AusLeisure

The Melbourne Sports Hub/Victorian State Sport Centres Trust has profiled Chief Executive Phil Meggs, who took the helm at Australia’s largest aquatic and recreation facility in April.

Having been Chief Executive of Little Real Estate, the largest privately owned real estate business in Australia since 2007, Meggs background in the leisure industry prior to 2007 had seen him employed in senior entertainment, sport and financial management roles at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and Ticketmaster.

The profile of Meggs on the Melbourne Sports Hub website shares some of his challenges and more personal elements of his character, explaining how, in 2003, after a medical emergency related to his back that required several operations, he was told that he was unlikely to walk again.

After such a significant setback, and with the odds against him, Meggs could easily have taken a step back because it was all too challenging. Instead, it prompted him to adopt an approach to life that has served him well in the years since.

Looking back, Meggs explained “it drove me to make a difference to the things I did and to appreciate the things I had.

“So I focus very heavily on trying to change things that I have the influence to change, to help people achieve things.

“I can’t do everything, I’m the first to admit I can’t do 99% of what other people do, but if I can help them make their job easier, their role easier or their outcome better, then everyone wins.”

Meggs attitude towards overcoming his injury and making a full recovery serves as a lesson about getting the best out of yourself.

He adds “after a lot of work, I got back walking - now I try and walk as much as I can and do as much as I can physically because it’s a great privilege to be able to do it.

“But, I also had the perfect excuse not to do anything, I could have sat on the couch and thought ‘oh, my back, I don’t want to risk going back to that place’.

“That’s a choice, just because you have an excuse, you decide whether it influences your future or not.”

Putting this into practice, in 2011, Meggs and a group of friends climbed Nepal’s Mera Peak, which sits almost 6,500 metres above sea level in the Everest region.

Melbourne Sports Hub incorporates some of Melbourne’s largest leading sporting facilities including Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre (MSAC), Lakeside Stadium, the State Netball & Hockey Centre and Sports House.

It is home to more than 30 Victorian and national sporting associations and welcomes close to three million visitors each year.

Click here to view the original article on the Melbourne Sports Hub website.

31st March 2016 - PHIL MEGGS ANNOUNCED AS NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE MELBOURNE SPORTS HUB

29th April 2015 - COMPETITION POOL REFURBISHMENT COMPLETED AT MELBOURNE SPORTS AND AQUATIC CENTRE

9th October 2014 - PERFORMANCE CENTRE OPENS AT MELBOURNE SPORTS AND AQUATIC CENTRE 

7th November 2013 - INTERNATIONAL SPORT FACILITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM RETURNS IN 2014

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.