Rod Mountford

One thing led to another and before I knew it, I found myself out in the middle, frequently out of my depth and rarely there for long! More than 50 1st XI games and a Premiership later, the inevitable slide into club administration followed. I now serve as Vice-President of Greenock Cricket Club and on the committee of the Western District Cricket Union.

Underlying all of this was a childhood spent chasing whatever sport happened to be on that week: cricket, football (or “soccer”), baseball, golf, tennis, hockey, swimming, sailing, basketball. What I lacked in natural talent I made up for with passion, determination and the kind of commitment only a kid fuelled by sport can muster. I loved it all and still do.

Professionally, I built and led successful consumer product businesses in both Australia and the UK, with responsibility across strategy, operations, and growth. Over the past 10 years, I have transitioned into fintech and software within the hospitality industry, supporting start-ups, SME's and enterprise businesses to develop, implement and maximise the value of complex integrated technologies.

Somewhere along the journey between boardrooms and boundary ropes a simple truth became clear. The clubs that matter most, where kids fall in love with sport, where volunteers quietly give up their time and where community actually happens, rarely have access to the professional support they deserve.

That brings me here, with a fairly humble ambition; to help grassroots clubs access the communications, social media presence, sponsorship strategy, and funding support they need, but rarely have the time, expertise, or budget to pursue.

Not to corporatise them.
Not to bleed them dry.
Not to strip away their character.

But to help them tell their story in a way that genuinely resonates with their community.

I bring a blend of lived experience. A player shaped by the game across three continents, a volunteer who understands what it takes to keep a club running and a professional grounded in strategy, structure, and sustainable systems.

If your club wants to level up its communications, attract new sponsors, strengthen community engagement, or simply lighten the load on the people who already do too much, Tight5 is here to help.

Sport has a way of teaching you things. Not through the big wins but through setbacks, tough losses and importantly, the people you share it with. It teaches teamwork, perspective, humility and how to keep turning up and adapting when things don’t go to plan.

My sporting journey has been a long one, marked more by commitment than talent. I played over 100 games in Sydney’s Premier Rugby competition with powerhouse clubs Eastwood and Gordon during a golden era for Australian rugby and was fortunate to compete alongside and against a long list of Wallabies. From there, I headed to the USA for a season playing what can only be described as a chaotic version of the game, before moving on to London for a cameo with Blackheath, so steeped in history it’s simply known as “The Club.”

Life, as it tends to do, evolved. Raising four amazing boys back home in Sydney reshaped priorities and perspective with sport taking a back seat to family life. A relocation to the UK in 2012, followed by an unexpected period of personal change in 2014, led me, by chance, to 'Glenpark', home of Greenock Cricket Club. There, sport once again provided familiarity, routine, and community, for which I remain deeply grateful.

Founder of Tight5