In the third in this series of pieces on South African sports administrators who have succeeded abroad, Dylan Rogers profiles Kelly Fairweather, the Chief Operations Officer of the International Tennis Federation.
There aren’t too many South African sports administrators who have succeeded abroad, but when it comes to those who have held senior positions in at least two different sports – at international level – that number shrinks even further.
That’s why Kelly Fairweather’s achievements are fairly unique and worth doffing your cap to.
This 60-year-old former coach of the South African women’s national hockey team is currently the COO of the ITF, but is also a former Chief Executive of the International Hockey Federation and has held senior roles at the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
That makes for pretty good reading and an impressive resumé, and without running through Fairweather’s CV blow by blow, his administration career has clearly followed an interesting path, taking in hockey, the IOC, WADA and now tennis. But, you wouldn’t describe it as ‘traditional’ or ‘linear’.
“Looking back on my career it was really a question of viewing things in different phases,” he says. “I loved being at the coalface with coaching and development of the sport, but then was looking to get some international experience not only to expand my knowledge, but also to broaden my horizons as an individual. These were all opportunities that presented themselves along that journey. I don’t think anyone today can say that careers have a traditional or linear path, as things move so quickly and skills sets are so transferable.”
Fairweather’s time “at the coalface” was in the early-1990s, as head coach of the national women’s hockey team, soon after South Africa was readmitted to international sport, a few years after a back injury cut short his own playing career.
He was only 30, but clearly had the aptitude for sports management and greater responsibility, as he was also General Director of Natal Hockey at the time.
“So, it was a natural progression into the management side of sport,” he says. “I was always keen to be involved in the management and understand the business of sport.”
It’s perhaps understandable, therefore, why Fairweather would take up a one-year internship at the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland in the late-1990s, having already progressed from national coach into a high-performance role with South African hockey.
It was ultimately a move that would prove to change the path of Fairweather’s career.
“Taking the big step to do a year internship in Lausanne and moving into the international sporting environment was probably the key,” he says. “Working at the International Olympic Committee gave me the ability to be exposed to and learn about the business of international sport, providing the springboard for my career.”
That move ultimately led to eight years at the IOC, with Fairweather eventually graduating to the position of Sports Director of the IOC, where he was responsible for the IOC’s relations with international sports federations and other world sports organizations.
By then, Fairweather had already been working at the IOC for four years, helping establish a transfer of knowledge program for Olympic host cities, such as Sydney, Salt Lake City, Athens, Turin and Beijing.
That took him through to 2007, after which Fairweather had a hankering for South Africa and returned home to take up the CEO’s role at the Stellenbosch University – his alma mater – Sports Performance Institute. But, within two years he was back in Switzerland, having accepted a position at the World Anti-Doping Agency, as Director of WADA’s European Regional Office and International Federations Relations.
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Fairweather was only at WADA for a little under two years, before his old sport came calling and the lure of the CEO’s position at the International Hockey Federation was too great to pass up.
“I spent six years developing and implementing a strategy to revolutionise World Hockey,” says Fairweather, after which it was perhaps no surprise that he was now properly in the shop window for senior international sports administration opportunities.
So, his 2017 appointment as COO at the ITF should probably have been no surprise, given Fairweather’s appetite for challenging himself and exploring areas in which he was able to build on his skills.
That explains why he believes his biggest achievement as a sports administrator involves relationships.
“It would be meeting and working with people from all walks of life in different countries and having many of them as friends still today,” says Fairweather.
Now he has a big job on his hands.
The ITF is based in London and has 207 members worldwide with six regional associations and 125 staff at its headquarters in Roehampton near Wimbledon.
“As COO I am responsible for the implementation of the ITF Business Plan and Strategic Priorities,” says Fairweather. “Essentially, this means managing the staff and driving all activity under the guidance of the President and the board, plus leading on management decisions. I lead and guide the senior directors accountable and responsible for the five key divisions of the ITF: Presidential, Integrity & Legal, Major Events & Strategy, Tours and Player Pathway, and Finance, IT and People.”
With that much responsibility, it’s probably fair to assume that the last 20 months have presented Fairweather with his greatest challenge as a sports administrator.
He confirms that.
“The impact on every industry – and life in general – has been massive from a people, financial and event point of view!” he says. “We have had to adjust, adapt and be flexible.”
Which, I would imagine, would test even the most experienced sports administrator’s skills and ‘10,000 hours’, with every rule book thrown out the window.
It’s probably good, then, to return to what got you into sports administration in the first place, and it’s encouraging that even old ‘pros’ like Fairweather are reminded of that, when I push him on what he believes the key to successful sports administration is.
“Good people skills, planning and preparing, and never forgetting why you do the job – it’s all about the athletes and the sport,” he says.
And what about the best piece of advice he’s ever received?
“Two things, I think,” says Fairweather. “It’s all about people and relationships, so spend time cultivating those. Secondly, change is part of the world we live in, so embrace it.”
All of this is against a backdrop of the most turbulent 18 months the international sports industry has, arguably, ever experienced. Certainly, professional sport has never experienced a challenge such as what we’ve seen since the start of 2020. So, I wonder how Fairweather sees the future of sport, through the Covid-19 lens?
More directly, will sport eventually get back up and running fully, post-Covid-19, and does he anticipate change, in terms of how it is run, consumed, commercialised etc?
“We were already seeing that change before Covid and it is being accelerated in particular driven by digital transformation,” says Fairweather. “Shifting of the media landscape to a direct-to-consumer focus, private equity investment, sustainability, the role of sport in societal issues, esports and gaming, and a renewed focus on governance are all areas that have been accelerated by the pandemic.”
Well, that should keep Kelly Fairweather busy for a while.
Until, of course, the next challenge….
Dylan Rogers