16 June 2026
Baseball Australia adds three new board members
Three new members have joined the existing Baseball Australia board.
Samantha Macpherson, Marie Malaxos and Sarah Cook were all appointed to the Baseball Australia Board in May.
In 2025, Baseball Australia members supported constitutional changes that reflected the evolving needs of the organisation and the broader sporting landscape. It resulted in the appointment of three outstanding directors whose skills, experience and perspectives will further strengthen the Board.
READ MORE: The Baseball Australia Board
“These are three excellent additions to the Board, who complement the skillset and work currently underway with existing Board Members,” said Baseball Australia President, David Hynes AM.
“All of these new Board Members have been involved with Australian Baseball previously, and we are excited about the contributions they will make to our sport moving forward.”
You can read about each of the new members and their experience below.
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Samantha is an experienced high-performance sport executive with a strong track record across elite sport administration, operational leadership, athlete management, and organisational governance.
Based in Perth, Samantha has built a career leading high-performance programs and sporting organisations across lacrosse, basketball, hockey and swimming.
She is passionate about advancing governance standards in sport while creating sustainable, high-performing environments that support both athlete wellbeing and organisational success.
Samantha has a long standing commitment to baseball having participated at club level as a player, scorer, coach and committee member and as a member of Baseball Australia’s Governance Committee.
Marie is a highly accomplished executive and non-executive director with broad and strategic experience across a portfolio of Board positions.
She was previously COO of ARC Energy Limited and Buru Energy Limited, ASX listed petroleum exploration and production companies.
Her board experience includes preparing a company for IPO, NED roles on ASX listed companies, private, government enterprises, and NFP organizations.
Marie brings board experience on committees including Audit and Risk, Business Development and ESG.
Marie is a Life Member of the Energy Club of WA and is a former Board Member and Chair of Baseball Western Australia. Her qualifications include a Diploma of Engineering, Certificate of Management and Graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Sarah Cook is a two-time Olympian in rowing and Australian representative in sailing who has become a respected leader in global sport, championing gender equality and sport for development.
Sarah is the CEO of Rowing Australia and a member of the World Rowing Council, representing Oceania within the international governing body for the sport.
A dual Olympian at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games, Sarah represented Australia across multiple World Championships and won medals at both World Championship and World Cup level during her rowing career. Following her retirement from elite competition, she also represented Australia in sailing in the 470 and 49erFX classes.
Sarah was the first non-British woman elected as a Steward of Henley Royal Regatta and now serves as a member of its Committee of Management. She is also a respected international rowing commentator and has held a range of governance and leadership positions across Australian sport, including serving previously as a Director of Baseball Australia.
Through her leadership roles nationally and internationally, Sarah continues to advocate for high performance excellence, athlete wellbeing, women in leadership and the power of sport to create positive social impact, particularly as Australia builds towards Brisbane 2032.



































