After two-and-a-half years at the helm of Mildura Harness Racing Club, popular chief executive Tim Scala has handed over the reins.
When Scala arrived from Perth, he brought a host of new ideas with him and this vision has further cemented the far north west Victorian club as one of the best around.
Scala has put his stamp on one of Victoria’s most progressive clubs, and the wider industry during his time.
But there’s every reason to expect the club will continue on its innovative pathway, with his former understudy Michelle McGinty-Wilson stepping up to the CEO’s post.
McGinty-Wilson, an experienced administrator and passionate harness racing participant, describes the role, without hesitation, as her “dream job”.
“I am just so excited – it feels like the perfect fit because I’ve been on the other side of the fence, as an owner, a trainer, a stablehand, and it’s a lot different to being in here in the administrative side,” she said.
“I’m in the lucky position of having a life-time involvement in the sport, but also having spent 22 years in the insurance industry, which has given me the administrative skills I need for this role.”
McGinty-Wilson’s family has strong connection to the Sunraysia area. Her father Tom McGinty was a trainer in Mildura in the 1960s, before moving across the State to Shepparton, then the Yarra Valley to pursue cattle farming.
Tom’s brothers Brian, Gary and Bob McGinty followed him into the sport, and Brian’s son Jason, who Michelle describes as “like a brother”, is a well-known Mildura trainer.
“I always loved the horses and I worked part-time as a vet nurse while I was still at school,” McGinty Wilson said.
“Even when Dad wasn’t training horses, we would still go to Moonee Valley most weekends to watch the horses. Then 15 or 16 years ago Uncle Brian and I bought a handful of New Zealand horses and raced them together,” she said.
“I had wanted to be a vet nurse, but there weren’t too many job opportunities, and I found myself in insurance, first in reception, then working my way up,” she said.
From then on it was insurance for 22 years in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne, with Michelle eventually reaching the position of Senior Account Executive and Risk Manager.
“But mum and dad moved back up to Mildura three years ago, and the time was right for Ian and I and our children and we followed,” she said.
Her “apprenticeship” as the club’s promotions and marketing manager has seen her working alongside Scala for the past two years, and Scala says that will have provided his successor with a clear insight into the demands of the job.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the job – and it is a big job – but Michelle has all the skills she needs and great insight into the big picture,” Scala said.
“For me, it’s been a fantastic experience, and we’ve achieved a lot, but I had the backing of a very good committee,” Scala said.
“Without that support and of course the valued assistance from a willing band of volunteers, we wouldn’t have been able to do anywhere near what we have done.
“The club is in a great position where people want to join and importantly, want to be involved. And that all means a healthy environment for a club and a sport to prosper.”
Scala, himself, had returned to his home-region to take up the role at Mildura. His wife, Isabel, grew up in Murrayville and met Tim, a Swan Hill lad who was working in the local bank and playing football for Murrayville (including in two Murrayville Premiership sides).
A promotion in Isabel’s work resulted in the couple again relocating, this time to Melbourne, immediately after completion of the recent annual three-night Mildura Pacing Cup.
The continued success of the carnival is understandably a highlight for Scala, but it’s the innovations the club has introduced in the past two years that give him most satisfaction.
“The double-seated sulky racing was one of our committee’s ideas. It had been around as a concept, but involving members of the public under actual race conditions, has been just so successful and a great experience and talking point for people,” he said.
“It gives people a first-hand chance to feel what it’s like to sit behind a pacer – it’s a ‘tick off the bucket list’. They go behind the mobile, there are three other horses in the race and they get a video to remember.
“We were the founder of what is probably a unique novelty event, but now South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania are also right into it. We also loan the carts to our sister clubs at Swan Hill and Ouyen to conduct the races.
“The driver’s invitational series where they drive and then dress up in a Fashions on the Field contest for an overseas holiday, was a great innovation. The crowd really get into it.
“Then there’s the State of Origin night, involving past greats from the AFL, which looks certain to be an annual event, and the Italian night was another success story.”
Scala said he believed changing the trials from a weeknight to Sunday mornings had brought racing people together and participants back to the club.
“It’s a social get-together and more and more new faces have turned up. They watch the trials and enjoy a cooked breakfast and it’s turned what was a bit of a drag for people into a social event,” he said.
Scala, along with club president Alan Lister, took part in a fight Motor Neurone Disease event last October, a charity drive for Neale Daniher, something that was close to Scala’s heart.
“I lost my father to that horrible disease. It was also a bit personal because I went to Trinity College with Neale,” Scala said.
“The charity drive, which we did in the club mobile barrier vehicle, was an inspirational few days for everyone involved.”
The former Mildura trots boss labelled the Ian Watson-trained pacer Flo Jos Gold as his favorite local horse, while SA reinsman Wayne Hill is his most admired driver.
“Wayne is always prepared. You never see him when he’s not studying the form guide or reading over a racebook.”
Asked if there was one thing he could change, what would it be?
Scala didn’t hesitate and said a perfect world would be Mildura programming its own races with greater input from trainers.
While Scala has moved on from his Mildura post, he won’t be lost to harness racing, retaining his executive role at Country Trots Victoria, where he’s treasurer.
Terry Gange
NewsAlert PR Mildura