“CREATING AMAZING SPORTING EXPERIENCES”

Back in 2002, a group of 32 avid supporters, comprising mainly of family and friends of the players took our first tour to Malaysia for the Mens Hockey World Cup. The next year, a cricket tour to the Caribbean expanded our tour options, before 2004 saw us undertake a major tour to the Olympics in Athens, which started a trend that has grown to major tours to subsequent events in Beijing (2008), London (2012) Rio (2016) & Tokyo (2020). The sports and supporter groups we now work with have also expanded to include Hockey, Rowing, Water Polo, Basketball, Athletics, Swimming, Volleyball, Rugby, Softball, Baseball, Gymnastics, Ice Hockey, Football, Golf & Netball.

We now look after thousands of people every year, travelling to various World Championships, World Cups and other domestic and international events in their respective sports across the sporting globe

With agencies in key countries, plus partnerships with a number of national sporting organisations, we provide a unique experience to all the events we attend, which is why people consistently return to travel with us year after year. You wont find any tours similar to ours anywhere else, as we specifically provide unique tours to selected events that no-one else caters for.

OUR TEAM

We now have full-time offices and staff in both Australia and New Zealand, as well as a range of agents located in over 20 countries around the world.

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Paul Kelly

Founder & CEO

With a background in Sports Management and coaching, the opportunity to move into the sports travel market back in 2002 was too hard to ignore for someone who is a keen follower of pretty much every sport going around.

PK’s passion for travel and sport has seen him travel to over 40 countries with several more on the “to-do” list for major events in the next few years, including leading tours for some of our new sports with his interesting dress choices

pk@sportslinktravel.com
Mobile: +61. 413 480 433

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Simone Fernon

General Manager

From a young age Simone dedicated herself to sports in Country Victoria, including Basketball, Volleyball and Netball, before moving to Melbourne, working up to managing a travel store

Simone has extensive experience in the Travel industry, being lucky enough to visit over 50 countries. Simone’s specialties including managing our major national events for large sporting groups, with her bubbly personality and passion for looking after clients.

simone@sportslinktravel.com

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Mike Causer

National Sports Manager

Mike grew up playing competitive sports with a focus on basketball and AFL but has a great appreciation for all sports. His passion for travel has seen him travel extensively spending months at a time off on adventures around the globe, visiting over 50 countries in the process.

Mike is loving being able to join his passion for both sports and travel by providing our range of clients with amazing travel and sporting experiences around the world

mike@sportslinktravel.com

Murray Scott

Murray Scott

General Manager (NZ)

Murray has spent over 35 years in the travel industry, working for Contiki in Europe, then heading operations in NZ before coming onboard in 2016 to run our NZ business.

Hugely respected in the industry with a wealth of knowledge and experience, Murray continues to lead groups each year, with Rugby & Cricket in particular a focus, having attended the past 6 Rugby World Cups and numerous cricket tours around the world

murray@sportslinkinternational.com
Phone: +64 212 830 865

Nat

Natalie Mersin

National Sports Manager

With a career in travel management, Natalie joined SportsLink Travel in 2021 to head up our Travel Management area, looking after a number of our key sports and their day to day travel needs, while providing guidance and structure throughout the business

Having worked predominately with medium to large corporate business, Natalie brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our team. Coupled with a customer service focus, Nat has been a great addition to our team and to those sports she works with

natalie@sportslinktravel.com

Sim Mitchell

Simone Mitchell

National Sports Manager 

Having worked as a Travel Manager on some of the countries highest profile sports and looked after the travel needs of teams and athletes for the AFL, Tennis Australia & Cricket Australia, as well as other events, Simone’s experience was a massive boost when joining our team in early 2023.

Working across a number of sports and creating options for future tours, Simone’s depth of knowledge in systems and processes is a huge advantage when ensuring smooth operations for our sports teams and group travel

s.mitchell@sportslinktravel.com

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Tim Earl

Senior Travel Manager 

Having worked in travel for a number of years in a variety of corporate travel roles, a career move out of the sector for an extended period of time ended with the realisation of the overwhelming desire to get back to his passion of travel and sport, joining us in October 2022 to work in our Travel Management team

When not in the office, Tim spends his time with his family including two teenage children, and hitting the pavement on a regular basis, having completed multiple marathons and endurance running events over the years

tim@sportslinktravel.com

Chris

Chris Fernando

Senior Travel Manager 

A career that includes a mix of sports administration, travel, events and hospitality was the perfect range of experiences for Chris to join us at the start of 2023 to cover a range of sports and look at some new tour options for the business.

An extroverted introvert, wannabe comedian and proud uncle with a keen interest in a wide variety of sports both in Australia and overseas, Chris’ continued support of the Hawks in the AFL & fancy cardigans certainly helps to brighten up the office each day

chris@sportslinktravel.com

Cheree

Cheree Rowlands

Finance Manager

Having worked in various roles in the travel and retail industries early on in her career, Cheree came on board with SportsLink Travel early on as a part-time consultant after taking some time off to have her 2 boys, who continue to remain a focus as she balances career and family.

As our business grew, Cheree’s interest and talents shone out to move into managing the financial aspects of the business for clients, partners and suppliers and continues to keep everything on track

cheree@sportslinktravel.com

Brooke

Brooke Penfold (OLY)

Development Tours Manager

A triple Olympian as part of the Australian Womens Softball team (nee Wilkins) and member of the World Softball Hall of Fame, Brooke has devoted her career to the development of athletes, mainly in her chosen sport.

We worked with Brooke as part of her previous role at Softball Australia and took the opportunity on her departure to manage our range of Development Tours across numerous sports as part of our “Towards 2032” program. This will certainly ensure the quality of the programs for junior players

brooke@sportslinktravel.com

Steph

Steph Clarke

Senior Travel Consultant (P/T)

After an established career in travel management, starting with STA and then in corporate travel roles, 2019 saw Steph take some time off to start a family and is now the proud mum of 2 growing and energetic kids.

Having worked previously with Nat in another office, this link saw us successfully recruit Steph back into the industry in a part time role, with the priority of still raising her family, but using her knowledge and experience for the benefit of our clients over the coming years

steph@sportslinktravel.com

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Becky Richards

Travel Consultant (P/T)

Starting with us back in 2019, it was only a few months before Covid-19 impacted the world and our industry, which unfortunately resulted in a departure from her role. When the oportunity presented itself, Becky was welcomed back with open arms, albeit in a part time capacity this time while working in her family business

Out of the office, you will find Becky at the footy following the Pies, on the ski slopes or adding to the many countries she has visited, with plenty of island hopping included

becky@sportslinktravel.com

Amber Jarvis

Amber Jarvis

Sports Travel Consultant (P/T)

As a mum of two, budding artist and outdoor lover, Amber has worked in travel her entire career, joining us in 2023 in a part time role while also focusing on family and her growing son & daughter.

Working across a number of different sports, Amber provides support for some of our key partners while also sharing her knowledge with our internal teams to provide better service levels and procedures

amber@sportslinktravel.com

Sarah Wolz

Sarah Wolz

Sports Travel Consultant (P/T)

A huge travel fan, Mum and Yogi, Sarah love of travel has taken her around the world from her native Germany via the USA to Australia, initially focused on hotel management and accommodation.

The link into sports came working with the Australian Open Tennis, looking after accommodation for travelling players which will continue each year while managing some of our big events and travel groups

sarah@sportslinktravel.com

Angel

Angel Villarosa

Travel Consultant / Admin Support

An experienced travel agent having worked in various corporate and leisure travel roles for several years, Angel joined us in 2022, combining a love for travel and sports, having been a keen volleyball supporter.

Angel loves to spend time with her family including 2 young children (a daughter and a son) and has been a welcome addition to our staff, supporting many of our teams

angel@sportslinktravel.com

Jose

Jose Pasicaran

Travel Consultant / Admin Support

Having a strong background as a travel consultant for a number of years including with Flight Centre, Jose joined Sportslink Travel in February 2023, helping our travel managers to navigate everything from booking flights, hotels and transportation

When not at work, Jose spends quality time with his daughter and also attends a variety of sporting events and activities.

jose@sportslinktravel.com

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Shane Tonkin

Commercial & Partnerships Manager

A former professional baseball player & Olympian (Atlanta 1996), “Tonks” moved into sports administration, most recently as Commercial Manager of Hockey Australia, then Baseball Australia, where he was our contact and worked with us on our partnerships,

After leaving his last role, he has jumped across to the other side of the desk to manage the partnerships with our growing number of sports. Outside of work, Shane is busy following his talented 3 daughters in the sporting arena, including playing for the Hockeyroos and competing at national level Athletics

shane@sportslinktravel.com

Our values

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WE ENRICH LIVES AND GIVE BACK

Whether they are the life long memories for our clients from the events we attend, the people they meet, the heroes they watch, the opportunities we provide for the disadvantaged groups we work with, or the workplace environment for our staff every day, these are the activities that drive us in what we do

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WORK WITH HONESTY & INTEGRITY

People before profits, morals before money, and ethics before economics are the values we instill in all our staff to ensure we maintain the highest standards in everything we do. We always aim to be open and honest in every situation and treat everyone with dignity and respect no matter their background

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WE CONNECT WITH PEOPLE

In todays world, technology keeps people apart. Our clients aren't just numbers, we connect on a personal level, we provide engagement between athletes and devoted fans, provide opportunities to interact with local communities in countries we travel to, and develop bonds with our staff, suppliers, agents and contractors to bring people closer together

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WE AIM HIGH TO ACHIEVE RESULTS

Whether it is the standards we set ourselves in servicing our clients, or the results we cheer our teams on to achieve, we always set out to reach the highest possible goals, without limits. Just like a good sports team, we are always looking for ways to continually improve and achieve the most out of every day in a positive way

What our customers say

Well done to Sportslink Travel for putting together safe, comfortable hotels, great tours and well organised overall tour!! 2019 FIBA WORLD CUP

FIBA World Cup 2019 Participant

Had a fantastic time. It was made so easy for us. Location was perfect, easy to get around. Great bunch of people. We will certainly be keen for another trip. 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP

RWC 2019 Participant

Thank you for all that you did in preparing this tour. It was a great success and SportsLink International will be who I put forward to the school to use in coming years/sport tours.

Loreto Toorak (USA Rowing tour)

Your tour leaders were excellent. They went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that my son and I were looked after

Football World Cup Tour 2014

Already thinking of Tokyo and will definitely go with you guys again

Steve Martin Brazil 2016 Tour

Thanks for making my Olympics/Rio trip an amazing and unforgettable experience.

Raelene Trimper Brazil 2016 Tour

As a sponsor of Hockey Australia, SportsLink International have been great to work with in arranging tours to all our major events to support the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos. We would certainly recommend them for anyone looking for a tour

Shane Tonkin (Hockey Australia Sponsorship Manager)

The Brisbane Roar Beijing tour was a FANTASTIC trip, great value and filled full of activities! One of the best experiences of my life. I met a lot of fantastic people including the wonderful staff from Sportslink and can’t wait…
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Christina Somerville (Brisbane Roar ACL Tour 2012)

The assistance provided by SportsLink staff was above expectation. We experienced a medical emergency whilst travelling and again SportsLink staff were there to assist us with any problems we faced and with haste. Thank you SportsLink!

Softball World Championships (Tour 2015)