Brand Ambassador Program

Our Brand Ambassador Program offers a unique opportunity for local athletes to excel.

VenuesWest is proud to support Western Australian athletes as they train and compete at the highest possible levels.

As part of this commitment, VenuesWest offers a unique opportunity for local high-performance athletes to become a VenuesWest ambassador.

Following a rigorous two-month selection process, Rhiannon Clarke, Kurtis Marschall, Genevieve Hart and Natasha Rigby have been selected as the four successful ambassadors for 2023/24.

The successful ambassadors for 2023 will each receive an $8000 sponsorship to assist with training and competition expenses ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In 2021, four of the state's high performing athletes were selected for the VenuesWest Brand Ambassador Program ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The previous program ran for 18 months, officially beginning 1 November 2021 through to 30 June 2023.

Of the 78 Western Australian athletes selected for the Australian Olympic and Paralympic team of the 2020 Tokyo games, six were former VenuesWest Brand Ambassadors; Amber Merritt (wheelchair basketball), Nina Kennedy (athletics pole vault), Nikita Hains (diving), Brianna Throssell (swimming), Zoe Arancini (water polo), and Sarah Edmiston (athletics F44 discus).

At the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, 53 Western Australian athletes across 14 sports were selected in the Australian squad. Of these 53 athletes, eight athletes were current or former Brand Ambassadors; Robyn Lambird (current ambassador - T34 100m wheelchair racing), Brianna Throssell (swimming), Nina Kennedy (athletics pole vault), Sarah Edmiston (athletics F44 discus), Nikita Hains (diving), Courtney Bruce (netball), Conor Leahy (track cycling) and Amber Merritt (wheelchair basketball).

Several of our brand ambassadors, past and present, feature in our Just Add Venue campaign. This campaign shows the importance of having access to the right venue, and that the premium facilities VenuesWest offer provides athletes with the optimal setting to reach their full potential.

Gen Hart

Sport: Rowing

Instagram: @gen.hart

TikTok: @ggen.hart

Gen trains at the Champion Lakes Regatta Centre and hopes to be selected in the Under 23 Australian Rowing Team next year. She has an inspirational goal of one-day winning Olympic gold.

Kurtis Marschall

Sport: Athletics - Pole vault

Instagram: @kurtismarschall

Twitter: @kurtismarschall

TikTok: @kurtismarschall

Achievements: Gold medallist at the Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Kurtis has also competed at the Rio and Tokyo Olympic Games.

Upcoming Events: Kurtis is currently training and competing in Europe with his sights set on Paris 2024.

Rhiannon Clarke

Sport: Para Athletics - 100m T38 and 400m T38

Instagram: @rhiannonclarke_

TikTok: @rhiannon.clarke_

Achievements: Rhiannon trains at WA Athletics Stadium and competed at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021 in the 100m T38 and 400m T38, earning an Australian record. She also won a bronze medal in the 100m T38 at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Upcoming Events: Rhiannon is currently training and competing in Europe.

Tash Rigby

Sport: Football/Soccer

Instagram: @tashrigby_

Achievements: Tash is captain of the Perth Glory Women's team and has signed on again for the 2023/24 season. This will be her fifth campaign as skipper of her home-state club and she is poised to make her 100th appearance in purple.

Upcoming Events: Tash has goals in the next two years to win an A-League Grand Final and compete for Matilda's selection.

Image credit: Perth Glory

Darcee Garbin

Sport: Basketball, Australian National Team - Opals & Australian WNBL - Perth Lynx

Instagram: @darceegarbin

Twitter: @darceegarbin

Achievements: Champion - Australian WNBL 2015/16, 2017/18, MVP - World University Games 2017, Perth Lynx Runner Up WNBL Grand Final 2022, Bronze medal for the Opals at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2023

"It's a huge honour to be selected as a VenuesWest ambassador and throughout both my junior and senior basketball career I have used VenuesWest training facilities. More recently trying to navigate training and competition around the impacts of COVID, I have been able to use multiple VenuesWest facilities to stay focused on my training and work towards my sporting goals. The funding from the program has assisted me in travelling between my home in Perth and Melbourne as I try to make the Opals World Cup team for Sydney 2022. I feel a great sense of pride being a WA athlete representing VenuesWest."

David Bryant

Sport: Para Athletics - Para Triathlon

Instagram: @davidcatalystdietician

Facebook: Catalyst Dietitian - David Bryant

Achievements: Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games - 7th, Newcastle 2020 OTU Paratriathlon Oceania Championships - 1st, Oceania 2022 Triathlon Para Cup Devenport, 2022 World Triathlon Para Series Yokohama - 4th, 2022 World Triathlon Para Series Montreal - 6th, 2022 World Triathlon Para Series Swansea - 4th, 2023 World Triathlon Para Series Yokohama - 3rd

"VenuesWest has provided world class training facilities since I first began my triathlon career back in 2007. Fast track to 2021, post Tokyo Paralympics, it is very fitting that I join the team as an ambassador for the wonderful environment VenuesWest provides to produce world class athletes."

Robyn Lambird

Sport: Para Athletics - T34 100m wheelchair racing

Instagram: @robynlambird

Twitter: @robyn_lambird

Achievements: Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games - Bronze Medalist in Wheelchair Racing (first ever non-binary Paralympics medalist), Fourth place at 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games

"I'm so grateful to be a part of the VenuesWest Ambassador program. The financial assistance received will aid in the purchase of vital equipment such as tyres and other racing chair components, as well as supporting access to high level international competition ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham."

Tamsin Cook

Sport: Swimming

Instagram: @tamsincook

Achievements: Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games - Bronze Medalist in the Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (heat swimmer), Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Silver Medalist in the Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle relay)

"Being selected for the VenuesWest Ambassador Program was a huge honour for me, having used VenuesWest facilities for over 10 years and for two Olympic Preparations. Recently, support from the Ambassador Program has allowed me to travel and compete in key domestic meets in preparation for a busy year of international racing with the World Swimming Championships in Budapest, and Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, both taking place in 2022. These competitions are seen as integral steppingstones on the path to Paris 2024. The VenuesWest team truly understands the demands of being an elite athlete and through the Ambassador Program have committed to helping West Australian athletes, like myself, achieve our highest potential. I am incredibly proud to be an Ambassador, and love being able to represent the WA sporting community through my partnership with VenuesWest."