Delves relishing unique opportunity
When Right at Home Australian Jackaroo Genevieve Delves clinched the 2019 Australian Indoor Championships, she never would have thought that her quest for the World Bowls Indoor Championships title would have to wait until 2022.
But a global pandemic ensued, leaving Delves and fellow 2019 national champion, Robert Briglia, with an agonising three-year wait for their chance at global glory.
But for Delves, the situation is unique, having to divide her time training on quick greens to replicate the speeds she expects in Bristol, but also on slow greens as she hopes to enhance her chances of selection for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
“I feel like I’ve got identity issues trying to come from training on slower greens and transitioning onto the quicker carpet again, knowing that after the Indoors you’re going to be back on heavy greens again,” Delves quipped.
“I’m doing as much as I can to get conditioned to the quicker greens but also not lose touch with that I found on the heavier greens at Mount Tamborine.
“It’s not the most ideal preparation but I am making the best of it.”
With a lack of experience in the Northern Hemisphere, Delves counts herself lucky to have an array of resources that she can turn to for advice.
“I have zero experience up there, whether it’s on the indoor or outdoor greens,” she said.
“I’m very lucky to have the ears of people like Steve Glasson OAM, Karen Murphy AM, Gary Willis and even Andy Thompson and Ellen Falkner MBE to an extent, talking about an indoor surface and what bowls to use.
“I’m very lucky to be able to get their expertise.”
Delves has represented Australia in both Rugby Union and soccer, meaning that this tournament will ensure she has donned the green and gold in a trio of sports, with her official Jackaroos debut to come shortly after in May during a selected event.
The chance to bring home a world title in bowls is something continues to drive the 43-year-old.
“It would be a thrill to do something like that, as I wasn’t able to bring home a world title in Rugby Union, we ended up coming fifth in both occasions that I participated in the World Cup, and soccer was just a tour of Argentina with not really anything to play for,” she said.
“The work that I’ve had to put in to get a start in the Australian team for bowls has far exceeded any effort I’ve had to put into sports in previous years.
“This achievement of being able to represent Australia in bowls is one of my more significant milestones because of how hard I’ve had to work to get there.”
The World Bowls Indoor Championships will run from April 25-29, 2022, in Bristol.
