Exclusive: SportSA faces implosion over mass board resignations
Leaked resignation letters from high-profile board directors at SportSA – the state’s peak sports body with members including the Adelaide Crows and Little Athletics – cite financial transparency fears.
Three board members resigned from SportSA on Wednesday afternoon, InDaily can reveal after seeing their resignation letters, over concerns about financial transparency.
SportSA’s Finance and Risk Committee Chair Adam May – a former Adelaide 36ers CFO and current head of governance at Greyhound Racing SA – has left the job, blaming “inadequate information” about the organisation’s 2026 financials and the proposed 2027 budget process.
The organisation’s budget relies on about $1 million in government grant funding, which made up about 81 per cent of its total income in 2025, according to its latest annual report.
Another board director, Kelly Hamlyn – a chartered accountant – also resigned, saying she was “losing confidence” in the governance of SportSA.
Communications company Lemon and Lime Digital CEO Alex Hammett also resigned from the board, claiming that being a director for the peak body for SA’s sport industry came with “legal and reputational” risk.
Hammett and May joined the board in 2024, Hamlyn joined in October 2025. A SportSA spokesperson confirmed the Board President had received the resignations, and that no other board directors had resigned this year.
After yesterday’s resignations, four board members remain: board president Pat Mickan, vice president Mark Giancaspro, John Holland and Kristyn Bell.
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SportSA is a non-government, not-for-profit organisation and the peak body for the state’s sport industry. It has about 200 member groups, including the Adelaide Crows, Port Adelaide Football Club, Netball South Australia, RecFish SA, Softball South Australia, SANFL, SA Cricket Association, SA Country Basketball, Rugby Union SA, Royal Life Saving, RacingSA and Little Athletics SA.
In 2025, SportSA made an almost $14,000 surplus, up from about a $47,000 loss in 2024. The organisation’s largest expenditure was staff wages, followed by events like the SA Sport Hall of Fame and the Australian Masters Games, hosted in Port Augusta, according to its annual report.
In his resignation letter on Wednesday, May claimed he felt SportSA’s Finance and Risk Committee was “not provided with adequate information or appropriate access to relevant staff and the auditor” to review SportSA’s financial statements properly.
“I do not believe I am being provided with the information or governance processes necessary for me to properly and safely fulfil my duties as a director,” May wrote in his resignation letter, seen by InDaily.
In his letter, May claimed prior-year financial statements were prepared and audited with what he considered was an incorrect disclosure, and that he had not received legal advice he asked for regarding the disclosure breach and director payments.
May and Hammett also cited privacy concerns in their resignation letters.
“As a director, I am bound by duties of care, diligence and good faith,” Hammett wrote.
“I find myself in a position where I cannot properly discharge those duties due to an environment where I am denied the information I need, where confidentiality cannot be relied upon, and where the culture works against sound governance rather than for it.”
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Both May and Hamlyn said in their resignation letters that they were subject to an internal investigation by SportSA.
InDaily understands the investigation had concluded by the time of their resignation and an independent investigator had found no wrongdoing by May, Hamlyn or SportSA.
In her letter, Hamlyn said the investigation was not the reason for her resignation, but that she was leaving the position “because I have lost confidence in the governance of SportSA”.
May wrote that the investigation “caused significant personal stress and financial cost”, including legal expenses defending himself against allegations.
A SportSA spokesperson said the organisation “rejects the allegations and maintains that the financial reporting process has been conducted in accordance with Sport SA’s governance framework”.
The spokesperson also said the resignations were “in no way an implosion” and that an already-scheduled board meeting would occur in the “very near future and all operational matters continue unencumbered”.
“Regarding the investigation referenced, Sport SA is unable to comment on confidential matters relating to individual directors,” the spokesperson said.
“As a member-based organisation, we remain committed to the highest standards of governance, transparency and accountability and delivering for our members and stakeholders. Our Annual General Meeting is scheduled for 7 September, providing members with the appropriate forum to receive updates on the organisation’s activities and review the financial statements.
“Out of respect for individual privacy and confidentiality, we will not be commenting further on personnel matters.”
SportSA CEO Leah Cassidy was unavailable to comment as she is on unrelated leave.
Board president Pat Mickan, May, Hamlyn and Hammett were contacted for comment.
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