Life experience primes Delves for board
Five months ago, Genevieve Delves hadn’t put any thought into running for a place on Bowls Australia’s (BA) board, but now sits as one of the nine Board Directors, and one of six women, following BA’s AGM a fortnight ago.
Driven by success in any of her endeavours, the Jackaroo puts her employed experience down as the perfect audition for a board role.
Speaking on BA’s ‘The Right Line’ podcast, Delves pointed out that the training and experience gleaned from her former employment in the police force would be beneficial in adjudicating situations, with a focus on treating all scenarios and people equally.
“I finished up as a Detective Senior Constable, and I guess the biggest thing I learned there, which is transferrable to the bowls board, is that you have to treat everyone equally,” Delves said.
“There are no favourites, you make decisions based on merit and it’s one of those roles where you are bound by policy and procedure.
“The actions that you make and the decisions that you make, you are very accountable for those decisions and I see the board as being no different.”
Following her stint in the police force, Delves moved to the Cape York Peninsula where she worked with Indigenous youth for 18 months, before joining Fire and Rescue New South Wales.
It was after she commenced her role at the fire brigade that she found bowls, only showing up for the possibility of cheaper drinks and a good night with friends, but soon discovering that she was a natural.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that knows the Raymond Terrace club member, who is arguably one of the nation’s most multifaceted athletes, with only the COVID-19 pandemic making her wait on her first Jackaroos cap as she looks to represent Australia in a trio of sports.
“I’ve played for Australia in soccer and rugby union, where I went to two World Cups in 1998 and 2002, and as a soccer player, in the Australia school girls, I did a tour of Argentina,” Delves said.
“I continued to play soccer, state level golf, state level Australian rules and rugby, but it’s funny it was always a dream of mine when I was a kid to be a triple international.
“So I’ve just got to get that [Jackaroos] cap under my belt and I’ll be sweet.”
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