Jamie Martino

PRESIDENT

Jamie comes from Chicago, where she graduated with a BA in International Studies. Moving to Italy in 2000, she received her MBA from St. John's University in Rome, beginning her career in Knowledge Management and Learning. Currently working as an IT Director for UCB Biopharma she and her family, husband, and two boys, have called Belgium home since 2010.

Playing and coaching soccer has always been a part of Jamie’s life. Today, she plays for BUFC Ladies in the RBFA Division 2 and has been a BSA coach since 2018; taking up the Director role in Spring 2020.

Contact Jamie here.

Sylvie Gigovic

VICE PRESIDENT/STRATEGY & ADVANCEMENT DIRECTOR 

Originally from Brussels, Sylvie was an expatriate for 18 years and has lived in Luxembourg, London, and Hong Kong. She has spent most of her career in Financial Services with a focus on Internal Audit of international wealth management and corporate functions including compliance and anti-money laundering. She has held several positions within the Morgan Stanley group in both Hong Kong and London. Her last position within Morgan Stanley was COO for the Asia Internal Audit department focusing on talent management and project management. She holds a Master's degree in Business and Economics from ICHEC Brussels Management School.

Sylvie relocated to Brussels in July 2019 with her family. She serves on the Board of the International School of Brussels (ISB) since 2021 and is currently Chair of the Governance Committee and member of the Executive Committee. Sylvie's prior non-profit roles include Events for the Family Association at ISB, and Vice-President of the student association (CEA) during her time at university.

Sylvie first experienced BSA as a parent when her son joined the BSA soccer team. She strongly believes that an active lifestyle is key to both mental and physical health and that sports have a critical role to play in children’s growth and wellbeing. 

Contact Sylvie here.

Emma Showalter

SECRETARY/COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

Emma is originally from Sweden and moved to Brussels together with her family in 2023. She has studied at the University of Warwick in the UK and at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. She enjoys working with marketing and strategy and has experience working in several different countries.

She is looking forward to using her marketing communication experiences to help the BSA community. She believes providing sports opportunities to children can help them grow as individuals and as team mates. She hopes that BSA will keep inspiring many kids to have a lifelong passion for sports.  

Contact Emma here.

Kay-Liegh Whiffler

FINANCE DIRECTOR

Kay-Liegh is dual qualified as a Chartered Accountant (SA) as well as a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CIMA). Born and raised in South Africa, Kay-Liegh moved to Brussels in 2020 whilst working for Deloitte Belgium.

Kay-Liegh has over 10 years experience as a finance professional with a demonstrated history of working in global, fast paced, regulated companies. She has fulfilled a variety of roles throughout her career and her skills include financial and management accounting, internal and external audit, taxation, treasury, financial services and lecturing.

Kay-Liegh is committed to leverage her skills and experience to support BSA on all financial matters. She is excited to be a part of BSA as it is her opportunity to give back to the community and to support an organisation that teaches children values associated with team sports, which will serve them later in life.

Contact Kay-Liegh here.

Matthew Carver & Jamie Martino (see above)

SOCCER CO-DIRECTORS

Matt started coaching soccer with the BSA in 2021 and has come on board as Soccer Co-Director as of August 2022!

Matt is a father to two boys who also have a love of soccer. His earliest memories include being taught football by his grandfather, an extremely talented player who could have chosen a professional career had life turned out differently, and being taken to see Norwich City play. As a kid, Matt was considered a useful left back, and at times an enterprising sweeper! These days, Matt designs and builds websites.

Matt says, "I have long been guided by something my grandfather once told me..."It matters not who won the game, but how you played the game"”.

Sandy Grant

BASEBALL CO-DIRECTOR

Sandy originally arrived in Belgium as a student from University of Ottawa to learn French and finish her degree. One year turned into two … and now 25 years later with her husband and two daughters she is living the local expat life in Lasne while working full-time in the IT world. In her free time, Sandy gives Pilates and Yoga classes out of her home studio, volunteers as a Brownie leader with Girl Guiding UK, plays fast-pitch softball with the Brussels Kangaroos, and umpires a game here and there.

Sandy says, “I love to laugh; I love to try new things; I don’t mind failing - it’s just another word for learning. I want to be a good role model for my kids and husband and most of all, I want to inspire kids to do this for their kids one day.”

Contact our Baseball Co-Directors here.

Cameron Tomkinson

BASEBALL CO-DIRECTOR

Cameron arrived in Belgium as an expat with his family in 2021. He has a professional background working in animal welfare. Somewhat unusually he grew up playing tee-ball and baseball in the typically cricket-mad Australia. After some time away from the game he returned first to play the sport in his mid-twenties, and then again as a parent/first base coach when his son joined the local tee-ball team in Australia.

Cameron is keen to pass on his enthusiasm for playing the sport as well as improve his skills as a coach. He aspires to follow in the footsteps of all the volunteer coaches that have gone before him who have dedicated their time to help kids enjoy their sport.