Hawks' Pom-born Boss Shows His True Colours
Illawarra Mercury
Friday August 13, 2004
HE held a series of high level sports management jobs in England but Wollongong Hawks' new boss Peter Rowe has declared his loyalty to Australia.
Rowe was guest speaker at Wollongong Lord Mayor Alex Darling's business lunch on Wednesday in front of a who's who of the city's business world."I was born a Pom but I chose to become an Australian in 1990 and of that fact I'm very, very proud," he said."When the old enemies get together on the sporting field in cricket and rugby, I cheer for the green and gold."Rowe took up the newly created Hawks CEO position on July 5.His first experience of Wollongong was in 1988, when he was living in Sydney and visited his cousin in Kanahooka."It opened my eyes to what a beautiful place it was, fantastic beaches, mountains, escarpment, anything and everything you would want in a lifestyle."Rowe has had a high-profile career in the world of sports media and administration. He worked as a sports journalist on English newspapers, was media director for the English Rugby League, and also worked in soccer as communications director of the Football League which administers 72 English clubs, from the next level down from the Premier League.In this role he was involved in organising fixtures where as many as 80,000 people would turn up with whistles and banners.He later took over the reins of Swindon Town soccer club when it was $5 million in debt and had been relegated from the Premier League.He said it was a tough job but in his first year the debt was reduced to $1.5 million.Rowe's first career was in the Royal Navy where he worked on aircraft carriers for seven years."One of the most frightening, busiest and hardest workplaces I think I've ever encountered in my life ... you have to work together as a team or you could be seriously injured or killed."Rowe said it was this team ethos he wanted to bring to the Hawks."I think we can because we've got a great bunch of people and a great team spirit building already," he said.Rowe said he would love to see the WIN Entertainment Centre packed for the Hawks' first game of the new season against the Melbourne Tigers on October 1.There was a feeling that the big city basketball teams such as Sydney and Melbourne had big wallets."But I can tell you one thing, they haven't got the heart of Wollongong or the desire to succeed because we're going to succeed this year without a shadow of a doubt," he said.
© 2004 Illawarra Mercury