Fire burns brightly for Delves

by Val Febbo on May 18, 2021

Genevieve Delves is one of the newest members of the BCiB Australian Jackaroos squad and picked up the sport a lot later than many of her counterparts, but her venture into bowls and career juggling is quite remarkable.

Delves was a promising police officer and left the force to work with Indigenous children on Cape York Peninsula before joining ​Fire and Rescue NSW, and only then did she become an avid bowler.

Returning from the Sunshine State, the now 42-year-old lost her desire to be a part of the police force and took the opportunity for a career change.

“I started firefighting when I came back from Cape York Peninsula in Queensland; I was working in a remote Indigenous Community called Aurukun doing sport and recreation with the kids and prior to that I was a police officer for eight or nine years,” Delves said.

“When I came back, I didn’t want to be a ‘copper’ anymore, applied for the ‘firies’ and the ‘ambos’, got into both and ended up ​as a firefighter.”

Fresh off a 24-hour shift and a session on the green, she notes that her career in the fire brigade was in its infancy when she was introduced to the world of barefoot bowls, which she would occasionally attend with her friends.

That quickly blossomed into a love for the sport, and from there the choice to commit to both the sport and her career was easy, although, made easier due to the nature of her working hours.

“I wasn’t a bowler, that sort of started around the first year of my career with the fire brigade and that was just through barefoot bowling,” she said.

“My saving grace has been working shift work, I don’t know if I would have been able to commit to both if I had a regular Monday to Friday nine to five role, because a lot of events are played during the week.

“With the shift work and having the supportive and flexible workplace I’ve recently acquired the ​light hearted nickname of ‘The Florist’ because I tend to make my own arrangements.”

The 2019 Australian Indoor Championships winner has recently commenced a new role at Fire Rescue New South Wales, one that she says has been rewarding but challenging.

“I’ve gone from ​an operational role on a fire truck, into operational communications, and basically what it ​involves is the management and co-ordination of radio traffic from crews on the ground for the entire state” she said.

“If we’re not coordinating the radio traffic, we take all the triple zero calls for the entire state when someone asks for the assistance from fire services.

“Because Fire Rescue New South Wales doesn’t cover the whole state, we work closely with and disseminate jobs to external agencies such as the Rural Fire Service, SES, and Volunteer Rescue Association. 

“We also spend a lot of time liaising and working alongside ​NSW Ambulance and ​NSW Police.

“It’s been a massive challenge as we are required to make critical decisions on the go, and I’m very much accountable for those decisions.”

When transitioning her career skills to bowls, aside from being able to perform at an extraordinarily high level on no sleep, she notes keeping her cool under pressure as a major asset.

“The ​main asset I find ​transferrable is a learned ability to stay calm in stressful situations, because you have to remain calm in emergency services; you can’t lose your lid,” she said.

“I think ​like bowls, if things do get tough and if things do get stressful, in my occupation you can’t give up, ​we find a solution.”

“You have to keep going ​to try and fix something, ​to make things a bit better for someone and have an ability to lower your heart rate in stressful situations to slow things down and become task-orientated without becoming flustered.

In terms of juggling both careers, 2021 has brought forth some difficulties due to the clustered schedule following on from the COVID-19 affected 2020.

“I think this year has been a little more challenging because we’ve tried to squeeze 2020 into 2021. I’ve had to pick and choose what events I play due to the need to sometimes take time off work,” Delves said.

“So I’ve had to prioritise a few events and am unfortunately ​unable to participate in a couple 2021 district events.”

Delves will continue to pursue both careers with all of her energy and aims to help as many people as she can along the way.

This athlete story was created in support of the Australian Institute of Sport and in recognition of National Careers Week, which aims to celebrate and promote the economic, social and personal benefits of career development for all Australians.