Angela Boyd is reaping the rewards of incremental gains through coaching and fitness. Photo / File
Angela Boyd is reaping the rewards of incremental gains through coaching and fitness. Photo / File
Angela boyd has found accomplishment but it isn't something she has stumbled on to accidentally.
"About four years ago I set heaps of goals so realising this event is so very special for me," Boyd said from Christchurch yesterday after Bowls New Zealand named her in their international equation thisweek.
The 28-year-old from Napier, who moved to Christchurch in September last year, is in the national women's triples and fours to compete at the Asia Pacific Championship this year.
The Asia Pacific event will be staged from November 24 to December 6. Boyd's newly adopted home turf, Burnside Bowling Club, will be the headquarters to host 17 countries out to nail one of 10 qualifying spots for the four-yearly world championship next year at the same venue.
New Zealand, as hosts, automatically qualify, as do reigning champions Australia.
The Transtasman neighbours will, however, still compete in this year's event.
"I suppose all the hard work I've put in over the years is paying off.
"It's finally happened and I'll be fully capped so I'm really excited," said a thrilled Boyd who with Cantabrian bowler Katelyn Inch, 19, will make their international debuts in a "fully-capped" event.
Her more-heralded younger sister, Mandy Boyd, who also lives and works as an early childhood educator with Best Start (formerly Kidicorp), missed out on selection after the Transtasman test against Australia in March.
Angela Boyd and Inch, also a former NZ secondary Schools champion, were members of the champion Canterbury side at the Inter Centre Championship this year.
Boyd was also a member of the successful Transtasman development team in March and won this year's pairs title with Mandy at the Heartland Bank National Open championship.
She also made the semifinals of the singles at the same event.
Inch was a runner up in the mixed pairs with Sheldon Bagrie-Howley at the Junior World Cup held on the Gold Coast in March this year and has for the past two years been part of the Bowls High Performance Pathways programme.
Boyd, whose parents Lynda and Doug still live in Napier, said her selection was a result of working tirelessly with coaches and establishing a worthy fitness regime.
She has shed 18kg with a regime that began at the Curves gym in Napier four times a week.
"Since arriving in Christchurch I haven't been going to a gym but I'm focusing on staying fit and eating healthy."
It isn't easy in the cold snap where she wakes up to shovel snow off her car, although she is enjoying the flaky dusting.
Boyd said Mandy, 23, was disappointed but still competed at national and other events.
"Mandy and I also gel well and we're enjoying ourselves," she said of her sister, who has graduated with a fine-arts degree from Wellington but is finishing her early childhood post-graduate course while living with partner Lance Pascoe, who shifted from the capital to the Garden City for better career opportunities as an asbestos remover.
"I wanted change and to do something different in a bigger city and to be with Mandy so it's cool," Boyd said.
"Having success with a sister is awesome and has definitely helped."
The Burnside club's emails and texts of support have been fillip in committing to the code.
She is indebted to coach John Hanlen, of Bowls Taradale, who she worked with until she left the Bay.
"John was helping me with my technique, especially with deliveries," Boyd said of Hanlen who provided drill tests for events and post-match evaluations to continuously refine the processes and update goals.
Playing alongside seasoned players at an elite level has made her more green-savvy.
"I want to be in the New Zealand team for the World Bowls Championship in Christchurch in 2016," said Boyd who is the middle player in the triples side and No2 in the fours.
For the Australian Premier League in Queensland this year, the selectors have retained last year's campaigners of Ali Forsyth, Shannon McIlroy and Jo Edwards who were unbeaten in round-robin play.
Kiwi teams
The men's and women's sides for this year's events:
Rotorua Boys' won with a last-play penalty after their prop reached for the ball in a scrum, sealing victory over Hastings Boys' with a clutch final kick.
