The Tasmania JackJumpers will bid farewell to departing CEO Christine Finnegan when they host defending champions Illawarra Hawks tonight at MyState Bank Arena.
The match marks Finnegan’s final game after five and a half years with the team.
She will leave both the club and Tasmania to head onto her next job, where she will be executive general manager of the Super Netball League.
“This club has become an extension of me and such an important part of my life and my life journey,” Finnegan said.
“To leave it and to think not just leaving the club, but I’m leaving the island as well, there’s a lot that I’m taking in at the moment.”
The JackJumpers have already secured their play-ins spot, marking the fourth time in the club’s five-year history they’ve reached the finals.
Finnegan reflected on the club’s growth during her tenure.
“We’ve got bigger and as you get bigger, it’s hard to keep everything as personal as you did at the start,” she said.
“But one thing that’s never changed is our values and our mission to defend the island.”
Coach Scott Roth praised Finnegan’s leadership in what he described as “a man’s world”.
“She’s in a man’s world, dominated at that level of CEOs,” Roth said.
“For her to go through what she’s gone through the last few years, and for hopefully me to be someone she can lean on, it’s been an emotional few days with her.”
Finnegan said she’s achieved a lot during her tenure, including securing a high performance centre and WNBL team.
“My key objectives were given to me very clearly,” she said.
“It was to come in, to get a high performance centre, to get a WNBL team, to sell the club and to do all of those things that I think I’ve achieved.”
Despite having limited roster depth with only 10 available players, Roth confirmed the team would play at full intensity against the Hawks.
The club has begun the process of selecting Finnegan’s replacement, with an announcement expected soon.
