When hundreds of people gathered in a new community space created in the car park at the Steelers Club for the Elton John concert late in 2017 many commented about how good the idea was.
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The atmosphere generated by that and other activities in Harbour St generated a buzz and a great community feel.
The idea was the brainchild of the club’s new general Sharon Arrow who has years of major event experience in some of Australia’s largest and most prestigious sporting venues.
Ms Arrow has quickly made her mark and loves the community feel she has found in Wollongong.
She is originally from Ireland but came to the Illawarra region from Sydney where prior to he previous job she worked at Sydney Olympic Park as the operations manager at the Showground.
“I was head of hospitality and sporting services at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and Allianz Stadium for 3.5 years,” she said.
“I totally loved it there. I was very privileged to be a part of some great events up there. It is the sort of job that is all consuming because you are dealing with six sporting codes that have very different agendas, budgets, needs and desires. It also involved communication with the SCG Trust”
As much as she totally enjoyed that the decision to come to Wollongong was based on a lifestyle decision. She had visited many times in recent years as a result of her involvement with overseeing Delaware North’s catering contract for WIN Sports and Entertainment Centre.
In that capacity she got to know the city and realised it was a place she would love to live and work.
“I suppose the catalyst for that was I turned 50 in October. I had been in events and functions and big venues all my career and I just thought it is time to start living a little,” she said.
During her time with Delaware North she realised the Steelers was a place here where she would really like to work. She felt it was ideally located and a facility where she could really made a difference.
I have fallen in love with this town. It is beautiful
- Steelers Club general manager Sharon Arrow
“I have fallen in love with this town. It is beautiful. This is just what I wanted in a work/life balance. There is a great opportunity here to plan in advance,” she said.
And that is exactly what she has been doing recently in preparation for up to 5000 English Super League fans spending up to a week in Wollongong for the Wigan versus Hull game on February 10.