.
Ian Bridge – Head Coach Para Badminton
Ian Bridge manages the Para Badminton Coaching program in the role of Head Coach, and works closely with the players who are part of the Para Badminton Falcons Squad.
Stephen Hadlow – Para Performance Support Specialist
As Badminton Australia’s Para Performance Support Specialist, Stephen provides performance-focused support and expertise that will benefit athletes in the Para Badminton Falcons program as well as support BA in progressing and implementing strategic projects and initiatives identified in the LA28+ strategy.
He also holds a PhD in sport science, specialising in skill acquisition, which is the science of optimising the design of learning/training environments to promote skill development in preparations for competitions.
Abbie Rothery – Entry Officer, National Rankings and Sporting Schools Administrator
Reporting to both the CEO and the National Participation & Para Manager, Abbie works part-time in the varied roles listed above which include tasks such as: entering Australian able-bodied & para players in international competitions, maintaining our National Ranking list & updating results each week, and processing Sporting Schools orders & assisting teachers with their Sporting School programs for badminton.
Abbie has represented Tasmania in badminton in various state teams over the last 15 years and still enjoys playing in the occasional local tournament. She is also a BWF Level 1 coach and is a passionate contributor to our sport; involved in several localized roles in badminton besides her work for BA, including as the secretary for Badminton Tasmania in 2024 and as a Development & Para Coach for Badminton Victoria.
Gill Montgomery – National Integrity Manager
Constitution and Regulations
Committees & Working Groups
| GOVERNANCE | |
| Finance, Audit & Risk Committee | Julie McDonald (Chair), Aditi Biswas, Geraldine Brown, Michael Franks (independent), Tjitte Weistra, Anita Barbuto |
| Governance & Integrity Committee | Rayoni Nelson (Chair), Paul Reining, Tjitte Weistra, David Carrington |
| Nominations & Remuneration Committee | Julie McDonald, Paul Reining, Luke van Kempen (Independent Chair) |
| Corporate Strategy Working Group | Paul Reining (Chair), Tjitte Weistra |
| High Performance & Para Strategy Committee | Geraldine Brown (Chair), Julie McDonald, Aditi Biswas, Brent Miller, Leanne Choo, Olivia Knowles, Tjitte Weistra |
| Coaching Committee | Julie McDonald, Aditi Biswas, Sonia Gouveia, Tjitte Weistra |
| Selection Panel (Able Bodied) | Rob Middleton (Independent Chair), Leanne Choo, Josh Neil, Ben Walklate (independent), Alice Wu (independent) |
| Para Selection Committee | Stephen Hadlow, Ian Bridge, Simon Watkins (independent) |
| BA Technical Officials Committee (BATOC) | Sandra David (Chair), Peter Cocker, Robert Brockman, Kelly Hoare |
