Meet the Board
DBNSW Board
The DBNSW Board is a team of sports leaders who work continuously to improve all aspects of the sport.
Chair - Gillian McCallum
Gillian has been paddling since 2017, representing the Southern Region in 3 consecutive National Championships and Auroras Senior B in 2019.
Gill has been the President of Merimbula Water Dragons for the past 4 years and has grown the club from a low of 14 members to a current high of 52 members. With a loss of key members due to ill health and Covid the club was left with no coaches and minimal Sweeps.
During COVID, Gillian became a Level 1 Coach and Level 1 Race Official and as the race season began again achieved Level 3 Sweep. Gill has now attained the Level 2 Coach accreditation and has acted as Assistant Coach for Southern Region on 2 occasions.
As a Coach and President of a ‘Masters’ team Gill has focused on creating an inclusive, friendly club that allows everyone to participate no matter their skill level. Regional clubs face difficulties when trying to race and rely heavily on WARATAH teams to participate.
Gill is a member of the Regional Committee and works with all southern regional clubs with racing opportunities and the development of Coaches and sweeps.
After many years of managing a large Shared Services division for a large engineering company and a retail communications business, Gill has retired and spends most of her time either paddling or thinking about paddling. Gills skills in developing, working with small teams, and mentoring staff (paddlers) have helped a small dragon boat club to flourish.
Finance Director - Neil Herbert
Neil was appointed to the DBNSW Board for a two-year term as Finance Director at the 2025 AGM. He is a retired bank executive with over 40 years’ experience in financial markets and bank management, primarily in the management of credit risks when lending to business and institutional borrowers. He has many years’ experience leading diverse teams and holds tertiary qualifications in Financial Markets and a post-graduate qualification in Bank Management. He is a past-Fellow of FinSIA and a past-Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.
Neil is a relative newcomer to dragon boating, signing up to the sport in 2022 at a “come and try day” with his local club in Shellharbour: the Sudu Dragons. That first introduction soon grew into a passion, and he has since represented his club at two AusChamps, the Southern NSW Region in two campaigns, NSW State at AusChamps in Perth in 2024, is a Level 3 Sweep, and expects to shortly gain his Level 1 Coach accreditation.
At Sudu Dragons, Neil is passionate about leading by example … getting in the boat and encouraging his team to be the best that they can be. His passion extends off-the-water too, and to getting involved. He has served on the Sudu Dragons’ Board of Directors for two years and now holds the position of club President. He was motivated to join the DBNSW Board by a desire to use his experience to contribute to good governance of the sport through responsible financial management.
Director - Suzanne Brown
Suzanne Brown was appointed to the Board of DBNSW in 2024. Suzanne is an experienced business development and fundraising executive with over 25 years in not for profit and corporate industries.
Suzanne is passionate about health, fitness and sport is motivated to give back to the community. She is committed to help DBNSW grow the sport throughout NSW.
Suzanne is a member of the Bei Loon and Bei Loon Pinks Dragon Boat club in Sydney. She holds a Bachelor of Science, an MBA, a Diploma of Nutrition and a Certificate in Fundraising.
Director - Clarice Sam-Yue
Clarice brings enthusiasm and a fresh perspective to the Dragonboat NSW board, having been involved in the sport since 2018. She first discovered dragon boating through IBM's corporate team and, wanting more racing opportunities, joined Flying Dragons Club that took her to China. After Covid-19 times affected those clubs, she found a home at Different Strokes, where she continued to develop as a paddler. Clarice is passionate about growing the dragon boating community, engaging university crews, and creating new competitive opportunities to bring fresh energy into the sport.
Professionally, Clarice is a product designer with eight years of experience, including five years in startups. As a product designer, Clarice brings strong problem-solving, user experience, and systems-thinking skills to the board, helping to create streamlined processes, improve communication, and ensure the sport remains accessible, well-organized, and engaging for paddlers at all levels. With a background as a technician and a freelance web developer, she brings strong technical skills to the board, helping DBNSW adopt efficient and easy-to-use solutions to streamline operations. As the director on the board involved in the working group for Bank Street Park development, she is dedicated to ensuring dragon boating has a strong voice in shaping the future of the space. Representing prems, she brings a fresh and modern perspective to the board, advocating for innovation and inclusivity in the sport. A strong supporter of diversity, Clarice is committed to making dragon boating a welcoming and accessible community for all paddlers.
Director - Mark Wilson
Mark was introduced to Dragon Boating whilst in the Navy in 2005. Shortly thereafter (in 2007) he and his team successfully competed in Hong Kong and Penang. At this time the Navy team were conjoined with the Northern Beaches DBC and competed in the state competition accordingly. Keen to improve his dragon boat skilling, he joined the NSW state team in 2012 and competed in that year's competition. He remained with the Northern Beaches DBC until 2015.
In 2016 he joined Pittwater DBRC and was appointed as the Men's Captain and Club's Vice President in 2017. He flourished in both roles, utilising his leadership and management skills to improve the team's performance.
Considered the highlight of his dragon boat journey, Mark competed with Pittwater DBRC at Ravenna, Italy in 2024 at the CCWC.
In 2022 Mark retired from the Navy after 39 years of service. Aside from his generic leadership and management skills, his main area of expertise was within Navy training. He continues to serve defence as a contractor.
Having gained 20 years' involvement in dragon boating, Mark is keen to channel this experience, in addition to his work experience into his role as one of the directors of DBNSW. He looks forward to engaging with the DBNSW membership and is keen to make a positive contribution to DBNSW during his tenure.